Hawkins teems with legends and dread as Stranger Things draws closer to the grand finale, inducing a fusion of fear, nostalgia, and the invisible. Fans have long theorized about the workings of the show's mystery, but it remains a territory that is both known and unknowable. 

Every clue has been dropped like a shooting star, growing into a superstition of its own, and the finale is the only thing that can pacify the urge for answers. However, the show's creators have now spilled the beans on its most curious mystery.

Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2, without a doubt, unequivocally redefines the Upside Down. Although its mystery remains intact at the core of the show, co-creator Ross Duffer still admits the scientific framing is not a perfect one. 

"I'm sure some scientists will poke plenty of holes in the way we are depicting this," Ross Duffer told Entertainment Weekly jokingly, adding that they had originally planned to reveal it in Season 2.

Instead of that world being parallel, the creators Matt and Ross Duffer made it clear that it is an interdimensional bridge, a wormhole that connects Hawkins to a much darker realm called the Abyss. But scientists might find it funny, per Ross Duffer. In a way, this sci-fi metaphor is a halfway grounded explanation. 

This shocking truth alters the dynamics of the story drastically. The monsters that have been haunting Hawkins for a long time, which are demogorgons and Vecna’s power, are in fact aliens, according to the outlet. This enigma, intermingled with science and horror, has characterized the show and become its mythology's life-force. 

Gaten Matarazzo Outrage Explained: Why Is the Internet Suddenly Attacking 'Stranger Things’ Favorite Character

Still, the question remains before the full revelation comes: What really is the Upside Down? 

Stranger Things' best-kept secret, the Upside Down, is not an alternate dimension teeming with creepy crawlers. Amid a flood of theoretical ideas and tempting debates, the final season of the show has finally shed light on the mystery to a great extent.

Dustin Henderson digs up the history of the Upside Down via old journals of Dr. Brenner, revealing it to be connected to Abyss, and a thin corridor of exotic matter linking up different worlds. Its peculiar environment, along with the terrors therein, is due to the darker dimension on the far side of that bridge. 

Consequently, from the Abyss originated Hawkins' iconic and terrifying monsters. It is also the place where Henry Creel, or Vecna, grew darker and more monstrous, being trapped alone for years. And now the place holds Hawkins' children entrapped.

By declaring the Upside Down as a wormhole that is so closely tied to human action, through Eleven's psychic bond and Brenner's experiments, the series gives a much-anticipated answer, which reinterprets its mythology. The final season of the series draws attention not only to the frightening Upside Down but also to the delicate connection among life, death, and the unknown as it nears the climax.

‘Stranger Things’ Goes Nuclear, Posts the Largest Weekly Viewing Total in Streaming History

  Have you inhaled Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 and are curious about the Upside Down even more? Comment your theories below.