What Vecna’s Red Smoke Area Really Is
WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 4.
In Stranger Things season 4, Max and Nancy’s possessions take them to a different part of the house than the Upside Down. In past seasons, possessions by the Mind Flayer or captures by the Demogorgons have taken victims there.
In Stranger Things season 4, Max and Nancy’s possessions take them to a different part of the house than the Upside Down. In past seasons, possessions by the Mind Flayer or captures by the Demogorgons have taken victims there.
Vecna’s red smoke area and the Upside Down are more clearly established as different places in Stranger Things season 4, Vol. 1’s finale. When Max is cursed by Vecna and possessed, her body is still in the Hawkins dimension at Billy’s grave, with the same being the case for Nancy. When considering Dustin’s theory on Vecna’s curse, it seems the red smoke area doesn’t exist at all.
Max and Nancy were able to see the personal lair of Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna in Stranger Things 4. Victor Creel’s possessions saw them transported into traumatic moments within their own minds. Max and Nancy had discovered a backdoor to Vecna’s mental world that could allow them to escape.
Vecna’s red smoke area is similar to Freddy Krueger’s in A Nightmare on Elm Street. The only escape from Freddy’s dream world is to be woken up or injured by a non-sleeping person. Like Freddy, Vecna’s possessed victims can only escape through their favorite song blasted into their ears and the memories of those they love.
Vecna’s connection to Creel House and, of course, the villain himself, is a major source of his power. Unlike the Upside Down, which may be impossible to destroy, Vecna’s red smoke area will be eliminated alongside Henry Creel/Number One, as it only exists within his own mind. Since the physical body of Vecna still resides in an alternate reality, the reason why the home’s pieces float in the red smoke world is that this location is his source of power.
