Featured Image Credit: Netflix/CBS
Topics: Stranger Things
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Emma Guinness
The fourth season of Stranger Things has been a smackdown hit, but what few people know is that the storyline could have actually been inspired by an actual crime that happened in real life.
This was suggested by Netflix Geeked, who claim the series was inspired by the West Memphis Three, a group of three teens falsely convicted of triple murder in 1993.
The teenagers - Damien Echols, 18, Jessie Misskelley, Jr.,17, and Jason Baldwin, 16, were convicted of taking the lives of three eight-year-old boys - Steve Edward Branch, Christopher Mark Byers, and James Michael Moore.
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The teens were sentenced to death for their crimes, and they spent years on Death Row before new DNA evidence exonerated them in 2011.
And it appears as if this true crime story gave some inspiration when creating this season’s new character, Eddie Munson, aka the Dungeon & Dragons playing leader of the Hellfire Club.
The metalhead bears a ‘loose’ resemblance to one of the teenagers - Damien Echols - who is now a writer and artist.
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The misunderstood character is described as a ‘freak’ by the Hawkins of High School jocks because of what he looks like and enjoys.
This was a reflection of the troubled view many had at the time of 'metal heads' as well as Dungeons & Dragons, which was thought to promote the occult.
It’s therefore unsurprising that Eddie hates the school basketball captain, Jason Carver.
But despite this, he befriends Jason’s girlfriend Chrissy Cunningham, only to be accused of her murder when she’s killed by Vecna.
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Joseph Quinn, who plays Eddie Munson, told Men's Health: “The satanic panic of the time was definitely at the spine of my character.”
This was all explored in the documentary Paradise Lost, which inspired the Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers.
While it’s not known how Eddie’s storyline will end, the true-crime behind it will undoubtedly make Volume Two of season four even more interesting to view.
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Echols, pictured below in 2012, now campaigns for prison reform after spending 18 years in prison - 10 of which were in solitary confinement - for a crime he didn't commit.
Reacting to the true-crime link, one Stranger Things fan wrote on Twitter: “I had a sneaking suspicion but I'm glad to see this confirmed! it would be awesome if the show brought new attention to this very serious issue.”
A second added: “That's AWESOME! Have been following the WM3 for... Holy s**t, forever it seems... Got serious Damien Echols vibes with Eddie Munson... Bravo Stranger Things!”
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Will Eddie find himself similarly exonerated from the accusations that he killed Chrissy?
The answer will be revealed in volume two, which is being released on July 1.