'Stranger Things was filmed where I grew up'

Stranger Things is known for transporting fans into unfamiliar worlds, but for one academic there is nothing strange about the hit Netflix show - it was filmed where he grew up.

The US sci-fi horror series hooks fans into the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, following the world-saving adventures of Eleven and her Dungeons & Dragons-loving pals.

Dr Adam Powell says he was hooked from the moment he recognised some of the show's locations, which were shot in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Now based at Durham University, where he works as an assistant professor of medical humanities in the department of theology and religion, he said he "fell in love" with the show ever since he felt those "nostalgia pangs" of home while watching the first season.

"I thought it was fantastic storytelling, it was set in a very familiar and relatable place, and I wanted more," said Dr Powell, who lives in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

"I had no idea it would become a worldwide mega-success like this. I knew it was special, but I could not have predicted this level of popularity."

The show follows characters Eleven - who has psychokinetic abilities - Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will in their quest to fight evil from an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.

It wraps up its fifth and final series when the third instalment drops at 01:00 GMT on New Year's Day in the UK.

Set in the 1980s, the show features iconic buildings of the time including shopping malls, arcades and large school gym halls.

Dr Powell said he instantly recognised the arcade in season two of the show, as well as the sheriff's office in season one.

"I passed both of them frequently," he said.

"The building used for the arcade was across the street from the location of my very first job when I was 17, I saw it every time I left work."

The Starcourt Mall in season three also reminded him of his local mall growing up.

He said: "The Starcourt Mall very much like the local malls I recall from my childhood, Cumberland Mall which was closer to Atlanta and then, later, Arbor Place Mall which was built in my hometown and attracted many pre-teens and teens, including me."

Dr Powell, who has written a book about Stranger Things, said his niece also knew the actress Shannon Purser, who played Barbara "Barb" Holland in the first season.

"She was from the local area, and I think they attended the same high school," he added.

He says his students at Durham University think it is "surprising and cool" that he has a connection with the show.

"My teenage son has just gotten into Stranger Things and thinks it is cool too that I know some of the locations so well.

"For me though, not only do I have the nostalgia of the era itself but I am quite literally seeing home in the show."

His book - Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope - explores the narratives of the show and its lead characters.

"Death, grief, ethics, trauma, myth and hopes, these big punctuation marks on the human experience all come up in the show, and we wanted to explore that in the book," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"They use the realms of Dungeons & Dragons to make sense of their own experiences and to explore ideas about strength, heroism and evil."

While the series transports viewers into a different world, Dr Powell is certain of one thing - the evil of the Demogorgon can almost be real.

He said: "I don't believe there is a being that looks or sounds as terrifying as the Demogorgon but I do think they are real in the sense that we all have these fears, the fear of the unknown.

"We all really like the idea of the underdog, the young kid who could actually rise to the occasion and be the one who outwits and outmanoeuvres the idea of evil."

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