Discover Where ‘Stranger Things’ Is Filmed: Tours and More!

Stranger Things is the second most watched show on Netflix and captivated all-aged audiences with its cast of stand-out stars and 1980 nostalgia. The show follows a group of young friends in 1980s Indiana. They witness and battle supernatural forces and secret government exploits. As the group searches for answers, the children unravel mysteries. 

The small town of Stranger Things is set in Hawkins, Indiana. However, the critically acclaimed Netflix series is shot all over Georgia. Production scouted all around the state before they chose the towns of Jackson and Atlanta.

Georgia, in recent years, has gained the title “Hollywood of the South.” It is an ideal location for shooting television and movies because the state’s landscape is enormous and differs from dense cities. Georgia has towering skyscrapers for city scenes, thick forests, hidden waterfalls, and small towns. Georgia has become a hot spot for filming many famous television shows because of its wide range of landscapes and lucrative tax incentives. These perks have lured major shows like The Walking Dead and Cobra Kai to the state’s woods.

Various landmarks in Georgia serve as critical locations for the show. Places like Emory University serve as Hawkins National Laboratory. Hawkins Middle and High School are the former Patrick Henry Highschool. The Hawkins Starcourt Mall, a central setting for season three, is a real abandoned mall just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. From malls, schools, labs, and cemeteries, here are some of the Georgia filming locations in Stranger Things you can visit. WARNING – Spoilers ahead. 

Filming Locations 

Hawkins Laboratory 

Atlanta, Georgia 

At Emory University Briarcliff Campus, a brutally styled building is now the set of the famous Hawkins Laboratory. In Stranger Things, this laboratory is where many significant scenes happen, including Spoiler Alert* the brutal massacre of telekinetic children. However, this harsh building was only used in exterior shots of the Hawkins Laboratory in the series. All the interior shots were filmed at a studio on a soundstage. 

Interestingly enough, the building used in the series at the Emory University Campus also has a strange and unusual history in real life. Another building on the property served as a Mental Health Institute from 1965 to 1997. The property used to house a massive mental health hospital and other satellite homes for long-term residents. The outbuildings were eventually razed, the public pool filled in, and Emory University purchased the property. The former hospital building is still there and appears in multiple shots for Stanger Things. Basic psychiatric research used to happen on the property. Still, today it is a popular shooting location not only for Stanger Things but also for other films like the 2017 horror flick Rings. Fans aren’t allowed inside the building, but you can take as many pictures and selfies as you want from outside the building. 

Starcourt Mall

Duluth, Georgia

In the third season of Stanger Things, the squad realizes that a secret Russian base is disguised as the new famous Starcourt Mall. In real life, Starcourt Mall is the abandoned Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia. Gwinnett Mall shut down a few months before season three began filming after years of struggling to attract tenants to its shops. Five months before filming began, a murder happened in an old Subway within the abandoned mall’s food court. The Starcourt Mall was mainly abandoned before they used it as a set, so the production team rebuilt dozens of storefronts to make it look like a functioning ’80s mall. 

Bradley’s Big Buy Grocery Store

Palmetto, Georgia

Palmetto is a town in Georgia located about 25 miles southwest of Atlanta with a population of a little more than 5,000 people. Once the show aired in 2016, thousand of fans came to the town. In addition, cashiers at Bradley’s Big Buy see dozens of fans from around the globe daily who are in search of the place Eleven stole Eggos in the first season. 

The store changed its name and became a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in 2019, but fans are still coming. David Johnston, the store manager, even gives out tours to fans of the exact route through the store when Eleven stole the Eggos. 

Hawkins Police Department 

8485 Courthouse Square W., Douglasville, Georgia

As you know, the town of Hawkins is Jackson, Georgia, in real life, but only some things were filmed in the city of Jackson. The building used as the Police Department in Hawkins, where Sheriff Jim Hopper works, is located in Douglasville, about 75 minutes from Jackson. The building today is the present town hall. 

Hawkins Community Pool

Atlanta, Georgia 

During the third season of Stranger Things, Billy works as a lifeguard and hits on older women at Hawkins Community Pool. In real life, the pool used as Hawkins Community Pool is South Bend Pool in Atlanta. The pool is only half a mile from Screen Gems Studios, where most of the interior scenes of Stranger Things are filmed. South Bend Community Pool is open Tuesday through Sunday and charges 5$ for everyone ages six and up. 

Downtown Hawkins 

Jackson, Georgia 

Downtown Jackson, situated about 50 miles south of Atlanta, is the fictional downtown of Hawkins. Joyce Byers, played by Winona Ryder, and Bob Newby, played by Sean Astin, work at the general store there. The stores in Jackson have welcomed the new business as fans continue to visit. For example, Lucy Lu’s Coffee Cafe opened downtown Jackson and created a whole Stranger Drinks menu. Some of the beverages on the menu include Sheriff Hopper, a hazelnut vanilla coffee drink, and the Demogorgon, a frappuccino with red food coloring to look like blood. The drink was named after the monster that rampages through Hawkins. 

Hawkins Cemetery

Stone Mountain, Georgia

One of the most pivotal scenes of the series, where Max has a touching monologue about her abusive relationship with her brother Billy happens at Hawkins cemetery. This cemetery is Stone Mountain Cemetery in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The cemetery was founded in the 1850s and contained graves that date back to the Civil War. 

Kamchatka Prison 

Vilnius, Lithuania

In the latest season of Stranger Things, one of the biggest twists is that Hopper is still alive and imprisoned in the high-security prison in Kamchatka, Russia. However, in real life, the prison the production crew shot its Russian jail scenes is a prison in Vilnius, Lithuania. This prison was also used as a set for the popular HBO series Chernobyl. 

It is called Lukiskes Prison and was built in 1904 during the height of the Russian Empire. This prison was built when incarceration as a form of punishment was still widely practiced. At this time, people were either released, sent to a labor camp, or sent to the gallows instead of doing a hard time. This structure held prisoners for over a century until 2019 when it ironically transformed into a dance club and music venue. 

The Wheelers House

2530 Piney Wood Ln, East Point, GA 30344

You will find Mike and Nancy Wheeler’s house located right outside Atlanta. The place in season one had a Reagan/Bush ’84 campaign sign right in their front yard. This house is private property, so if you visit the location, do not trespass. The homeowners allow fans to take photos from the street. 

Tours 

Viator 

“The Upside Down” Film Locations tour in Atlanta on Viator is approximately 3 hours long, and tickets cost $158.00. On this tour, you can fit more Stranger Things filming locations in less time than exploring them alone. The guide on tour knows the quickest way between stops in Atlanta and the surrounding areas that show you where key scenes from the show were done. On this tour, you will ride comfortably, with hotel pickup and drop-off included. The stops on tour will consist of Hawkins, IN neighborhoods, including the homes of the Wheelers, Sinclairs, and Hendersons and the streets where the boys ride their bikes to school. On this tour, you will also see the studios where Stanger Things is filmed. 

Musement 

The Musement Stranger Things tour in Atlanta costs $125.00 and is 3 hours long. On this tour, you can expect to see Hawkins, IN neighborhoods, Screen Gems (the studio where Stanger Things is filmed), Hawkins Public Pool, Bimborm Steelworks, Hawkins Middle School, and Hawkins High School. 

Get Your Guide 

The Atlanta “Stranger Things” Film Locations Tour by Get Your Guide embarks on the ultimate adventure to filming locations of the show by an expert guide. This is a private tour, with a requirement that two people have to purchase tickets. On this tour, you can walk in the footsteps of your favorite characters, including Mike and Eleven, and see sites, including Hawkins Public Pool and Brimborn Steelworks. Hotel pickup is available only within Atlanta City Limits. 

Civitatis

Travel to the world of Stranger Things in the Civitatis tour. You’ll discover the real-life places where Eleven, Mike, Dustin, and Luke will live their intense adventures with the Demogorgon. This tour has hotel pickup and free cancellation. This tour is $155.00 and 3 hours long. 

Creatures in Stranger Things

The show Stanger Things gave its audience a handful of out-of-this-world creatures straight out of mythology. Several different and nasty creatures wreaked havoc. Here’s a closer look at all the monsters in Stranger Things.

The Demogorgon

In season one, the main villain was the Demogorgon, a creature in the board game Dungeons and Dragons. The monster was brought into the world in the series by Eleven, who has powerful abilities and was undergoing testing in the Hawkins Laboratory. She accidentally made eye contact with the Demogorgon in the Upside Down. During the second experiment, Eleven inadvertently opened the door to the other side when she was forced to undergo experiments. The Demogorgon snuck into our world, where he kidnapped Will Byers. 

Demo-Dogs

Dart is technically the same species as the Demogorgon, only in younger form. The gang first meets Dart when Dustin finds him in a trashcan. Dart started to grow very quickly and become dangerous even though Dustin was in denial. Dustin kept Dart as a pet and ended up eating the family cat before running off to the junkyard with creatures precisely like him. When the other demo dogs escaped back to the Upside Down, Dart died when Eleven closed the portal. 

The Mind Flayer 

The Mind Flayer was a monster that haunted Will’s psyche before becoming a real physical creature. When Will returned to our world, he suffered haunting visions of the Upside down, initially written off as PTSD. However, it was only when he started to act out the monster’s bidding that it was clear that the two had become linked mentally. The monster manipulated Will in an attempt for him to cross over into the underworld and was only stopped by Eleven when she sealed the door of the Upside down and cut him off. 

Where is Atlanta, Georgia Located on a Map?

As the capital of Georgia, Atlanta has a rich history intertwined with significant events like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The Atlanta History Center offers a comprehensive account of the city’s past, while the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site pays tribute to the influential African-American leader. In downtown Atlanta, the Centennial Olympic Park, constructed for the 1996 Olympics, houses the impressive Georgia Aquarium, among other attractions.

Here is Atlanta, Georgia on a map:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © ERIK Miheyeu/Shutterstock.com