Stranger Things has wrapped up Vol. I of its penultimate season. Since its release, the series season 4 has been making its way to the top of the charts all over the globe. The Duffer Brothers’ classic sci-fi horror masterpiece is the summer show that has been breaking the internet since 2016. What started with The Vanishing of Will Byers has culminated in ungodly secrets revealed, experiments unearthed, monsters awakened, hearts broken, and the unlikeliest of alliances made. Stranger Things season 4 has now arrived, packed with all that drama, and does not disappoint for a second. With the group now fighting a new threat — the Vecna — they stop at nothing to save their loved ones. Yet again.
The New Monster in Town
In the very beginning, it was an unseemly presence lurking, waiting for souls alone at night. It would grab those who were helpless against such a force. And then trap them in a veil in between worlds. The Upside Down. With time, it became clear that it wasn’t an unfathomable supernatural entity doing the snatching but a monster of flesh and blood. And one that can be defeated and killed if you know the right person for the job.
But with the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer now gone, a newer, stronger, and more evil monster has claimed Hawkins as its hunting ground. The bloodletting has begun and the monster is nowhere near done.
The Vecna – The new Stranger Things monster
Vecna is a searing wicked creature that had remained dormant in the underbelly of the Upside Down all these years. And its powers are even more twisted than the ones that came before it. The Vecna feeds on nightmares and guilt and sorrow like it’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins. And there is plenty of prey that fit the profile in the town of Hawkins.
When the Vecna finds its next prey, the victim shifts into a trance as it invades their mind and hunts for them. The week leading up to the final kill always begins the same way. With a headache and visions of a countdown on a grandfather clock. And when the countdown is complete, the Vecna gets what it came for, leaving behind a shriveled husk in its wake.
However, as with every other aspect of a curse, there is also a spell that undoes it. Well, in this case, the spell turns out to be plain old music.
The Hunt for the Predator
Hawkins’ self-elected monster-fighting squad wastes no time in finding out what makes the Vecna attracted to a certain person. Seemingly, the targets were random at first as the first two kills suggested no connection between the victims. But soon enough, it becomes clear what feeds the Vecna’s impulses when Max becomes one of its next targets.
After some impressive infiltrating, Nancy and Robin meet a war veteran at an institution who had lost his family to the Vecna when the creature last roamed free in the ’50s. It is from him that they find out the one weakness of the creature and how to hold it off. As the season’s first part comes to an end, details about the Vecna come to light. However, the final battle still remains to be fought.
Source: The Curse of the Vecna Explained
