where does stranger things take place

Stranger Things takes place mainly in the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana , during the 1980s, along with the parallel dark dimension known as the Upside Down.

Quick Scoop: Core Setting

• The story is set in the 1980s in Hawkins, Indiana, a quiet Midwestern town where “nothing ever happens” on the surface.

• Beneath that normal façade, there’s a secret government lab (Hawkins National Laboratory) and a hidden gateway to the Upside Down.

• Over later seasons, the show briefly expands to other places (like parts of California and Russia), but Hawkins remains the central location.

Fictional Town vs Real Filming Locations

• Hawkins, Indiana, is entirely fictional, created for the series’ story.

• Most Hawkins scenes are actually filmed in and around Atlanta and small towns in Georgia (including Jackson and other nearby areas), which “stand in” for the real-life Hawkins.

In short: the story is in Hawkins, Indiana and the Upside Down, but the real streets are mostly in Georgia.

TL;DR: Stranger Things is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s, with major events also happening in the Upside Down, and it’s filmed largely in Georgia.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.