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The Props of Will and Barb Corpses, an Egg and a Deer

Will Byers Corpse Prop

Specialty props created for Stranger Things

The corpses of Will and Barb were neither computer graphics nor special effects make-up, but actual props made for the show. The props were built by special effects company Fractured FX, who also did special effects for Independence Day: Resurgence, The Conjuring, Insidious and American Horror Story, among others.

Here is a closer look at Will's body on the slab, which was featured in "Chapter Four: The Body." Of course, turns out it was a fake prop stuffed with cotton in the show as well, but Hawkins Lab really went all out for this cover-up. Fractured FX delivered the completed corpse a month after they received the job.

Will Byers Dead Body Prop

Fun fact: The Duffer Brothers played a prank on Noah Schnapp (Will's) mother by propping up the corpse in a dark closet and leading her to it. Though startled at first, she soon took pictures with the fake body and sent them to all her friends.

As for Barb's corpse, we only saw a close-up of the head in "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" and a brief glimpse at a weird angle in "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down." Barb's ending was much gorier than the show would indicate, as the following images of Barb's corpse in production reveal.
Barb Corpse Prop
So why was the prop not featured in all its glorious goriness – is this another case of the "Poor Barb" phenomenon? According to Aaron Sims, whose team created the equally disturbing concept art for Barb's corpse, they went towards a cleaner version as it became too unrecognizable and it was difficult to tell exactly what happened to her.

In addition to the corpses, Fractured FX also created the mysterious, yellow egg found by Hopper in the Upside Down in the final chapter. Aaron Sims was behind the concept art for this as well, and revealed that we had briefly seen the monster feeding off these eggs in other scenes.

The Upside Down Egg

Though the prop doesn't reveal more about the nature of the eggs, the blood-like red inside could indicate that the Demogorgon had a feast with this particular egg, and whatever was growing inside didn't fare all too well.

Animatronic Deer Prop

Finally, another prop featured in the show was the dying deer found by Nancy and Jonathan in "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat." This one was created by a company called Creature FX, though unfortunately I haven't found any more information about it. However, judging by the realism of the poor animal in the show, it was likely an animatronic prop.

Images: Fractured FX Facebook / Netflix Stranger Things screenshot

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