There’s one scene in “Stranger Things” that was based on a real nightmare

Netflix’s breakout hit, Stranger Things, is based on creepy, crawly, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night tropes from the 1980s, and it’s absolutely seeping with pop culture. While none of the events in Hawkins, Indiana have happened for real (…that we know of), in all works of fiction, there’s usually a little bit of truth. The Duffer Brothers, Ross and Matt, have taken everything they love from childhood and dumped it into this show. It’s a work of fiction for them, but did some truth make it into Season 2?

Like, did they ever dress up as Ghostbusters…and then show up at school wearing their stylish Ghostbusters costumes only to find that the rest of the school did not dress up for Halloween?

“Yes” to the first part, “no” to the second. But the idea of showing up to school in costume and being the only one in costume is very much a real fear the Duffer Brothers share.

"[Showing up in costume when no one else is dressed up is] more a nightmare that I had, you know what I mean?" Matt explained to HelloGiggles on the Stranger Things red carpet. "With them walking in, I was like, 'This has happened to kids before...This is, this is true life.'"

The brothers also really love that scene for another reason:

“I love it because there’s that shot of them turning around and looking horrid at the kids coming out of the bus, and they use it in the trailer and it looks like something horrific is happening. Something horrific is happening, but it’s not a monster. It’s just kids in regular clothes.”

As for their own Ghostbusters costumes, the brothers confess, “for Halloween [we dressed up] once, but generally in life, many, many times.” Years later, they’re also pretty proud of their Ghostbusters collections back in the 1980s.

“We had the whole thing,” Ross eagerly explains. “We had the proton packs, we had the trap that actually opened and closed, none of which were available in ’84 when this takes place, ’cause Ghostbusters had just come out, so our kids have to invent all that stuff. But we had the actual gear from the Ghostbusters — not the actual gear, but the toys.”

Matt also wants to stress this:

"It's actually very difficult to build a Ghostbuster trap. It opens, it turns out, I've realized. It's not a simple thing to do, so if a kid wanted to do the, make their own homemade trap, you're probably gonna fail. I'm sure some kid is gonna figure it out. Some genius kid is gonna figure it out."

Well, Dustin did, so it looks like he just outsmarted the Duffer Brothers. Keeping Dart in the proton pack, though? Not so much.