Stranger Things 3: You can actually call Murray Bauman's phone number
Dial 618-625-8313 for a bizarre phone message.
Eccentric conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) also helped Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) take down Hawkins Lab in season 2 of Stranger Things.
When you live somewhere that attracts monsters, portals to other worlds and secret government agencies, it's easy to become suspicious of everything and everyone. In the new season of the Netflix series Stranger Things, we see private investigator-conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman (played by Brett Gelman) at the height of his paranoia.
When he's not translating Russian for Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour), or becoming pals with kidnapped Russian scientist Alexei (Alex Utgoff), he's usually barricaded in his home away from the public eye.
At one point during this season, Murray's phone number of 618-625-8313 is revealed. Funny thing is, fans can actually call the number for a very interesting message on Murray's answering machine.
"Hi, you have reached the residence of Murray Bauman," the message begins. "Mom, if this is you, please hang up and call me between the hours of 5 and 6 p.m. as previously discussed, OK? If this is Joyce, Joyce, thank you for calling, I have been trying to reach ya. I have an update. It's about, well, it's probably best if we speak in person. It's not good or bad, but it's something."
the long message continues: "If this is anyone but my mother or Joyce, well, you think you're real clever, getting my number, don't ya? Well, here's some breaking news for you: You're not clever. You're not special. You are just simply one of the many, many nimwits to have called here, and the closest you will ever get to me is this prerecorded message so at the beep, do me a favor and hang up and never call here again. You are a parasite! Thank you and good day."
Conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) isn't the kind of person you visit without calling first.
This isn't the first time Stranger Things has used a phone number fans could call for extra content.
For season 2 in 2017, Stranger Things promoted a viral marketing campaign that included real billboards in Los Angeles and New York City promoting the fictional company Hawkins Power and Light with the tagline "Flipping the Switch for a Brighter Tomorrow." The billboards also feature a working 1-800 phone number you can call.
When fans called the number 1-888-355-8703 they got a greeting from an automated message from Dr. Sam Owens -- the director of operations at Hawkins Power and Light played by Paul Reiser in the second and third season.
The automated message said, "Hello, you've reached Hawkins Power and Light. Powering a brighter tomorrow in the community of Hawkins and beyond. I'm Dr. Sam Owens and my goal is to improve how we light and power the world."
The main menu also included customer testimonials, news about the company and suspicious behavior reports which offered even more clues about strange activity in Hawkins.
