One year after his disappearance, Will Byers and the town of Hawkins, Indiana, once again find themselves as the target of the Upside Down. A mysterious plague begins to consume pumpkin patches around the town during Halloween season. During this, Will perceives a large and many-armed shadow entity, which the party eventually names the "Mind Flayer", that is able to possess him after an attack. Meanwhile, the larger group, including Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson encounter "Demogorgon dogs" or "Demodogs", which terrorize the citizens of Hawkins. Will's family and friends alongside Jim Hopper, Mike's sister Nancy, Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington, Californian newcomer Max Mayfield and a missing Eleven, must join forces to contain the threat.
As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up at the arcade, and a skeptical Hopper inspects a field of rotting pumpkins.
After Will sees something terrible on trick-or-treat night, Mike wonders whether Eleven's still out there. Nancy wrestles with the truth about Barb.
Dustin adopts a strange new pet, and Eleven grows increasingly impatient. A well-meaning Bob urges Will to stand up to his fears.
An ailing Will opens up to Joyce - with disturbing results. While Hopper digs for the truth, Eleven unearths a surprising discovery.
Nancy and Jonathan swap conspiracy theories with a new ally as Eleven searches for someone from her past. "Bob the Brain" tackles a difficult problem.
Will's connection to a shadowy evil grows stronger, but no one's quite sure how to stop it. Elsewhere, Dustin and Steve forge an unlikely bond.
Psychic visions draw Eleven to a band of unhappy outcasts and an angry girl with a shadowy past.
An unlikely hero steps forward when a deadly development puts the Hawkins Lab on lockdown, trapping Will and several others inside.
Eleven makes plans to finish what she started while the survivors turn up the heat on the monstrous force that's holding Will hostage.