--- title: Stranger Things Season 3 Fan Theories: Eleven, Upside Down description: The internet is already hard at work on Stranger Things season three theories about Eleven, the Upside Down and Bob based on season two. canonical: https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-02T17:08:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:24.214Z og:title: Here Are the 'Stranger Things' Theories the Internet Is Obsessing Over og:description: Major theories about Eleven, the Upside Down and Bob og:url: https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3ee4691d8d23c13/6988e435bc6cfc22573e3c41/st_207-208_unit_0765r-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2768 og:image:height: 1557 og:image:alt: 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the 'Stranger Things' Theories the Internet Is Obsessing Over twitter:description: Major theories about Eleven, the Upside Down and Bob twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3ee4691d8d23c13/6988e435bc6cfc22573e3c41/st_207-208_unit_0765r-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the _Stranger Things_ Theories the Internet Is Obsessing Over > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=79b9c8c8-7136-4995-b9c7-f631d9368bd8&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 2, 2017 5:08 PM UTC  Stranger Things Stranger Things Tina Rowden/Netflix by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 2, 2017 5:08 PM UTC _TIME’s new_ [_weekly roundup_](http://time.com/4996000/reddit-terrible-financial-decisions-money-stranger-things/) _brings you the best and most surprising things happening on Reddit_ After Redditors binged through _Stranger Things’_ second season, Reddit was buzzing with fan theories about everything from The Upside Down to the show’s martyr Bob. **Warning**: This post contains spoilers for _Stranger Things_. ### **Could Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) be a much more major player in** [**The Upside Down’s origin story?**](http://time.com/5002685/stranger-things-season-3-details/) The [endlessly mysterious Netflix series](http://time.com/5002685/stranger-things-season-3-details/) appears to present that Eleven, the powerful test subject snatched from Terry Ives (Aimee Mullins) in the massive Hawkins Laboratory cover up, simply opened the portal to the Upside Down with her mind. But one superfan put forth the theory that Eleven actually created it.  Stranger Things Tina Rowden/Netflix ### **Is there a fungus among us?** Another took a scientific approach to theorize why the [monster](http://time.com/4985669/stranger-things-cast-duffer-brothers/) is able to spread. According to them, it’s actually fungi. Easy peasy.  Stranger Things Courtesy Netflix ### **Is Stephen King casting an even wider show on this show than fans thought?** Or is it all just Stephen King’s world and _Stranger Things_ is living in it? This fan thinks the show fits nicely into the larger universe the famed author built. It would certainly be a way for Matt and Ross Duffer to pay one of their [biggest influences](http://time.com/4994027/stranger-things-season-2-easter-eggs/) the ultimate compliment.  Stranger Things Courtesy Netflix ### **Has Bob (Sean Astin) been punking us this whole time with his nice guy act?** If you want to see Bob alive again, this theorist believes [Bob](http://time.com/4985669/stranger-things-cast-duffer-brothers/) will be back, making the case that he’s actually an evil vampire who masterminded season two’s worst outcomes. If you take the fan for their word, maybe Bob the superhero doesn’t look so super after all.  Stranger Things Courtesy Netflix ### **Stranger than fiction** A scary story like _Stranger Things_ gets to skip the facts and go for the most out of this world myth. But that doesn’t mean people don’t crave a wacky true story. This week redditors got talking on [r/AskReddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/) after redditor massdebate159 asked the question “what urban legend is actually true?” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/"},"headline":"Here Are the Stranger Things Theories the Internet Is Obsessing Over","datePublished":"2017-11-02T17:08:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:24.214Z","description":"Major theories about Eleven, the Upside Down and Bob","url":"https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","viral","onetime","Stranger Things Netflix"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3ee4691d8d23c13/6988e435bc6cfc22573e3c41/st_207-208_unit_0765r-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3ee4691d8d23c13/6988e435bc6cfc22573e3c41/st_207-208_unit_0765r-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2","caption":"2","creditText":"Tina Rowden/Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5005779/stranger-things-theories-2-reddit/","name":"Here Are the Stranger Things Theories the Internet Is Obsessing Over"}}]}] ```