Stranger Things fans stunned to discover hidden meaning of Hellfire Club ahead of season five
With season five dropping in the morning (27 November), you might be looking to brush up on your Stranger Things knowledge.
And let’s face it; it's been over three years since Netflix released the last season, and it feels like there’s all sorts to remember.
From recaps on the storyline to digging into the fan theories, there’s also the random bits of trivia, like what even is the meaning of Hellfire Club?
Many Stranger Things fans have been stunned after discovering the answer to that, with the high school society’s leader facing a tragic end in season four.
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With plenty of us still heartbroken over it all this time later, Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) essentially sacrificed himself in the Upside Down as he used his musical talents to distract Vecna’s swarm of Demo-bats.
What is The Hellfire Club?
While they became pretty demonised in the end, the Hellfire Club literally was just a club at Hawkins High School for playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
Eddie was the leader of the group, and he started to be blamed for all the strange goings on in the town as things unfolded. One of them included the murder of cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien).
Members included the likes of Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), although the latter was, of course, substituted by his sister, Erica (Priah Ferguson).
Hawkins residents and news outlets began falsely depicting the Hellfire Club as a cul,t and following his death, people regarded Eddie as a cult leader. And the rumours spread that there is some Satanic/demonic worship going on among the teams. That’s obviously pretty tragic, given they had no idea he sacrificed himself to save the town.
While he’s alive, the rocker insists the D&D club isn’t any more than a game played by a bunch of the school’s ‘misfits’ or ‘lost sheep’.
Why is it called The Hellfire Club?
Over on Fandom, fans speculated over if it was actually a bit of a ‘poor name choice’ and maybe not the best idea if ‘Eddie really wanted to convince people that it was merely a fantasy game rather than a cult’.
One wrote: “I would be wary of a name like that, too. Rather than buying into the fears that already existed, why didn't they choose a name that better reflected the nature of the game?"
And others suggested it may not have been Eddie’s choice, but his predecessor's, or perhaps he ‘realised that people weren’t gonna change’ so picked something ‘cool’.
According to Stranger Things Wiki, there are a few meanings behind the club’s name, including Hellfire Club having been the name for exclusive clubs in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century for ‘wealthy young men’.
The fan site adds: “Club members would partake in activities related to poetry, philosophy and politics, but were also popularly rumoured to have engaged in Satanic worship and other immoral acts.”
Plus, ‘Hellfire Club’ was said to be a club in Hell where the battle between Choronzo and Dream took place in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
“In the battle, they played Reality, a game where the two opponents try to turn into different things that best the other person,” it adds. “They were playing for Dream's helmet that was given to Choronzon as a sacrifice while Dream was trapped in the human world.”
Who knew Hellfire Club wasn’t just a fun D&D reference but something far more intense…
Stranger Things releases on Netflix at 1am UK time 27 November.
Topics: Netflix, Stranger Things, TV
Jess Battison