The family who once lived in the haunted Hawkins house in Stranger Things is the Creel family. Their surname belongs to Victor Creel, his wife Virginia, their son Henry, and their daughter Alice.
The Creels move into the Hawkins house in 1959. Strange events soon convince Victor that the property is haunted, but season 4 reveals that the supposed supernatural curse was actually connected to Henry’s psychic abilities. Henry later becomes Subject One at Hawkins Laboratory and ultimately the villain known as Vecna.
The house becomes central to season 4 because Nancy, Robin, Steve, and the others investigate its history while trying to understand Vecna’s origins. The murders of Virginia and Alice were publicly blamed on Victor, who was sent to a psychiatric institution after surviving Henry’s attack.
The surname is sometimes confused with Hargrove, Munson, or Holland because those families are also important to Hawkins’ story. The Hargroves are connected to Billy and Max, the Munsons to Eddie, and the Hollands to Barb, but none of them owned the Creel House.