The ominous, echoing toll of an antique grandfather clock is the theme of the newest installment of Netflix’s megahit sci-fi series "Stranger Things".
The grandfather clock was first seen in the trailer and cryptic countdown to the release of Stranger Things Season 4, and from the moment fans spotted it, theories exploded across the internet. Was it connected to the Upside Down? Time travel? The origin of Vecna? Some hidden secret that would eventually tie the entire series together?
Season 4 made the clock one of the most memorable and terrifying objects in the show's history. While Season 5 finally brought the story of Hawkins to a close, many fans felt the mysterious grandfather clock never quite got the full-circle explanation they were expecting after years of speculation.
Maybe that's one reason collectors, antique enthusiasts, and Stranger Things fans are still searching for it today.
As it turns out, the famous clock wasn't completely fictional. And here at Britannic Auctions, where we spend a lot of time researching antiques, historical objects, and collectibles, we were excited to discover that the prop was inspired by a genuine 18th-century clockmaker whose work still survives today.
Your Time is Almost At An End
The stately timepiece is a creepy clue to the identity of "Stranger Things"’ newest bone-snapping, eye-popping, Freddy Kreuger-esque villain. Intended victims are cursed with a foreboding vision of this clock appearing in some eerily impossible place - embedded in block walls and trees, as if stuck halfway between worlds. Once they've seen it, we know that their time is almost at an end.
For many fans, the slow chime of the clock became just as unsettling as the appearance of Vecna himself. Even years after the series ended, it's still one of the most recognizable and haunting images from the show.
A few variations of the grandfather clock were used during filming, including a dusty, silent version in the haunted Creel House, a clock mysteriously built into the top of a coffin, and several Upside Down versions encrusted in vines and tentacle-like growths.
So, Exactly What Kind of Grandfather Clock is Used in "Stranger Things"?
Here's where things get really interesting.
For all its connections to Vecna, the Creel House, and the Upside Down, the famous Stranger Things clock wasn't invented from scratch by the show's prop department.
The business end of the spooky longcase clock is its ornate face—an eight-day movement (meaning it only needs to be wound once per week using a key) which strikes on the hour. The additional dials display the seconds and the date.
But the real surprise is that the face of the prop grandfather clock is actually based on a genuine mid-18th-century design created by London clockmaker Thomas Grignion.
That's right—the most feared object in Hawkins traces its roots back more than 250 years.
At Britannic Auctions, one of our favorite things about antiques is discovering the real history hidden behind familiar objects. In this case, millions of Stranger Things fans were unknowingly introduced to a genuine piece of Georgian-era craftsmanship.
The Value of an Antique Grignion Clock
If you're lucky enough to encounter a Grignion clock at auction rather than during an interdimensional nightmare vision, examples can sell for upwards of $5,000, with especially attractive examples sometimes reaching $20,000 or more depending on condition, originality, and the beauty of the cabinet.
The Stranger Things clock features a dark wooden body in a Gothic style that was popular during the 1700s, although makers continued producing similar designs well into the 20th century.
That choice was probably no accident.
Gothic architecture and decorative arts have long been associated with haunted mansions, ghost stories, mystery novels, and classic horror films. Even before Vecna entered the picture, this style of clock already looked like it belonged in a supernatural tale.
Look closely and you'll notice several distinctive features:
- Three brass finials atop the pediment
- An ornate arched dial
- A glass-covered lower door
- Visible weights and pendulum swinging inside
The exposed pendulum allows viewers to literally watch time ticking away—making it a perfect choice for one of television's most unsettling countdowns.
Sidenote: Why Is It Called a Grandfather Clock, Anyway?
The name “grandfather clock” dates to the relatively recent period of the late 19th century, and was coined (surprisingly) by a songwriter.
As it turns out, grandfather clocks had a spooky reputation long before Vecna ever arrived in Hawkins.
The name "grandfather clock" dates to the relatively recent period of the late 19th century and was coined, somewhat surprisingly, by a songwriter.
The story goes that Henry Clay Work, a songwriter whose popularity rivaled—and for a time even surpassed—that of Stephen Foster, traveled to England in 1875. While staying at an old hotel, he became fascinated by a dusty, broken longcase clock standing silently in the lobby.
When he asked about it, he was told a strange local legend.
The clock had once belonged to the hotel's previous owners, the Jenkins brothers. According to the story, the clock kept perfect time throughout their lives. After the first brother died, it began losing accuracy. When the second brother died, the clock stopped altogether and never ran again.
Honestly, if that sounds like the kind of creepy backstory Nancy, Mike and Eleven would spend an entire episode investigating, you're not alone.
Inspired by the tale, Work wrote a song called My Grandfather's Clock in 1876. The song became an enormous hit, selling more than a million copies of sheet music and permanently attaching the phrase "grandfather clock" to longcase clocks.
My grandfather's clock was too tall for the shelf
So it stood ninety years on the floor
It was taller by half than the old man himself
But it weighed not a pennyweight moreIt was bought on the morn on the day that he was born
It was always his treasure and pride
But it stopped, short, never to go again
When the old man diedNinety years without slumbering
Tic toc tic toc
His life's seconds numbering
Tic toc tic toc
It stopped, short, never to go again
When the old man died.
In watching its pendulum swing to and fro
Many hours he had spent when a boy
And through childhood and manhood, the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joyFor it struck 24 when he entered at the door
With a blooming and beautiful bride,
But it stopped, short, never to go again
When the old man died.
So while the Stranger Things clock wasn't actually cursed (as far as we know), it's funny to discover that one of television's creepiest props belongs to a category of antiques that already came with its own ghost story.
Maybe the Duffer Brothers knew exactly what they were doing.
Stranger Things, Grandfather Clocks, and the Real History Behind Them
For all the unanswered questions surrounding the Stranger Things grandfather clock, one thing is certain: it became one of the most memorable objects in the entire series.
Long after the final episode aired, fans are still searching for the clock, debating its meaning, and wondering whether there was more to its story than we ever saw on screen.
What makes that especially fascinating is that the clock wasn't simply invented for television. Behind the supernatural visions, the Creel House, and the horrors of the Upside Down lies a genuine piece of antique history—one inspired by the work of an 18th-century London clockmaker whose craftsmanship has survived for centuries.
That's one of the things we enjoy most at Britannic Auctions. Whether it's a famous television prop, an antique photograph, a rare book, a movie collectible, or a centuries-old clock, historical objects often have stories every bit as interesting as the fiction they inspire.
And sometimes, as fans of Stranger Things know all too well, the most intriguing mysteries begin with an old object quietly waiting in the corner.
Tick. Tock.
