At ‘Stranger Things: The Experience’ Toronto the demodogs and other monsters keep you jumping

A group of strangers is locked in a room at the Hawkins National Laboratory and monsters called “demodogs” are throwing themselves at the doors, which are about to open unless we use our Eleven-like paranormal abilities to keep them closed.

Welcome to “Stranger Things: The Experience.”

The immersive exhibit opened in Toronto Friday, and for a “Stranger Things” fan, which I am, there’s a lot to like.

First off, a short primer on “Stranger Things,” the wildly popular Netflix show that debuted in 2016 and is to begin production on its fifth and final season next month.

The basic premise is that, in the 1980s, the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, is plagued by supernatural phenomena coming from a mirror world known as the Upside Down. It’s up to a group of nerdy, “Dungeons and Dragons”-playing friends to save the town, helped by a girl with psychokinetic powers named Eleven.

These friends — including Eleven or El (Millie Bobby Brown), Max (Sadie Sink), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Erica (Priah Ferguson) — are central to “Stranger Things: The Experience,” which takes visitors into the Hawkins lab and the Upside Down circa 1986.

In reality, we’re inside the Cinespace Marine Terminal Studio in Toronto’s Port Lands, a place that has seen its share of make-believe as a hub for film and TV production.

“The Experience” occupies 30,000 square feet of the studio’s Stage A.

The idea is that you’re essentially part of a “Stranger Things” episode. Actors playing employees of the Hawkins lab (the place where a gate was opened between Hawkins and the Upside Down, and where Eleven was kept and experimented on as a child by the evil Dr. Brenner) welcome you into the facility for a “sleep study.”

But when you’re herded into the Rainbow Room for testing — in the show, a playroom for child experimental subjects like Eleven — it’s discovered that you all have powers (I won’t tell you how, that’s part of the fun).

Over 45 minutes, you become part of a plan by Dustin, Erica, Mike, Lucas and Will to rescue Eleven and Max, who have become trapped in the Upside Down. The kids communicate with you via video screens and speakers, guiding you through the adventure in pre-recorded segments.

When a rift is opened, you have to walk through it from the lab into the Upside Down — it was kind of funny how, in my group, people were reluctant to be first to enter the tunnel — and help hologram versions of Max and El battle creatures like the aforementioned demodogs, demogorgons, demobats and Vecna himself, the big bad of Season 4.

To be honest, I was a bit worried that we’d walk into the Upside Down and someone in a Vecna suit would leap out, scaring the living daylights out of me, like one of those Halloween haunted house attractions. That didn’t happen, but you might find yourself jumping involuntarily when monsters appear to fly at you out of the screen or are outside the room you’re in, rattling the doors.

It’s all good fun, though. And the 45 minutes really fly by.

Next thing you know, you’re exiting into the Mix-Tape zone, where you can sample Surfer Boy pizza or Scoops Ahoy sundaes; have a cocktail or mocktail; play vintage arcade games; listen to ’80s music; buy merch and pose for photos — two of the most popular ops being a statue of Vecna in kill mode and a replica of the Byers’ living room, complete with the Christmas lights that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) used to communicate with Will when he was trapped in the Upside Down in Season 1.

There was a time, long before the rise of the internet and social media, when the most interactive you could get with a TV series you liked was maybe writing a fan letter and getting back an autographed photo.

Nowadays, fans can communicate directly with the stars and creators of their favourite shows via Twitter; meet them in person at comic-cons and attend “experiences” like this one.

The difference between “Stranger Things: The Experience” and others that have come through Toronto — like “The Friends Experience” and “The Office Experience,” on at Yorkville until June 4 — is that this one is truly immersive.

Netflix, which partnered with “global tech-enabled entertainment discovery platform” Fever on the exhibit, said via its publicists that the storyline was developed with “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer “so fans could see themselves as the hero … get to interact with characters in person from the series and feel like they are stepping into the world of the Upside Down or Hawkins, Indiana.”

I don’t know about being a hero, but I’d sure like to know how the demodogs outside the door seemed so real. (And this would be a good place to point out that given the sometimes violent content, the flashing lights, constant noise and the mild swears, this isn’t an experience for young children.)

One downside is that there is no public transit that takes you directly to Cinespace. And at $49 and up per ticket (which doesn’t include the cost of merchandise, food or drinks) it’s not a cheap night out. But if you’re a fan of the TV series and you’ve got the disposable income, you’ll get a kick out of it.

Debra Yeo is a deputy editor and a contributor to the Star’s Culture section. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @realityeo

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