The Real Underground Tunnels of Hawkins Lab
17 buildings. Miles of corridors. What happened down there?
When the Demogorgon moves through tunnels beneath Hawkins Lab in Stranger Things, it's moving through real infrastructure. The Georgia Mental Health Institute has an extensive underground tunnel network.
📐 TUNNEL SPECIFICATIONS
- Buildings Connected: 17
- Main Structure: Building A (5 stories)
- Construction: 1965
- Official Purpose: Patient/supply transport
- Current Status: Abandoned, scheduled for demolition
BRIARCLIFF CAMPUS - TUNNEL NETWORK (SIMPLIFIED)
═══════════════════════════════════════════════
[BLDG-E]────[BLDG-D]────[BLDG-C]
\ │ /
\ │ /
\ │ /
[BLDG-F]───[BUILDING A]───[BLDG-B]
(MAIN/5 FLR)
/ │ \
/ │ \
/ │ \
[BLDG-G]────[BLDG-H]────[BLDG-I]
│ │
[BLDG-J] [MORGUE] [BLDG-K]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════
LEGEND: ─── = Underground Tunnel Connection
Fiction vs. Reality
🎬 IN STRANGER THINGS
- Tunnels lead to Upside Down
- Demogorgon uses tunnels
- Secret experiments below
- Portal in basement
- Children held underground
📋 IN REAL LIFE
- Tunnels connect 17 buildings
- Used for patient transport
- Emory professor did MKUltra
- Underground morgue
- 46 children institutionalized
What Were the Tunnels Used For?
The official explanation: underground corridors allowed discrete transport of patients and supplies. But the tunnels also allowed for activities away from public view.
The GMHI also had underground morgue facilities. Bodies could be processed and removed without ever being seen above ground.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW
No complete floor plan has ever been made public. Urban explorers report tunnels that don't appear on any known schematic. With demolition scheduled for 2025, we may never know.
⚠️ DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE ⚠️
The building is fenced, condemned, and being demolished.
In December 2025, a 19-year-old died exploring this site.
The complete investigation.
Before the evidence is buried forever.