From theories explained: Monster prisons, the hospital & more

The MGM+ horror series is all about mystery, so it’s only right we put together a list of the best From theories about where the show could be headed.

Symbols, weird talismans, and illusive creatures have haunted us for years now, with From Season 3 on the way to add to the speculation.

We’ve got loads of questions about the origins of the Monsters in From, what exactly the town is, and if the characters will ever fully escape it (we’re looking at you, Tabitha).

One thing’s not up for debate: fans are eagle-eyed. There’s a lot of information and hints to sift through, but we’ve got our favorite theories. Season 2 spoilers and lots of far reaches to follow.

You have to ‘die’ to escape the town

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In the Season 2 finale, Tabitha was pushed from the top of the lighthouse by the Boy in White. It should have killed her; instead, she woke up in St. Anthony Hospital.

The idea of having to die in some form to escape the town has been floated before. Boyd’s wife’s death hinged on her belief that everyone had to pass on to “wake up”.

It’s possible Tabitha didn’t escape, and this is a trick; a pocket dimension within the town, or another outlandish answer. However, if she truly is outside of it, the idea of death being a path to release holds some water.

It’s likely not as simple as death equals escape, though. Maybe it needs to be in certain places and specific means.

It could also be that ‘good’ creatures need to be involved. The Boy in White seems to be helping, not hindering, the humans. Perhaps certain supernatural forces are not evil and are the key to salvation.

Additionally, Tabitha may have hopped from one terrifying town straight into another. A sign on the walls indicates she’s on Level 2 of the hospital. But maybe she has just reached the second layer of whatever supernatural onion we’re in.

The town used to be a place of worship

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The talismans we’ve seen have runes on them. So, while nothing spells out how or why the runes were created, we can use the symbols to decipher some possible hints.

On Redditor said about one specific talisman, “The middle part is the Ingwaz rune, which is connected to the god Freyr, who is connected to fertility, prosperity, and good harvest.

“Connected to the Ingwaz rune, at its top and bottom, are what looks like the top half of stick figures, with their arms raised. I think that’s exactly what they are: they have their arms raised in worship. They are worshipping Freyr.

“Surrounding the middle part, we have eight symbols that resemble trees (or at least halves of trees) and made me think of the town itself (also surrounded by trees). I saw the talisman as an indication that the town used to be a place of worship.”

They admitted that the Ingwaz rune doesn’t always correlate with Freyr, so it’s a guess. It’s a compelling one, though.

The creatures are manifestations

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Another theory is that the creatures are manifestations of anxieties, guilt, and fears, unique to each of the characters.

From characters have significant baggage. Something drove them to the town. Whether they were running, looking for a fresh start, or carrying secrets, destiny landed them there.

The creatures disguise themselves as humans before revealing their true forms when they hunt. The show hasn’t explained what they are precisely, but the horror genre is the home of allegory and metaphor.

So, the creatures could represent challenges or fears in the characters’ lives. For example, one viewer suggested, “Tian-Chen’s fear of dementia after watching her husband’s decline could be manifesting as the road that just goes in circles with no way to get back home.”

A version of this theory was put forward in Season 2 by Sara, who wonders whether the fears of those who die come back to haunt the living residents. The reason being that her brother, Nathan, was terrified of cicadas before she (accidentally) killed him – lo and behold, Fromville gets plagued by cicadas in the second chapter.

But what about the smiling creatures? Well, it’s a bit of a reach, but some think they are a manifestation of Victor’s childhood fear of ventriloquist dummies. This would explain why he loses it when he and Tabitha stumble upon the dummy in the caves.

As said by one Redditor, “There was a particular moment with the ventriloquist dummy where I noticed how much it looked like the creatures, especially Smiley. And in one scene Victor was clearly terrified by the doll.

“My theory is that when Victor was a child, he was scared of the dummy and his fear created the creatures, just like the other instances of fears becoming real in the town.”

This doesn’t make complete logical sense (for example, why did everyone deal with the never-ending road before Bing-Qian’s death?) but it doesn’t have to.

The town is a prison for demons

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As much as the From characters want to escape their confines, we’re willing to bet the monsters would like a larger pool of prey.

The humans and their hunters are trapped together, and there’s only so much food. The town is naturally replenished with new people, but if given the chance, maybe the creatures would prefer to run amuck outside.

Because the voices Sara heard in her head said they wanted to escape, there may be an outside force, sentient or natural, that has created the town to sequester the creatures – good and evil. This also makes it plausible that humans are being treated like livestock.

If an entity is purposefully pushing characters toward the town instead of supernatural events drawing them in, that’ll be a shock with a big Cabin in the Woods vibe.

Water will be an important element in From

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The writers have used water as a key part of certain story beats from the beginning. As a Reddit user pointed out, water and things related to it keep coming up:

• Elgin has dreams about being drowned by the ‘hag’
• Boyd wants a boat and still has the boat key
• We hear boating horns throughout the series
• There’s a lighthouse
• The Boy in White wears what looks like sailing clothes
• Tabitha escapes after falling from the lighthouse
• When Tabitha opens the curtains, there are sailing boats in the distance and a submerged car

Whether the elemental repetition in this From theory will amount to anything is anyone’s guess, but it’s a thread to pull on.

With so little concrete information to go on, most of our guesses are just that – guesses. That doesn’t make the legwork any less fun, though!

For more, check out the Kenny script leak explained or how From Season 3 must answer these questions. You can also find out why From fans think they’ve worked out the meaning of a mysterious date and how a From Season 3 fan theory examines who’s screaming in the teaser.