Shortly after binge watching season 1 of Stranger Things, we had the idea that we should put together a themed Halloween party. Since I had already been working on music-reactive LEDs as a hobby, it didn’t seem much of a stretch to build a bunch of decorations. Because how cool would it be to party at the Byers house?

We needed some way for the Upside Down to communicate, so we built a wall! We ended up actually using studs, drywall and paneling as it seemed to be the best option to not have the actual walls. It turns out putting up real wallpaper is a gooey endeavor!

Joyce didn’t stop at anything to find Will. We didn’t stop at anything to have a good party! All in all, there are about 1200 individual light bulbs of some sort up here and around the house.

Joyce’s phone rings throughout the party! It plays audio clips from YouTube of the show.

In addition to the lit letters, there are 600 addressable lights around the room. This let me change the patterns and colors to match the music. We are partying after all! And who knows how to party better than a Demogorgon?

I used both WS2811 and WS2812/NeoPixels for the project. It seemed like the perfect fit, and let’s me individually address each and every bulb on it’s own.