Which Kate Bush song helps Max escape Vecna in Dear Billy?

Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” helps Max escape Vecna in the Stranger Things episode “Dear Billy.” The song plays through Max’s cassette player as her friends try to break Vecna’s psychic hold.

Max is pulled into Vecna’s mental world after visiting Billy’s grave and reading her farewell letter. Nancy and Robin discover that music helped Victor Creel survive a similar supernatural attack, so Lucas, Dustin, and Steve use Max’s favorite song to reach her.

The music opens a portal in Max’s mind. As she remembers happy moments with her friends, she runs toward it and narrowly escapes Vecna. The scene became one of the show’s defining emotional sequences and introduced the song to a new generation of listeners.

The track was originally released in 1985 under the longer title “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God).” Viewers sometimes identify it simply as “Running Up That Hill,” which is the title used in the quiz and the common shortened reference. It is not “Hounds of Love,” the title track of Bush’s 1985 album.