Every character featured in movies or web series has an inspirational story behind it. In Season 4, the reckless character of Eddie Munson seems to have strings attached to a real-life based documentary. He is the leader of Hellfire Club, officially established in Hawkins High School for all Dungeons & Dragons fans. And the only person kind to Mike and Dustin when highschool started. 

Eddie Munson is losely based on the Damien Echols’ life

We see Eddie constantly depicted as a freak and outcast, accused of the murder of Chrissy in season 4. Interestingly enough, by the Paradise Lost documentary inspired these attributes of Eddie and his life. The documentary frames the trials of West Memphis Three Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin. This teenager trio was guilty of necromancy and murder of three young boys in 1994.

And so Duffer Brothers picked the life story of Damien Echols and used certain elements to form the character of Eddie Munson. Echols’ habit of writing dark literature, wearing shady clothes, and liking heavy metal music is similar to Munson in Stranger Things. Eddie is a drug dealer, D&D game master, and 80s metalhead, and doesn’t care (and even revels) about being known as the agent of the devil or a freak. The physical and mental representation of Eddie seems like a variant avatar of Damien Echols. He also loved rock band music, wears shady clothes, and keeps long messy hair.

The main connection between them is that they choose the wrong paths in their teenage years. Police charged Echols with the murder of three kids in a procession of witchcraft. Likewise, authorities believe Eddie to be responsible for Chrissy’s death and he has to hide from the police in season 4. 

The dungeon master who loves to revel in the fiendish game

In the first episode of Stranger Things Season 4, viewers meet the Hellfire Club led by Eddie Munson. The impoverished life of Eddie threw him into the drug dealing business. He also loves the prohibited satanic games like D&D as we see him being the Vecna during a game. This sinister game played by Hellfire Club has another connection to the Paradise Lost documentary apart from Munson. We see in the movie that all the three boys were involved in satanic rituals. And the boys killed in that ritual had mutilated bodies, found in a drainage canal in Robin Hood Hills. Likewise we see Chrissy’s body is completely mangled and found in Eddie’s trailer. 

What do you think of this connection between the documentary and Munson’s Character?