Who Dies in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4?

Stranger Things Season 4 is darker, meaner, and more brutal than any season before. The season opens with a literal blood bath and beloved characters like Max (Sadie Sink) and Steve (Joe Keery) find their lives in peril like never before.

As you’re making your way through Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1, you might find yourself desperately worried about the fate of your favorite character. After all, this season’s new monster, the Vecna, is a terrifying creature who worms his way into traumatized teen’s nightmares before using his supernatural powers to murder them mid-air. Once the Vecna has squared his sights on you it’s game over.

Such is the case with Max Mayfield this season. Still reeling from her brother Billy’s (Dacre Montgomery) death, Max has withdrawn herself from the company of Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Mike (Finn Wolfhard). She stalks the halls of Hawkins High with her headphones on, blaring her favorite song, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Max is easy prey for Vecna, but does that mean she’s doomed to die?

Here is everything you need to know about who lives, who dies, who tells their story in Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1…

SPOILER ALERT, OBVIOUSLY!!!

Does Max Die in Stranger Things Season 4?

No, Max Mayfield does NOT die in Stranger Things Season 4. At least, she hasn’t died in Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1.

However Max certainly comes the closest to dying in Stranger Things 4. That’s because the Vecna singles her out as one of his victims, haunting her with nightmares, headaches, and eventually psychic visions of her worst memory, losing Billy. About halfway through the season, Max’s pals hustle to find an answer to saving her. At the very last moment, as Vecna has our darling Max in his grasp, the group figures out the answer to fighting off the Vecna is music. Listening to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” saves Max from dying an evil death by the Vecna’s hands.

Max survives! (So far!)

Does Steve Die in Stranger Things Season 4?

The next major Stranger Things character to find themselves in mortal peril is everyone’s favorite friend, ally, and babysitter, Steve. At the end of Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 6 “The Dive,” Steve volunteers to swim down to the bottom of the lake to see if there is indeed a gate to the Upside Down where Patrick (Myles Truitt) dies. There is! And it sucks Steve into the Upside Down.

Once Steve is in the Upside Down, he is viciously attacked by creepy bat things which I’m sure have a D&D name in the Stranger Things universe. They literally take a bite out of our dear pookie’s flesh, seemingly turning him into a goner. So does Steve die?

No! At least, he survives to the end of Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1. Nancy, Robin, and a reluctant Eddie (Joseph Quinn) go after Steve and save him. That said, he does have a weird wound that probably needs medical attention. (Robin is concerned it is rabies. It is not. But what if it’s Upside Down rabies?) For now, Steve is fine!

Does Nancy Die in Stranger Things Season 4?

We shall see! Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 ends with Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) escape from the Upside Down foiled by Vecna. He whisks her to the Upside Down version of the Creel House where Nancy learns the truth about his origins. When the first volume of Stranger Things Season 4 ends, Nancy is very much in danger. Will her friends be able to hook her up with a walkman with her favorite song — which I assume is Africa’s “Toto,” based on the fact it was her and Steve’s Season 1 makeout song — before it’s too late?!?!

Who Dies in Stranger Things Season 4?

Even though none of our main favorites have bit the bullet by the end of Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1, there have been plenty of casualties by the end of Episode 7.

Stranger Things Season 4 opens with a flashback to Hawkins Lab back in 1979. In one day, everyone except Dr. Brenner and Eleven perished in a massacre that we only learn the full scope of in Episode 7. Lots of people, including children, die.

At the end of Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 1, Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) is murdered by the Vecna. Her death kicks off the main plot of the whole season as the town is certain Eddie killed her.

Vecna’s next victim is Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner). He’s a nerd at the high school paper who can’t catch a hint from Nancy. No one seems to mourn his death.

The next teen Vecna claims is basketball star Patrick. Lucas and the basketball bros are very upset about this.

In flashbacks, we also see Virginia (Tyner Rushing) and Alice Creel (Livi Burch) murdered by Vecna in the Creel House.

An agent assigned to protect Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Mike is shot by other agents. Only Argyle (Eduardo Franco) seems really torn up about it, but then the agent died in the back of his pizza truck.

That’s about the long and short of it when it comes to Stranger Things Season 4’s body count — for now. We’ve only seen the first Part of this new season. We’ll have to wait until the final two episodes of the season premiere on Netflix on July 1 to find out if all our favorites make it out alive.