Up to what extent can fiction bleed into reality and how chilling can that overlap feel? On December 19, 2025, 19‑year‑old Leah Palmirotto died after falling from the roof of an abandoned building on Emory University’s Briarcliff campus in Georgia, a structure widely known as the exterior of Hawkins National Laboratory in Netflix’s Stranger Things. The tragedy has focused fresh attention on how eerie settings from pop culture can draw real‑world curiosity and danger. 

Now, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have compounded those eerie associations with revelations about their production experiences. In an interview with TNM, the Duffer Brothers disclosed that they opted not to film in the basement of the Hawkins Lab location because the atmosphere felt unsettling.

They said there were “rumors that the basement of Hawkins Lab was haunted” and that the “vibes down there were really bad.” 

Within the Stranger Things narrative itself, Hawkins Lab is central to the series’ supernatural world. The fictional facility houses secret experiments into paranormal phenomena and the Upside Down, serving as the setting for major plot developments from Season 1 onward.

This includes breaches into alternate dimensions and consequential confrontations with otherworldly threats. Filming for the series has included exterior shots at the former Georgia Mental Health Institute, the real building used to depict Hawkins Lab as part of the broader Atlanta, Georgia production locations that ground Stranger Things’ 1980s small‑town aesthetic. 

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Having the strongest sensors when it comes to Stranger Things, the show, and otherwise, audiences are tearing up and deep diving into the upside down following Duffer Brothers' confession.

Stranger Things fan community are left riveted. Social feeds and forums are abuzz as fans parse what the Duffer Brothers’ comments mean for how the series conceived its darkest settings. Now being able to trace, albeit loosely, the source of the creeps that Stranger Things delivers, fans are brimming with theories on X.

Most fans on the thread agreed with the alleged haunted vibes, seeing the incident as a chilling confirmation.

The reputation of Hawkins Lab, both on-screen and off, proves that some fictional horrors can feel strikingly real, and apt for a documentary. Real-life tragedies and behind-the-scenes accounts only deepen the chilling legacy of the Hawkins Lab.

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Would you dare step inside Hawkins Lab if given the chance after Stranger Things creators' confession? Let us know in the comments below.