Where Did They Film Stranger Things
The epic Starcourt Mall from Season 3 was a very clever trick. The Duffer Brothers took an existing, but mostly empty, mall called Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia. They gutted the inside and rebuilt it to look like a glorious 1980s shopping paradise.
That Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor where Steve Harrington rocked his sailor hat? That was a pop-up set built inside the mall. You can almost smell the stale mall pizza and teen angst.
Sadly, the real mall is still mostly empty today. But it got a huge tourism boost from the show. Maybe Hawkins was good for something after all.
The Upside Down… Really Is a Set
Most of the Upside Down was built on a soundstage in Atlanta. The production team created the slimy, decaying version of the Byers’ house indoors. They used a lot of slimy gel and fake moss to get that wet, gross look.
The giant, fleshy Mind Flayer lair was also a studio set. Imagine being a set designer and having to make walls that look like giant, pulsating lungs. That’s a weird day at work.
Stranger Things Filming Locations - YouTube
But some exterior Upside Down shots, like the military base, were filmed in real abandoned buildings. They just added fog machines and a lot of red-tinted lights. Instant creepy portal!