- Moderate
- Seasons 1 and 2 are more suspenseful than violent, but season 3 basically flips that, choosing to show much more violence and gory imagery. Season 4 follows suit of season 3, but in a more violent way. The entirety of season 3 has some gory scenes of rats and humans exploding into piles of flesh and bones and moving with gory sound effects.
- The monster from season 3 can be pretty frightening, but the scariest monsters come from season 4.
- The final episodes of each season are very intense, particularly in season 4.
- Season 3 comes with a warning mentioning frequent use of strobe lighting throughout the season. Viewers sensitive to this type of lighting and imagery may feel uncomfortable as flashing lights of all sorts are used quite a bit.
- Multiple emotionally intense seasons throughout and particularly towards the end of each season.
- The ending of the season 3 is extremely emotional and melancholic.
- The monsters may frighten younger viewers.
- Many intense scenes where people are about to die which can put you on edge slightly. In other words, it may be funny, but it's not a light-hearted show.
- Flashbacks of Eleven being kept captive by a man she calls "Papa", she is used for experiments, brainwashed and locked in windowless rooms by herself, this may be sad or disturbing to some viewers.
- The main character, El, is severely bullied in season 4. Not so frightening, but can be distressing and upsetting to some. Especially, the skating scene in season 4 episode 2.
- Season 4 definitely has a darker tone and is a lot more horror focused than the first 3 seasons. Both the monster and its backstory are quite unsettling.
- The episodes of season 4 contain a various amounts of triggers, mentioning suicide for example. The first death catches the viewer off guard and it can be shocking. The creatures' appearances are very detailed and scary, nausea can also be caused. The murders are very detailedly shown, people's body are severely injured and snatched which can remind the viewers of exorcism. Nightmares can be caused or flashbacks due to the possibility of getting traumatized by watching.
- In season 3 there is a monster made out of guts and gore which is less frightening but more disturbing and weird.
- Season 4 is not very gory but people get killed in very disorienting ways
- Bits of jumpscares by demogorgons
- Billy is highly abusive to max in season 2. Especially Ep2 Ep4 and Ep5
- Severe injures including extreme bruises, blood, gore, corpses, flesh and organs.
- Rated TV-14 for intense sequences of violence and terror including frightening images, thematic elements, some suggestive references, language and drug material.
- Seasons 1 - 3: Some violence and gore, not too disturbing but still quite gory with season three being the most gory. Season 4: More graphic violence and gore, people are killed in extremely disturbing ways throughout the entire season.
- Many scenes involving children either being killed or in peril.
- Season 1 centers on a boy who has been kidnapped by a mysterious creature and includes many scenes of high-tension, scary scene involved a nightmare-like landscape called the "upside down" and there are occasional jump-scares. The creatures can be frightening to younger audiences.
- Season 3 has the most intense scenes of the series to that point. The new creature is significantly more intense. And multiple people are affected by it, which can be very intense.
- A character dies in front of his sister. This is very emotional.
- While season 1 and 2 had happy endings. Season 3 and 4 has a more bittersweet ending. With many characters left dead and others with their fates unknown. This may cause viewers to cry.
- Elevens leg is cut open and we see it and a character gets stabbed through the chest. We also see people explode briefly with some blood.
- The season finales are all very intense and emotional, with a lot of strobe light. The most intense one is the season 4 finale.
- In season two, Bob is chased by demodogs and ends up getting killed. Joyce's reaction is very dramatic and emotional.
- The monster (Vecna) in season 4 kills his victims by first putting them in a dream state in which they face horrific things of their past, before they rise off the ground and their bones proceed to snap and twist, whilst their eyes burst. The whole sequence is shown, which can be scary for some viewers.
- Season 4 is the most horror we have got in this show and is very clearly based on Nightmare on Elm Street. Characters levitate and are contorted, their bones snapping and their eyes disappearing. A character also gets attacked by demobats in this season and some deaths caused by Vecna are unsettling, disturbing and upsetting.
- The character of Peter Ballard appears nice at first however as time goes on and his true identity is revealed. His appearance also changes significantly (bloodshot eyes) as his voice is also very menacing.
- In season 4 a character named victor creel is seen with his eyes gouged out, the act is mostly off-screen with "blink-and-you-could-miss-it" flashbacks of him using a hidden object in his sock to do himself the graphic deed.
- It is implied in a flashback that a man is accidentally responsible for a baby being burned alive. The baby is not shown but a basinet is shown engulfed in flames and we hear the baby screaming. Not graphic but extremely upsetting. This event is shown 3 more times.
- Jason Carver's presence in most scenes are very eerie as some viewers may believe that he could do something dangerous. But that isn't really the result.
- Peter Ballard/Henry Creel/001/Vecna is a very demonic and frightening character. He has an appearance that will definitely frighten viewers and while is backstory is very crowd-pleasing, its also very upsetting to hear.
- The hospital scene in season 3 is very graphic and intense and there are lots of bodies and lots of blood
- Papa and his lab of children may be frightening for some people
- In the season 4 finale Max is severely injured by the main antagonist of the series lots of blood and gore is seen.
- Some major characters die and their deaths are very emotional intense.
- In each of the first 4 seasons a well written, loveable character is introduced just to then be killed off in a graphic manner.
- Jane (Eleven) busts Angela's face open in season 4 with a roller blade after she insulted her about not having any family.
- In Season 2, episode 4: Hopper and Eleven were having a heated argument.