Why did the town hate Eddie?

Why Hawkins Turned Against Eddie

At first glance, Eddie Munson was just another loud, lanky metalhead with a leather jacket and a love for role-playing games. But in Hawkins, Indiana—a town already on edge after years of unexplained disappearances and government secrets—Eddie’s passion made him a target.

He led the school’s Dungeons & Dragons club, known as the Hellfire Club. To the kids who played, it was an escape—a world of dragons, quests, and camaraderie. But to the adults in Hawkins, it was something far darker. In the early '80s, a wave of moral panic swept across America, branding D&D as a gateway to devil worship and juvenile delinquency. Hawkins was no exception.

His long hair, band patches, and unapologetic weirdness didn’t fit the town’s idea of a “good kid.” When real evil began creeping through Hawkins—when people vanished, when creatures lurked in the woods—the town needed someone to blame. They chose Eddie.

Never mind that he spent nights running campaigns to give misfit kids a sense of belonging. Never mind that his theater of fantasy was, in truth, a sanctuary. The truth didn’t matter as much as the story people wanted to believe: that Eddie, with his dice and spellbooks, was dangerous.

It wasn’t just about the game. It was about fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of anyone who didn’t conform. And Eddie, bold and unashamed, stood out like a lightning rod.

In the end, the town’s hatred wasn’t really about Dungeons & Dragons. It was about misunderstanding, prejudice, and the cost of being different when the world is already trembling on the edge of chaos.