Location from Stranger Things by The Duffer Brothers
A Department of Energy facility on the outskirts of Hawkins that conducted illegal psychic experiments on children and accidentally tore open a gate to the Upside Down.
Hawkins Lab is where the nightmare started. Under the direction of Dr. Martin Brenner, the facility ran MKUltra-derived experiments on children with psychic potential — numbering them instead of naming them, isolating them, punishing disobedience, and pushing their abilities toward military applications. Eleven was the crown jewel: a girl with telekinetic power strong enough to reach across dimensions. When Brenner pushed her to make contact with the Upside Down, she accidentally tore open the first gate in the lab's basement, unleashing the Demogorgon and setting every subsequent horror in motion. The lab has been the epicenter of Hawkins' supernatural crises — the gate was sealed, reopened, and sealed again. After the 1984 incident Dr. Owens attempted to manage the fallout more humanely, but the damage was done. The facility represents the original sin: adults who treated children as weapons and cracked the world open in the process.
A sprawling concrete compound behind chain-link fencing topped with razor wire, set back from the road in dense woods. Government signage reads 'Hawkins National Laboratory — U.S. Department of Energy.' Inside, sterile corridors with fluorescent lighting, reinforced doors with keycard access, and deep sub-levels that descend to the gate chamber. The Rainbow Room is a jarring contrast — bright colors and children's furniture in the middle of a military installation. After the 1983 incident, the lower levels are scarred with organic growth from the Upside Down, vines creeping through cracked concrete.
Also known as: Hawkins Lab, the lab, Hawkins National Laboratory, the DOE lab, the Department of Energy