Tomorrow, May 27, Stranger Things fans can gorge themselves on carbs and settle in for a nine-hour viewing, as volume one of the long-awaited fourth season lands on Netflix. In the meantime, as we count down the hours before half the population returns to Hawkins, Reddit has kept us occupied with plenty of interesting images and footage. Did you know that Saudi Arabia has its very own portal to the Upside Down? Well, now you do.
Al Nakheel Mall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has its own Stranger Things display, featuring a handmade portal to the Upside Down that even lights up like the real thing. Promoting the Netflix Original, the build features warning signs and supervisors in hazmat suits surrounding an Upside Down portal that appears to be made out of foam and other materials. Hand-painted tendrils crawl out of the life-like portal, which has been designed to give the illusion of breaking through the marble floors. For a finishing touch, the tendrils are even coated with a transparent material that resembles the sticky slime that covers the environment in the Upside Down.
In the short clip, which was uploaded by u/buzzbuzz20xx, the cameraman walks around the “rubble” and films the caution tape, making sure to get a close-up of the Stranger Things 4 sign that oversees the nifty arts-and-crafts project. At the end, we see someone in a hazmat suit placing a gas mask over their face, truly playing up to the fictional danger that makes Stranger Things so globally popular.
If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of every Stranger Things fan hopping on the next plane to Saudi Arabia. Well, probably not, but it is pretty cool.
