Stranger Things

"Stranger Things" star Gaten Matarazzo was spotted filming the final season of the Netflix hit ... and ya gotta admit, he's sure as hell not looking like a teenager anymore -- despite them trying to keep the illusion alive.

Gaten was on set Thursday in Georgia, chatting it up -- seemingly about his scene -- in between takes ... wearing the iconic Hellfire Club shirt in front of a grave for Eddie Munson, the loveable misfit played by Joseph Quinn who died last season.

Eddie and Gaten's character Dustin Henderson were thick as thieves in the show, BTW ... so you can bet this will be a pretty emotional scene -- and on another note, GM's grown his hair out too ... very Eddie-like.

Now, addressing the elephant in the room ... Gaten doesn't look like the kid he was when this whole thing premiered in 2016 ... the dude's 21 now, so keeping him as a teenager on the show is tricky -- and yet, that's exactly what they're trying to sell here.

We should note ... the entire cast looks much older than their character's ages -- and fans have been pointing that out for a while ... but it's unclear if this final season will involve a time jump of some sort, or will pick up where season 4 left off. Time jump would help make this go down easier in terms of buying the characters' matured appearances.

BTW, Gaten's made a huge name for himself following his 'ST' breakout -- he was in the movie "Honor Society," appeared on Broadway in shows like "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Sweeny Todd," and hosted/executive produced the Netflix series, "Prank Encounters."

A woman's life turned upside-down when she sent a bunch of money to one of the stars from "Stranger Things" ... and even divorced her husband because the "actor" told her to.

McKayla, a single mom from Kentucky, claims she was catfished and scammed out of $10k by someone who claimed to be Dacre Montgomery -- known for playing heartthrob-turned-villain, Billy Hargrove, in the Netflix series.

She shared her wild experience on the YouTube channel, Catfished, saying the 2 met on an online forum and chatted for a year before he asked her to be his girlfriend -- for reference, McKayla was still married, but claimed her relationship with her husband was toxic.

BTW, the real Dacre has been dating model Liv Pollock since 2017, but that bit of crucial info didn't seem to stop McKayla from thinking this was legit. He told her to choose between her husband and him ... and shockingly enough, she ditched her husband!

He also told her he couldn't access any of his bank accounts, saying they were all controlled by Liv ... which led to her sending the $10k of gift cards, crypto, and cash through payment apps over time.

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi aren't walking down the aisle yet, but they're partying like they are ... going all out commemorate their engagement with family members.

The "Stranger Things" star made sure to snap several photos Thursday with her fiancé, Jake -- Bon Jovi's 21-year-old son -- during the private party. And, the couple couldn't look happier, as they posed in front of a sign reading "Mr and Mrs Bongiovi."

19-year-old Millie donned a bridal lace co-ord set -- and Jake was suited and booted in green.

Hairstylist Pete Burkill shared several photos from the celebration, congratulating the young couple and showing off their hair for the event.

As we reported, Millie announced her engagement back in April ... sharing a photo of Jake hugging her, and flaunting her stunning diamond ring.

She captioned the photo with a quote from Taylor Swift's song "Lovers" -- "I've loved you 3 summers now, honey, I want 'em all."

Jake also shared the special moment on his page, posting photos with the caption, "forever."

Millie and Jake have been together since 2021, after initially connecting on social media.

Millie Bobby Brown and her boyfriend Jake Bongiovi are officially taking things to the next level ... the young couple's announcing their engagement.

The "Stranger Things" star shared her big news Tuesday morning by posting a pic of Jake -- the 20-year-old son of Jon Bon Jovi -- hugging her. It looks like the shot was taken moments after he popped the question, because his now fiancée is rocking a stunning diamond ring on her left ring finger.

19-year-old Millie's caption for the engagement post included a quote from Taylor Swift's song "Lovers" -- "I've loved you 3 summers now, honey, I want 'em all".

Jake and Millie have been together since 2021 when they initially met on IG. They became friends IRL, and have been inseparable since.

JB, who happens to be the spitting image of his pops, also made sure to share the special moment with his followers -- the caption on his 2 photos simply read, "Forever 🤍".

It's unclear when exactly the engagement went down ... there had been recent speculation because Millie was seen potentially wearing the diamond ring in another photo, not too long ago.

Well, turns out that rumor is true. Congrats!

Fun fact: Neither Millie nor Jake used to work on the docks (IYKYK).

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Noah Schnapp showed he was the life of the party on St. Paddy's Day at the University of Pennsylvania -- and he did a little Spider-Man routine to prove it.

The "Stranger Things" star was caught on video climbing up to the top of the PIKE fraternity house at the Ivy League school in which he's enrolled as a freshman ... studying business.

The footage, obtained by TMZ, started off with Noah scurrying on his hands and knees along the edge of a brick wall leading to the roof.

Noah then jumped to his feet and went into Spider-Man mode, scaling a portion of the façade before his buddies grabbed him and hoisted him to safety onto the roof. Once there, Noah cracked a big smile as he apparently beckoned someone to follow his lead.

He's obviously having a blast at college. You may recall, we also got video of Noah at a bar with a dirty swimming pool after he first arrived at the university in September. He was seen jumping into the pool filled with beer cans and cigarettes. All of his friends loved it and went totally nuts.

"Stranger Things" star Noah Schnapp has come out as gay.

The 18-year-old made the announcement Thursday on TikTok with a video of himself and text that reads, "When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was 'we know.'"

Interestingly enough, he also included the caption, "I guess I'm more similar to will than I thought."

Schnapp plays Will Byers on "Stranger Things" and fan speculation over the years has been that the character is gay, as it's clear he has a thing for Mike Wheeler on the show ... so it seems Schnapp is also confirming the fan theory.

Schnapp and his "Stranger Things" costar Millie Bobby Brown are super close -- the two hang out all the time and have appeared on late-night talk shows together over the years.

The infamous Creel House from "Stranger Things" is changing hands ... TMZ has learned the owners of the home already have a buyer.

Our real estate sources tell us the homeowners accepted an offer Wednesday -- the last day for bids to be submitted for the Georgia estate -- and the home is under contract. The place went on the market with a $1.5 million asking price just over a month ago. The agents are being tight-lipped on the buyer's identity.

The Victorian-style "haunted house" is featured in "Stranger Things" season 4 as the Creel family home and Vecna's lair in the Upside Down ... and it was originally built way back in 1882, but it's undergone extensive renovations.

The main house has 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms ... and there's a separate guest house in the backyard of the one-acre lot.

The property is in Rome, GA and it was once a very successful bed and breakfast before its Netflix fame.

Producers for "Stranger Things" used exterior shots of the home, plus some of the interior ... and the house was also recreated on a sound stage near Atlanta.

"Stranger Things" fans can now live out their worst nightmares -- the infamous Creel House in the hit series has hit the market.

The iconic haunted house, which is home to the Creel family and Vecna's lair in the Upside Down in Season 4, is now up for grabs in Rome, GA ... and it's listed for $1.5 million.

The home was purchased in 2019 for a mere $350k, but it's been restored to its original form and it has quite the history ... from the show and in real life.

The main house is 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and was originally built in 1882 ... that alone makes it a landmark. The estate was once a very successful bed and breakfast. There's a separate guest house in the backyard of the one-acre lot.

We're told producers of the show were looking for a Victorian-style "haunted house," and reached out to the owner in July 2019 to seal the deal for filming there.

They used exterior shots of the home and some of the interior ... but the house was also recreated on a sound stage near Atlanta.

We are told the owners of the home love it, but wanted to test the market for interest, considering all of the "Stranger Things" hype.

The "Stranger Things" themed Halloween display taking the Internet by storm ... is also drawing too much attention for one neighbor -- that got it all shut down, but now the homeowners are striking back to turn it on again.

Aubrey Appel tells TMZ ... she and her husband, Dave, turned the lights off on their display Sunday, and took down the levitating Max figure after a neighbor called the police. However, no official complaint was filed.

For those unaware, the insane display in Plainfield, Illinois is highlighted by Max Mayfield from the Netflix series seemingly floating in midair ... a reference to the latest season of the show.

Their setup's gone viral during this Halloween season, apparently too viral for some! Aubrey says the neighbor in question called cops after someone pulled into their driveway and walked on their lawn to check out the Appels' home.

Aubrey and Dave tell us they had reached out to all their neighbors before putting up the 'ST' homage and had the neighborhoods' full support. After the one neighbor's complaint, they were planning on taking everything down this week -- but had a change of heart due to the overwhelming amount of support they were getting.

Dave met with City Manager James Capparelli Wednesday and was told they were doing nothing wrong and had nothing but support for their home haunt.

Moving forward, they'll only be in full operation on weekend nights ... people can still take a look during the day if they want, but the lights will be off. Max will be "levitating" as long as winds are below 10 MPH, otherwise she'll be at her stepbrother Billy's gravesite.

Fans of "Stranger Things" could soon own an iconic piece of the show's history ... and it won't cost you a trip to the upside down to afford it, either.

The 1,846 square foot property, hitting the market with a $300K price tag, rests on 6 acres of land and was built way back in 1900.

The pad was listed on Monday and can be found in Fayetteville, GA -- nowhere near the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.

The seller acknowledges it's a "fixer-upper" ... which probably explains why the price tag is so low for a property tied to such a hit show. The listing describes it as "a PERFECT Airbnb, short-term rental or personal residence for someone willing to take it on."

'ST' fans will remember the house from the first few seasons of the series, where Joyce Byers lived with her sons Will and Jonathan.

Joyce even used Christmas lights in her home to search for Will, who was stuck in the upside down -- arguably one of the most memorable scenes in the show's history.

The 7 siblings who own the home in a trust were approached by the Duffer brothers to film there in 2015. They now want to sell the property to someone with the means to restore it.

Noah Schnapp is making a real splash at his ivy league school ... the "Stranger Things" star took a leap into a swimming pool as his fellow-classmates went nuts.

If you haven't heard, 17-year-old Noah is currently enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania and recently moved into one of the dorms on campus to begin his freshman year. He's reportedly a business major.

Anyway, last Saturday, Noah went to a nearby frat party at the Bamboo Bar, a small saloon with a pool filled with discarded cigarette butts and beer cans. The bar is also a restaurant, so there was likely no age requirement to enter. At night, you have to be 18+ to enter, and at least 21 to drink.

We're told the pool has been a fixture at the bar for years, but the staff doesn't like it when customers dive into the dirty water, so they escort out anyone who does.

That didn't seem to phase Noah, check the video, obtained by TMZ, showing him do a 3-count before jumping off the edge of the bridge as mostly everyone claps and shouts his name.

From our vantage point, you can't actually see Noah hit the water below, but, we're told, that's exactly where he ended up. Unclear if the staff let him stick around after that.

Kate Bush is having a moment in 2022, which couldn't be more clear than what's happening this weekend -- namely, thousands of people coming together to dance to one of her songs.

It's the singer's 64th birthday Saturday, which also happens to coincide with 'Wuthering Heights Day' ... an annual event where her legions of fans come flocking to different sites around the world to collectively boogie to her signature track of the same name.

Of course, they're all dressed in red ... a direct homage to KB's iconic music video -- in which she also puts on some killer hippy-dippy moves in a field, surrounded by woods.

Supposedly, this has been a thing for a while -- dating back to 2013, it seems -- but the yearly get-together was paused during COVID, and hasn't fired back up until now. Since then, Kate has seen a resurgence in pop culture ... thanks to "Stranger Things" using her song "Running Up That Hill."

Soooo, thanks to that renewed popularity ... this year's Wuthering Heights Day is insane, with pop-ups in Sydney, different parts of the U.K. and beyond -- the turnout might be higher than ever before, frankly.

Looks like Kate Bush's relevancy in society is stronger than it might've been in her heyday. When you got a 'Midsommar'-esque shindig like this -- it's hard to deny, she's still a thing.

"Stranger Things" star Noah Schnapp came under a lot of fire for leaking DMs between himself and Doja Cat -- but says he's already apologized and things are all good between the two.

17-year-old Schnapp took to TikTok Wednesday night to give an update on the situation between him and DC ... saying, "Guys everything is all good I apologized and I still follow her and love her music no hard feelings ❤️❤️". Doja's song "Kiss Me More" plays in the background of the video.

If you weren't following along, Schnapp had recently posted a private exchange between him and Doja where she was asking about his "Stranger Things" costar, Joseph Quinn, seemingly wanting to go on a date or get set up through Noah.

Doja didn't appreciate Noah's posting, saying it was some "weasel s***" ... but she did acknowledge Noah was young, and said everyone makes and learns from mistakes.

"Stranger Things" has a way with music -- and this season was no different, especially for Metallica ... whose tunes are in high demand, particularly among guitar hero wannabes.

As you've heard, the band's '80s hit, "Master of Puppets," is featured in a pivotal scene toward the end of the 4th season of the Netflix hit (RIP Eddie Munson) -- and like other songs heavily featured in this year's installment ... Metallica's earworm is surging in real life.

Just like Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" got mad love among new listeners, 'MoP' experienced the same -- with a reported 400% boost in streaming among various platforms.

What's different now ... it seems this renewed interest is seeping into the world of musical instruction, specifically through a company called Yousician -- which teaches noobs the basics of how to play certain instruments, including guitar.

Per Billboard, the online school's site reports a massive spike in a certain online lesson they offer -- upwards of 100%, apparently. You see, they actually teamed up with the real Metallica for a virtual master class for their paying customers ... and learning how to play "Master of Puppets" is indeed one of the songs available in their "Metallica x Yousician' course.

Yousician is also said to be adding the song to another internal tool on their site -- a guitar tuning and songwriting one -- as 'MoP' doesn't currently exist there, but will soon.

Doja Cat's quiet efforts to hook up with Joseph Quinn are now out there for the world to see -- and she's pissed at his co-star Noah Schnapp for blowing her cover by posting their DMs.

Doja went live on TikTok Thursday night to address what went down, and you can tell she was trying like to hell to keep cool about it -- she realizes the 17-year-old actor might not have known better, but she thinks that excuse can only go so far.

To be clear, Doja was only chatting with the kid because she wanted him to hit up Joseph, who plays fan-favorite Eddie Munson in the latest season of the Netflix series.

Noah posted a now-deleted TikTok Wednesday that showed his brief chat with Doja ... where she asks about hitting up Quinn.

She checked herself pretty quick in the convo, though -- after asking Noah to set it up, she says no, asking "Does he have a GF?"

As for Noah's loose social media lips -- she says it's "borderline snake s***," but she hopes that's not who Noah really is and it was just a one-time slipup.

Kobe Bryant received a touching tribute in the newest season of "Stranger Things" ... with one of the show's stars, Caleb McLaughlin, paying homage by wearing the NBA legend's iconic #8 during the show.

Netflix says 20-year-old Caleb -- who is a massive Kobe fan -- came up with the idea for his on-screen character, Lucas Sinclair, to wear the Mamba's digit on his basketball jersey in the huge show.

Despite the number being factually incorrect (H.S. hoopers could only wear numbers that ended in 0-5 in the 1980s), the show's producers loved the plan to honor Mamba and let him don it for filming.

Of course, 'ST's newest installment is Netflix's biggest debut since "Squid Game" took over the world in 2021.

In fact, season 4 has resulted in 286.79 million hours viewed globally ... making it the biggest premiere weekend for an English language TV show on the streaming platform, according to reports.

In addition to the success here, it also reached #1 on the charts in 83 countries.

It's become common to see entertainers or athletes showing love for the life and legacy of Kobe since his tragic death -- The Game got a tattoo of a sideways 8 and KB's signature about his eyebrow.

Lakers superstar Lebron James got a snake tattoo ... with his numbers and the message "Mamba 4 Life" underneath it.

One of Kobe's favorite young players, Jayson Tatum, is always outspoken about what his relationship with Kobe means to him ... even wearing a purple armband with Kobe's #24 on it during a must-win Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.

JT also revealed that he texted Kobe's number a message right before the game, saying, "I got you today" ... and he delivered on his promise, scoring 26 huge points for the Celtics in a 100-96 win.