ALT People really focused on “eldritch thrumming.” Eldritch is that sort of arcane, unknowable, vaguely threatening, otherworldly presence. I am going to reveal the depths of how nerdy I am — I apologize in advance — but it’s also the signature spell for a warlock in Dungeons & Dragons. It’s called eldritch blast. The lore of a warlock in Dungeons & Dragons is that they make the deal with an otherworldly power, whether it’s a demon or a powerful fairy lord. And in the scene where Henry/Vecna/One [Jamie Campbell Bower] is creating the Mind Flayer, I used a tag, “dissonant gibbering.” Dissonant whispers is a spell that bards can use to break apart somebody’s mind [in Dungeons & Dragons]. It’s that sense of madness creeping in at the edges of your awareness. And “gibbering” is a reference to a monster called a gibbering mouther, which is a nightmarish blob of flesh and multiple mouths all wailing and gnashing their teeth.

ALT Jeff: Honestly, “[tentacles undulating moistly]” I’ve seen a lot. I will admit I was trolling a little bit with that. Also, in the past year or two, I’ve been watching ASMR streams to figure out which words elicit that kind of response in people, so I’ll grab them and put them in my word bank. “Moistly” pops up a lot in those ASMR streams. Karli: It’s a word where I can name six or seven of my friends who don’t like it. It is supposed to be an uncomfortable situation, and that’s why it was used in the show. What I’ve noticed quite a lot online are people who don’t really understand the subtitles are for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. I’ve seen a lot of, Why are the subtitles so overly descriptive? We don’t need these. And I know you don’t, but you weren’t the main audience for subtitles from the start.