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Send your own 'Stranger Things' message from the Upside Down

A fan on Reddit sets up a wall of Christmas lights connected to the internet so others can transmit messages to his dorm room, "Stranger Things" style.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
2 min read

Thanks to the hit Netflix horror series "Stranger Things," Christmas lights will never be seen in the same way.

When Will contacts his mother Joyce from the Upside Down via the lights in their home, she gets the bright idea to string Christmas lights under letters of the alphabet so he can send her more detailed messages.

"Stranger Things" fan Caleb Kussmaul, who goes by the Reddit name Muffinizer1, decided to make an Upside Down message center of his own. He strung holiday lights under letters on a wall in his University of Massachusetts dorm room, then set up a website where strangers can leave messages to be transmitted through the lights. 

Kussmaul has intermittently been livestreaming his wall of lights on YouTube so people can tune in and try to decipher the messages on their own. 

The video is fun to watch not only to see if you can figure out the messages, but to remind yourself what it's like living in a college dorm room. 

The interactive "Stranger Things" message wall is so popular that Kussmaul started another livestream video on Monday to offer a closer look at the blinking lights. The previous 8-hour video is the best one to watch to see the messages light up the room at night, which makes it extra spooky.

Luckily, no Demogorgon has tried to crash through the dorm wall … yet.

For those who want to make their own interactive "Stranger Things" wall, Muffinizer1 posted instructions on Reddit. "Stranger Things" returns to Netflix on Oct. 27.

First published Oct. 23, 8:37 a.m. PT.
Update, 12:07 p.m. PT:
Added that Kussmaul put the livestream of his "Stranger Things" wall back up after taking it down.
Update, 3:02 p.m. PT: Added link to second livestream of Kussmaul's "Stranger Things" wall.

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