What happened at Hawkins lab before Stranger Things began? Project MKUltra explained

In Stranger Things, before the Demogorgons, the Upside Down, and Eleven's entire escape from the lab scenario, there was a whole other story. The one that initiated all of this mayhem—began under the radar in a government building just beyond small-town Indiana. Hawkins National Laboratory wasn't some other bland facility hidden behind a chain-link fence. It was the command center for something much larger—and much darker.

What was actually happening inside Hawkins Lab? Well, it goes far beyond mere science experiments that went awry. The laboratory was knee-deep in some very shady material: experiments in mind control, sensory deprivation experiments, psychic experiments on children—all under the banner of something called Project MKUltra. And here's the kicker—that portion isn't just Stranger Things fiction. MKUltra was a real thing. So yes, the distinction between the show's fiction and our real history? Kinda thin.

What makes it so fascinating is the way the Duffer Brothers adapted this true-life program—government secrets, test subjects, and crossed ethical boundaries—to create the creepy, slow-burning horror that sets the stage for Stranger Things. Hawkins Lab becomes a character in and of itself. You sense its presence in each flickering light, each surveillance camera, each flinch, Eleven experiences in agony.

So here’s where we’re headed: we’re going to dig into what Hawkins Lab was up to before everything went sideways. We’ll break down the lab’s fictional timeline, pull back the curtain on MKUltra’s actual history, and look at how the show blends it all together into something that feels disturbingly plausible. If you’ve ever watched Stranger Things and thought If any of this actually happened?”—Well, you’re not alone.

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Hawkins National Laboratory: Fictional origins and role in Stranger Things

The setting and why it matters

Hawkins National Laboratory is not merely a creepy building in the background of Stranger Things—it's the hub of activity of the entire show. First seen in Season 1 as a governmental research facility behind barbed wire and dense woods in rural Indiana, the laboratory pretends to be the science-friendly face for the public.

But what happens behind closed doors? It's a center for classified experiments in mind control, psychic ability, and even portal openings to the next dimension.

The lab has a huge effect on Hawkins. It's the reason the Upside Down exists within the reality of the town, why Eleven and others possess super abilities, and why the government continues to cover up their eerie vanishings. It's not a place at all, really; it's the center of fear, suspicion, and that constantly nagging feeling that someone, or something, is lurking.

The lab becomes pretty much a metaphor for all those dark institutions of science fiction past that prioritize power over people, science over safety, and secrecy above all.

What happened at the lab before the show started

By the time Stranger Things begins in 1983, Will Byers has only just gone missing, and Eleven has only just escaped. But the dark past of Hawkins Lab runs much deeper than that. Here's a breakdown of the timeline in context that explains the mayhem:

1953: The U.S. government approves Project MKUltra—a real-life CIA operation. In the world of Stranger Things, Hawkins Lab is one of its facilities.

1969: Dr. Martin Brenner—aka Papa—is introduced. He arrives in Hawkins with Kali (a.k.a. Eight) and initiates a new round of testing on children with psychic abilities.

Early 1970s: Terry Ives, who is a local young woman, volunteers for testing at the lab. The catch is that she's pregnant with Eleven and is unaware. After giving birth, Brenner steals the baby, and Terry is left in a permanent catatonic state following additional "treatment."

1979: Eleven, who has been raised in the lab and trained as a weapon, by accident tears open a door to the Upside Down while participating in a remote viewing experiment.

Project MKUltra: The real-life origin story

Project MKUltra wasn't fabricated for Stranger Things—it was 100% real. Beginning in the early 1950s and continuing through the early '70s, the CIA initiated MKUltra to research mind control, brainwashing, and behavioral modification. That's because in the Cold War era, there were rumors that enemy powers were already working on similar procedures. So the U.S. wanted in, pronto (a 1977 U.S. Senate hearing).

This is where it gets sinister. MKUltra experiments were a little bit of everything: LSD dosing, hypnosis, electroshock, sensory deprivation, and even torture. Frequently, the individuals were unaware they were being experimented on. Some were inmates, some were psychiatric patients, and some were ordinary citizens inadvertently drawn in. The objective: to determine whether or not an individual's mind could be broken, manipulated, or remade from the foundation up.

Most of the records were destroyed back in the '70s. But enough had survived to make sure that this program wasn't science fiction—it was real.

MKUltra has been a staple of pop culture, appearing in everything from The X-Files to Jessica Jones to—you guessed it—Stranger Things.

Hawkins lab and MKUltra: What's the same and what's different

The Duffer Brothers, the creators of Stranger Things, have flat-out admitted MKUltra was an influence on the show. In addition to conspiracy theories such as the Montauk Project (more on this later), MKUltra assisted them in developing Hawkins Lab into something that is just real enough to be frightening.

Let's break it down:

Secret government projects: Both MKUltra and Hawkins Lab were secret, and both valued scientific progress over fundamental human rights.

Human test subjects: In Stranger Things, children such as Eleven and Kali are the lab rats. In MKUltra, it was prisoners, psychiatric patients, and civilians.

Mind control and psychic powers: MKUltra never actually created telekinetic children. The show simply takes it to the next level with real powers.

Cover-ups: Both feature huge efforts to cover everything up. MKUltra documents were burned. Hawkins Lab keeps murders, monster activity, and the kidnapping of children covered.

Where the show takes it further

Of course, Stranger Things is not a documentary. The Upside Down, the Demogorgon, and actual psychic powers are all fictional, though they raise the emotional stakes. They provide a face (or, in the case of the Demogorgon, a flower-mouthed visage) to the danger of uncontrolled power and unscrupulous science.

The legacy of the lab truly starts with its superpowered children. Eleven, the one who stands out, is a result of both her mother's MKUltra-style experimentation and years of sadistic abuse at the hands of Dr. Brenner. Her abilities—telekinesis, remote sensing, and others—make her the crown jewel of the lab. But she is only one of them. Kali (Eight) is a similar example, hinting at a full program to create psychic weapons out of kids.

Eleven comes in contact with an animal from a dark, alternate world. That contact negligently opens up a portal between worlds. This gate serves as the origin of all the otherworldly atrocities we witness later—Will's vanishing, the Demogorgon, and the mind-flaying nightmares of subsequent seasons.

Although most of the Hawkins residents have no idea what is going on in that lab, its power permeates everything. The lab has the local law enforcement in its pocket, twists the truth at every opportunity, and behaves with absolute impunity.

The Montauk Project and other real-world influences

The Montauk Project is a conspiracy theory legend. The lore states that at Camp Hero in Montauk, New York, the U.S. government was experimenting with time travel, alien communication, and mind control. None of it has any basis in fact, but the rumors were so descriptive and bizarre that they took hold. Even Stranger Things was first going to be Montauk before the Duffer Brothers relocated the action to Indiana.

Even the exterior of the Hawkins Lab is real-world based—its exterior scenes were shot on Emory University's Briarcliff Campus in Georgia, a place that provides just the right amount of institutional creepiness. Such real-world references make Stranger Things feel tethered to reality, even when monsters are literally crawling out of walls.