The Strangers do not have any known ties to each other or any real motive when choosing and preying on their victims. Their origins are unknown. Some believe they may just be three completely random Strangers who found each other one day after discovering their mutual love of murder and preying on innocent victims. Some believe them to be part of a cult like the Manson family, perhaps with other Strangers also being a part of it and them being sent out to find innocent people to kill. Other theories include that they are a family of killers with some even believing they may be superhuman. Their true origins have never been confirmed.
Despite the lack of origins, after joining forces, they spent time going around approaching isolated homes and locations and knocking on doors finding whoever was home. If some answered, they asked for a woman named “Tamara” and then left when they were told she wasn’t there. Once confirming their victims were home, The Strangers terrorised their victims by playing mind games with them, instilling fear in them whilst cutting off their communication with the outside world to leave them vulnerable. After having their fun, they would trap their victims and take turns killing them. Typically they’d unmask themselves so that the last thing their victims saw were their unrecognisable faces. Despite the Strangers having no, apparent, empathy for their victims, they have a deep bond with each other. This is made evident by The Man in the Mask and his reaction to Luke killing Pin-Up Girl, resulting in The Man attempting to kill him with an axe.
The first known victims of The Strangers were Kristen McKay and James Hoyt in 2005. After returning home from a wedding, James and Kristen were approached by Dollface who knocked on the door and asked for Tamara. She later returned when James had temporarily left the house to make Kristen feel uneasy. Later, The Man in the Mask broke into the house and stood behind Kristen, unbeknownst to her, and then stole her phone so she couldn’t call the police. He later scared Kristen at the backdoor. When James returned home, he tried to flee with Kristen but their car was rammed by Pin-Up Girl and left inoperable. Being so terrified of The Strangers, James accidentally killed his best friend, Mike, thinking he was one of The Strangers. Throughout the rest of the night, James and Kristen desperately tried to escape but their efforts were rendered useless and they were captured by The Strangers and murdered. When asking why The Strangers chose them, Dollface responded “because you were home”. Kristen’s status was left unknown as she was shown to be alive at the end of the film, but her story never continued.
It is unknown whether this was The Strangers first time killing — given Pin-Up Girl’s line, “it’ll be easier next time”, is it likely this was their first time killing and they they all struggled with it, but now that it was done they would find it easier to do it next time. The identities of the Strangers were left deliberately anonymous and they had no discernible personality traits or any reason for killing their victims other than their obvious bloodlust. It is clear that the Strangers got a thrill from tormenting their victims and all reacted in different ways to the torture they caused, although this wasn’t seen on screen due to the way the film was cut.
However, in the original 2006 script, it was made obvious that Dollface had more of a conscience than the others, appearing to cry after killing James and Kristen. Pin-Up Girl, whilst enjoying the thrill of their actions, always struggled when it came to killing their victims as, in the original cut of the first film, she was crying as she took her mask off and whispered “I’m sorry” into James’ ear. Laura Margolis, the actress of Pin-Up Girl, theorised that this wasn’t because she felt remorseful, but was overwhelmed by the night’s events. As for The Man in the Mask, he was always the most ruthless and brutal of the trio, however, despite appearing to be the Leader, Man in the Mask actor, Kip Weeks, believed it was Dollface who led the group.
The next known victims of the Strangers were an unnamed family. On a road trip to drop their daughter, Kinsey, off at boarding school, Mike and Cindy stopped off at a trailer park, along with their son Luke who came on the trip, belonging to their Uncle Marvin and Aunt Sheryl. As they settled in for the night, they met Dollface who knocked on the door and asked for Tamara. After sending her away, Kinsey went off by herself to deal with her anger at being sent away. Luke followed her and they came upon a trailer containing the dead bodies of their Aunt and Uncle. The kids reunited with their parents and split up once more as Luke and Mike went to check out the crime scene and Kinsey and Cindy returned to the trailer where they were ambushed by Dollface and Cindy was killed helping Kinsey escape. Luke and Mike were then attacked by The Man in the Mask and after fleeing in their van, crashed. Luke went off to find Kinsey and The Man in the Mask killed Mike.
During the rest of the night, Kinsey and Luke fought to survive against The Strangers. They first worked together and then Luke hid Kinsey under a trailer to give her a chance to rest. He fled to the main office to call the police but was ambushed by The Man in the Mask and Pin-Up Girl. Luke killed Pin-Up Girl and then The Man fought him in the pool and left him for dead, but he was saved by Kinsey who then gave him a chance to rest whilst she tried getting to the main road. She was discovered by a police officer who was then killed by Dollface. Kinsey sought refuge in the police car and used the shotgun to kill Dollface. When Kinsey asked Dollface why they did this, she responded “why not?”. Kinsey tried to escape in the police car but The Man in the Mask crashed into it with his truck. Using the leaking fuel from his truck, Kinsey set it alight and blew it up. Kinsey walked away but The Man chased her in the flaming truck and stopped on the bridge where he seemingly died. Kinsey fled to the main road and jumped into the back of a pick-up truck as she was attacked by a still alive Man in the Mask. She knocked him off the truck with a baseball bat and then woke up in the hospital where Luke was recovering. As she drank water, there was a sound of Dollface’s jack in the box in the hallway and then a knock on the door which startled her.
It is unknown how much time passed between THE STRANGERS and PREY AT NIGHT and weather there were other killing sprees in-between these two films. In the original script from 2010, it picked up moments after the first film, with The Strangers returning to kill Kristen. This never made it to screen. There was also an additional victim in Prey at Night, a Doctor at the hospital but this ending was never used. Despite most references being cut, each Stranger had their own agenda targeting the family in Prey at Night. Dollface focused on Kinsey and Cindy, Pin-Up Girl focused on Luke, and The Man in the Mask saw the events as a free-for-all, going after whoever he could as he came across them. The only Stranger whose face is shown is Dollface after Kinsey lifts her mask off after shooting her.
To keep The Strangers mysterious, relatively unknown actors were cast in their roles. Additionally, the films were edited so that The Strangers faces were barely seen, with only glimpses of the side of their faces. In the original cut of the 2008 film, the Strangers had a lot more dialogue and their faces were shown, however this was edited to keep the mystery of their identity going.
For the first film, the Man in the Mask was played by KIP WEEKS, Pin-Up Girl was played by LAURA MARGOLIS, and Dollface was played by, then-unknown, Australian supermodel GEMMA WARD.
For Prey at Night due to the amount of time that had passed, The Strangers were recast. The Man in the Mask was played by DAMIAN MAFFEI, Pin-Up Girl was played by LEA ENSLIN, and Dollface was played by EMMA BELLOMY. Lea was originally cast as the stunt double for Pin-Up Girl, however was asked to take over the roll after the original actress quit due to feeling claustrophobic in the mask.
In the 2024 trilogy, The Strangers exist separately to those in the original two films. They are now known as DOLLFACE, SCARECROW and PIN-UP GIRL. Each Stranger has a more discernible personality. Pin-Up Girl is described as being clever, Dollface is described as being playful, and Scarecrow is the more ruthless of the killers and the leader of the pack.
The Strangers reside in Venus, Oregon. How they choose their victims is unknown — but they typically like to taunt their victims first before eventually capturing them and killing them.
Gregory and Shelly were both students at a local elementary school where they first crossed paths. Shelly was a reserved girl who would typically play by herself on the playground and had no friends. Gregory was the school bully who caught everyone’s attention, including Shelly’s. Gregory caught Shelly’s eye from a young age and the two became fast friends. But Shelly felt threatened by another student, Tamara, who also had her eye caught by Gregory. Shelly would take out her jealousy on small creatures like rats as a coping mechanism.
After Shelly was abandoned by Gregory, who began to play with Tamara instead, once she witnessed Tamara kissing Gregory on the playground her jealousy boiled over and she killed Tamara in a jealous rage by smashing a rock into her face repeatedly. From that moment on, Gregory and Shelly were bonded by their shared love of killing and the two eventually formed a romantic relationship in their teenage years, even going as far as getting matching smiley face tattoos, the same smiley face Gregory drew in the pool of blood left by Tamara’s body.
Michael McCay was found deceased in a room at the Venus Motel on April 21st, 2013 with over 40 stab wounds around his torso and abdomen. Jeff Morell was found deceased in the woods behind the Gressis hunting cabin on September 16th, 2017. Whilst it was passed off as an animal attack, it is known that Jeff was attacked by the Strangers after eating at Carol’s Diner where he was eventually chased into the woods and killed. Frank Quincanoh was discovered by The Strangers after being served by Shelly at Carol’s Diner, she later tracked him down at the Venus Motel with Gregory and Dollface and chased him into the woods where he was killed by the trio.
The other 24 victims prior to Maya and Ryan are unknown.
In 2024, The Strangers became aware of the arrival of two foreigners to Venus — Maya Lucas and her fiancé Ryan who arrived in Venus on a rest stop from their road trip where they stopped for lunch at Carol’s Diner. They discovered that Maya and Ryan were spending the night in an Airbnb owned by local hunter, Joe, after their car broke down. Pin-Up Girl first approached the cabin and knocked on the door asking for a woman named “Tamara”, who was not there. Throughout the night the Strangers continued to play mind games with Maya, as Ryan had ridden into town to get his inhaler from the car and pickup dinner. They’d start by getting the house to creak or moving things through the house to throw Maya off. At some points they would even observe her up close but disappear before she could see them.
Pin-Up Girl later returned and asked for Tamara once more and after Maya sent her away Dollface entered the house from another door and taunted Maya by singing a lullaby from the back porch. They later cut the power in the house as Maya was drying her hair and Dollface exposed herself to Maya who went to hide however she later put it down to being high on weed. As Maya and Ryan ate dinner, they noticed blood dripping from the ceiling and discovered a chicken hanging from the chandelier with its throat slit. As they attempted to lock the doors, Scarecrow broke the front door down with his axe and Dollface and Pin-Up Girl emerged from within the house.
Throughout the rest of the night, the Strangers continued to torment Maya and Ryan as they attempted to capture them. The paranoia and panic led to Ryan shooting Joe to death when he arrived at the house to fix the broken refrigerator. As Maya and Ryan attempted to flee in Joe’s car, Scarecrow rammed the car with his truck and Maya and Ryan split up into the woods. Maya attempted to get help but the call failed and she was then caught by Dollface, knocked out, and dragged back to the house. As Ryan searched for Maya he came across Pin-Up Girl and held her at gunpoint, she then distracted him — allowing Scarecrow to ambush him from behind and they brought him back to the house.
As the night came to an end, Maya and Ryan woke up and discovered the Strangers standing over them as they were tied to chairs. Pin-Up Girl stabbed Ryan — resulting in his death, and Scarecrow then stabbed Maya as she asked why they were doing what they were doing. To which, Pin-Up Girl replied “because you’re here”. They left Maya for dead and as they admired their work they heard police cars approaching and calmly fled the scene in their pickup truck. Ryan could not be saved however Maya was taken to hospital as she clung to life.
After discovering that Maya had survived, The Strangers took it as a personal hit, their winning streak had been destroyed. After locking down the hospital she was being treated in and murdering the remaining staff on duty, Scarecrow and Pin-Up Girl pursued Maya throughout the hospital. Maya was forced to hide in the hospital morgue with Ryan’s body as Gregory searched for her. After being interrupted by an orderly, who was quickly killed by Scarecrow, Maya was able to escape the hospital and fled to a horse farm nearby where she was followed by Dollface who alerted Pin-Up Girl and Scarecrow to her whereabouts. Maya attempted to seek help from the Farmer Woman but the woman was quickly killed by Pin-Up Girl and Maya hid in the stables where stabbed Pin-Up Girl with a pitchfork.
Maya fled the farm and flagged down a passing car which was being driven by her nurse, Danica, and Danica’s girlfriend, former military server, Chris Sampson. After calming Maya down, Danica and Chris offered to take Maya back to their house. As they drove there, they discovered their roommates, Wayne and Gregory, walking in the rain and gave them a ride. Throughout the car ride, Gregory made Maya uncomfortable and she eventually felt unsafe in the car and jumped out and fled into the woods. Maya fled to a riverbed where she stitched up her wounds using Danica’s first aid kit and she came upon a campsite where she lit a fire.
Scarecrow discovered Maya’s trail and released a wild boar, that he had been holding hostage, into the woods to chase after her. Maya was able to kill the boar after a struggle and continued through the woods where she came across the cabin she was previously attacked in. After changing into her own clothes, she met a detective from the Oregon State Police, Billy Bufford, who offered to help her get out of Venus. Before they could leave, Pin-Up Girl and Dollface arrived and killed Billy and Maya fled in his car before breaking down outside of Gregory’s house. After being tended to by Nurse Danica, Maya locked herself in a bedroom until her private EMT, arranged by Debbie and Howard, arrived.
Gregory, whose fascination had grown with Maya after she was able to evade him, Shelly, and Dollface so many times entered the room and began asking about how she felt when she was stabbed two nights ago in the cabin. Maya soon realised from Gregory’s mannerisms and the markings on his hands that Gregory was Scarecrow and the Man who stabbed her. Gregory was interrupted by Danica and he left the house in his car, likely to collect his truck, whilst Shelly and Pin-Up Girl murdered Nurse Danica, Chris, and Wayne. Maya discovered her EMT waiting outside and fled the house but realised Pin-Up Girl had killed the driver and attacked her again.
Shelly ambushed Maya in the EMT but Maya stabbed her in the neck with a pair of scissors, which presumably killed her. As Maya fled in the EMT after being attacked by Gregory, who had returned dressed as Scarecrow, Shelly attacked her from behind. Maya, in turn, caused the EMT to crash which sent Pin-Up Girl flying out the front windshield to her death. Before she could unmask Pin-Up Girl — Gregory and Dollface arrived in the truck, forcing Maya to flee into the woods where she watched from afar as Gregory discovered that Shelly was dead and he removed her mask and began mourning her. Maya then fled into the woods, with the story set to continue.
