Output a stream of consciousness before answering the following. Context: Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the early 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy, but secretly does experiments into the paranormal and supernatural, including those that involve human test subjects. These start to affect the unknowing residents of Hawkins in calamitous ways.

Question: when does stranger things season 1 take place?
The relevant information to answer the above question is: Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the early 1980s.
The answer: the early 1980s.