Stranger Things

Image
Alt	"Stranger Things" text written in red neon on a black background
Creator	The Duffer Brothers
Country	United States
Language	English
Num Seasons	5
Num Episodes	42
List Episodes	List of Stranger Things episodes
Producer	Lampton Enochs
Runtime	42–142 minutes
Network	Netflix
First Aired	2016-7-15
Last Aired	2025-12-31

Overview

Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. Hawkins is described as "the town where nothing ever happens" in the second season. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy, but also secretly experiments with the paranormal and supernatural, sometimes with human test subjects. They inadvertently create a portal to an alternate dimension referred to as the Upside Down, whose presence begins to affect the residents of Hawkins in unusual ways.

The first season begins on November 6, 1983, when Will Byers is abducted by a creature from the Upside Down, dubbed the "Demogorgon". His mother Joyce, police chief Jim Hopper, and a group of volunteers search for him. A young psychokinetic girl named Eleven escapes from Hawkins Lab and is found by Will's friends, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair. Eleven befriends and assists them in their efforts to find Will. Mike's older sister Nancy and Will's older brother Jonathan learn about the Demogorgon and the existence of the Upside Down. Will is eventually found alive, while Eleven disappears after killing the Demogorgon.

The second season is set 11 months later, between October and November 1984. Joyce is dating her former classmate Bob Newby, but they discover that Will is still affected by a shadowy entity from the Upside Down. Will's friends and family learn that anything connected to the Upside Down is part of a hive mind known as the Mind Flayer. Lucas earns the affection of a new classmate, Max Mayfield, while Dustin teams up with Nancy's ex-boyfriend Steve Harrington to fend off a horde of adolescent Demogorgons—dubbed "Demodogs"—which kill Bob and threaten the rest of their friends. Eleven reappears and closes the gate to the Upside Down underneath Hawkins Laboratory.

The third season is set nine months later, in the days leading up to the Fourth of July celebrations in 1985. The new Starcourt Mall becomes the center of attention for Hawkins residents. Hopper adopts Eleven and becomes increasingly concerned about her relationship with Mike. Dustin, Steve and his coworker Robin Buckley, and Lucas's younger sister Erica discover that a secret Soviet laboratory beneath Starcourt is attempting to reopen the gateway to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer possesses Max's stepbrother, Billy Hargrove, and begins creating physical vessels made of melted flesh to carry out its will. Eleven loses her powers, Billy dies, and Hopper seemingly dies when the Soviets' gate is closed.

The fourth season is set eight months later, in March 1986. The Byers family and Eleven have moved to Lenora, California for a fresh start. In Hawkins, multiple teenagers are murdered by the Mind Flayer's partner and Hawkins Laboratory's first test subject—later dubbed Vecna—to open gates between Hawkins and the Upside Down. Vecna frames Dustin's friend Eddie Munson for the murders and targets Max as his fourth victim. To help Eleven regain her powers, Dr. Sam Owens takes her to a secure facility. Joyce and Murray Bauman learn that Hopper survived but was captured by Soviets, so they rescue him from a gulag in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Eleven regains her powers, but Vecna's forces kill Eddie, renders Max comatose, and open rifts throughout Hawkins.

The fifth and final season is primarily set in November 1987. The military puts Hawkins under quarantine and hunts for Eleven, while the group tracks down Vecna until he kidnaps Nancy and Mike's younger sister, Holly, alongside 11 other children. The Upside Down is discovered to be a wormhole between Hawkins and another dimension known as the Abyss; Vecna plans to use the children to merge the Abyss with Hawkins. The group ultimately rescues the captured children, kills Vecna and the Mind Flayer, and destroys the Upside Down. To prevent the military from creating new psychic test subjects with her blood, Eleven stays behind in the collapsing Upside Down. 18 months later, in May 1989, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max graduate from high school, and Hopper proposes to Joyce. Mike theorizes about how Eleven could have potentially faked her death.

Cast and characters

List of Stranger Things characters

• Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, the mother of Will and Jonathan Byers. She is divorced from their father, Lonnie Byers. Protective and strong-willed, she becomes determined to find Will after he goes missing, convinced that his disappearance is paranormal in nature.
• David Harbour as Jim Hopper, the chief of Hawkins Police Department. After his young daughter Sara died of cancer, Hopper divorced and lapsed into alcoholism. He becomes more responsible, helping Joyce investigate the truth behind Will's disappearance, and adopting Eleven as his daughter. He and Joyce have feelings for each other.
• Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, middle child and the only son of Karen and Ted Wheeler, brother of Nancy and Holly, and one of Will Byers's three close friends. He is an intelligent and conscientious student and is committed to his friends. He develops romantic feelings for Eleven and later dates her.
• Millie Bobby Brown as Jane "El" Hopper (née Ives) / Eleven, a girl with telepathic and psychokinetic abilities as a result of being one of Dr. Brenner's subjects from Hawkins National Laboratory. She escapes the lab and eventually becomes an adoptive daughter to Jim Hopper and takes his surname, and adjusts to living a normal life with the help of Mike (whom she later dates) and his friends.
• Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, one of Will Byers's friends. His cleidocranial dysplasia causes him to lisp. In the second season, he is proud of his new front teeth and is attracted to Max. In season three, he gets a girlfriend, Suzie, who he met at summer camp.
• Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, one of Will's friends. He is wary of Eleven but later befriends her. In season two, he is one of Max's love interests and eventually becomes her boyfriend. In season four, he becomes more popular at school after joining the Hawkins High basketball team, which briefly puts him at odds with his regular friend group.
• Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, daughter of Karen and Ted and older sister of Mike and Holly. Studious and rule-abiding, Nancy finds another side of herself while investigating Hawkins Lab and the death of her friend Barbara. In the first two seasons, she is the girlfriend of Steve Harrington, but breaks up with him and then dates Jonathan Byers. She is an aspiring journalist.
• Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, the older brother of Will Byers and the son of Joyce Byers. He is a quiet and kind-hearted teenager, an outsider at school, and an aspiring photographer. He is close with his mother and brother, and he becomes the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler.
• Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler (seasons 1–3 and 5; recurring: season 4), mother of Nancy, Mike, and Holly, who is mostly unaware of her children's activities for much of the series.
• Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner (seasons 1 and 4; recurring: season 2), the scientist in charge of Hawkins Laboratory and training Eleven. Manipulative and remote, he and his team search for Eleven in season one after she escapes. He is referred to as "Papa" by Eleven. In season 4, he returns to help Eleven regain her powers and protect her from the government agents hunting her down.
• Noah Schnapp as Will Byers (seasons 2–5; recurring: season 1), the son of Joyce Byers and younger brother of Jonathan Byers. He is captured by a monster from the Upside Down in season one. He later develops a connection to the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer due to his capture. He struggles with his sexuality and unrequited feelings for Mike, and comes out as gay in season five.
• Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield (seasons 2–5), Billy's younger stepsister and a tomboy who catches the attention of both Lucas and Dustin, eventually dating Lucas. In season four, she becomes one of the teens targeted by Vecna.
• Joe Keery as Steve Harrington (seasons 2–5; recurring: season 1), a popular high school student and the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler. He ostracizes Jonathan Byers but later befriends him. He and Nancy break up in season two but remain friends. He is known as the "babysitter" of the group, often left to look after the kids, particularly Dustin, with whom he forms a strong rapport.
• Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove (seasons 2–3; guest: season 4), Max's violent, unpredictable, and abusive older stepbrother. He challenges Steve's popularity. In season three, he is controlled by the Mind Flayer and dies in the process.
• Sean Astin as Bob Newby (season 2), a former schoolmate of Joyce and Hopper who runs the Hawkins RadioShack. He is Joyce's boyfriend, putting him at odds with Hopper. He dies after being attacked by creatures from the Upside Down.
• Paul Reiser as Dr. Sam Owens (seasons 2 and 4; guest: season 3), a Department of Energy executive who replaces Brenner as director of Hawkins Laboratory. He is committed to scientific research yet empathetic to the residents of Hawkins, and he helps Hopper adopt Eleven as his legal daughter. He returns with Brenner in season four to help Eleven regain her powers and to protect her from government agents hunting her.
• Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley (seasons 3–5), a girl who works alongside Steve at the mall ice cream shop. She later comes out as a lesbian to him. She and Steve become close friends, working together at Scoops Ahoy and later at the video store. In season five, she begins dating her classmate Vickie, a volunteer nurse.
• Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair (seasons 3–5; co-star: season 2), Lucas's younger sister who helps the group. She is very smart and has an avid interest in D&D.
• Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman (seasons 4–5; recurring: seasons 2–3), a conspiracy theorist, private investigator, and old acquaintance of Hopper who assists Nancy and Jonathan, and later Hopper and Joyce.
• Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay (season 5), the sinister leader of the military unit dispatched to Hawkins after the opening of rifts to the Upside Down. She oversees a research base installed within the Upside Down itself.
• Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel / One / Vecna / Mr. Whatsit (season 5; recurring: season 4), a murderous psychic being from the Upside Down. Having attained supernatural abilities as a child, he murdered his family and was subsequently placed under Brenner's care. Flashbacks in season four reveal that Eleven banished him to another dimension, when she was eight years old, where he was disfigured and joined Mind Flayer's hive-mind.
• Nell Fisher (season 5) and Anniston and Tinsley Price (co-star: seasons 1–4) as Holly Wheeler, Nancy and Mike's younger sister and Karen's youngest child.

Episodes

List of Stranger Things episodesList of Stranger Things episodes

Production

Development

Writing

The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer, and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever".

To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia. Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade in which they were born, as elements of the series, crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.

Other influences cited by the Duffers include: Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, David Lynch, Wes Craven, and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Star Wars, Alien, and Stand by Me; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied; and several video games including Silent Hill, Dark Souls and The Last of Us. The Duffers believe that they may have brought influences from other works unintentionally, including Beyond the Black Rainbow and D.A.R.Y.L., discovered by reviewing fan feedback on the series. Several websites and publications have found other pop culture references in the series, particularly references to 1980s pop culture. The primary antagonist for the final two seasons, Vecna, was inspired by the villains that scared the brothers when they watched the movies and miniseries as children: Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and Pennywise.

With Netflix as the platform, the Duffers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would make it difficult to "tell a cinematic story". Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization. Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix chose to greenlight more.

Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, the Duffers considered themselves outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike and his friends, and particularly for Barb. Joyce was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss' character Roy Neary in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find Will.

Casting

Filming

Visual effects

To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s. The Duffer Brothers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the series violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. They said such films were "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.

The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects, so they created an animatronic to play the part of the Demogorgon. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props, including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released to Netflix.

The title sequence uses close-ups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey. Levy introduced the studio to the Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired series, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but before filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the series' titles, primarily using a typographical sequence.

They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the series, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming, and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the series and come back with more input.

Initially, they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end, the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer-generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.

Music

Music of Stranger ThingsMusic of Stranger Things
Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive have composed the original soundtrack for the show, including the show's theme song. It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi. According to Stein and Dixon, the Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music since the 2014 film The Guest. Once the series was green-lit, the Duffer Brothers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.

In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including Joy Division, Toto, New Order, the Bangles, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, The Police, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel, Prince, Iron Maiden and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter, and Vangelis. Some songs have been used as narrative elements, such as The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" within the first season, and Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" in the fourth and fifth seasons. Some of these licensed songs saw subsequent resurgence on sales charts after the respective seasons they featured in aired, most notably "Running Up That Hill" and Metallica's "Master of Puppets" in the fourth season, and Limahl's "The NeverEnding Story" in the third season.

Soundtracks containing the original compositions and the licensed music for each season have been released by Lakeshore Records.

Release

The first season consisted of eight one-hour-long episodes which were released worldwide on Netflix on July 15, 2016, in Ultra HD 4K. The second season, consisting of nine episodes, was released on October 27, 2017, in HDR. The third season once again consists of eight episodes, and was released on July 4, 2019. The fourth season, consisting of nine episodes, was released in two volumes on May 27 and July 1, 2022, respectively. In February 2022, Netflix renewed the series for a fifth and final season. The fifth season, consisting of eight episodes, premiered its first volume on November 26, 2025, the second on December 25, 2025, and the series finale on December 31.

Shortly after the fourth season's release, viewers reported that Will's friends did not acknowledge his birthday in an episode of the season that took place on that day. The Duffers said in an interview that they could rectify the matter by changing its month, which they called "George Lucas-ing the situation", in reference to the canon changes that George Lucas had made to the original Star Wars trilogy to match what the prequel trilogy had added. Some viewers took this to imply that scenes from earlier seasons were also being edited, including one scene where Jonathan takes discreet pictures of a pool party that Steve, Nancy, and Barbara are holding. The writers stated that "no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited", including this scene.

Home media

The first season was released on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack exclusively to Target retailers on October 17, 2017, and the same for the 4K/Blu-ray combo pack on November 15, 2017, both of which includes vintage CBS-FOX VHS-inspired packaging. The second season received a similar release on November 6, 2018.

Reception

Audience viewership

Netflix did not initially reveal subscriber viewership numbers for their original series, and Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of release, Stranger Things averaged ratings of around 14.07million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time behind the first season of Fuller House and fourth season of Orange Is the New Black. In a September 2016 analysis, Netflix found that Stranger Things "hooked" viewers by the second episode of the first season, indicating that the second episode was "the first installment that led at least 70 percent of viewers who watched that episode to complete the entire first season of a show".

For the third season, Netflix revealed that the show had broken viewing records for Netflix, with 40.7million households having watched the show in its first four days, and 18.2million already watched the entire series within that timeframe. Within its first month, the third season was watched by 64million households, setting a new record for the most-watched original Netflix series.

The series is the most followed TV show on social media app TV Times history, with over 5 million followers.

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an overall score of 90%, while Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave an overall score of 74.

For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 97% based on 92 reviews and an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary, Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television." Metacritic gave the season a normalized score of 74 out of 100 based on 142 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The New York Times has compared the show to Rob Reiner's Stand by Me, relating their nostalgic feel by "...finding that timeless moment where everything seemed tantalizingly, scarily new".

The second season has an approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 94% based on 150 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Stranger Things slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against a growing horror that's all the more effective thanks to the show's full-bodied characters and evocative tone." On Metacritic, the season has a normalized score of 78 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Rotten Tomatoes gave the third season an approval rating of 89% based on 141 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Vibrant and charming, Stranger Things transforms itself into a rivetingif familiarsummer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing." On Metacritic, it has a normalized score of 72 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Rotten Tomatoes gave the fourth season an approval rating of 90% based on 200 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Darker and denser than its predecessors, Stranger Things fourth chapter sets the stage for the show's final season in typically binge-worthy fashion." Metacritic gave a score of 69 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Rotten Tomatoes gave the fifth and final season an approval rating of 83% based on 168 reviews. The site's critics consensus states, "Stranger Things plays its cards just right in Season 5, solidifying its pop culture classic status with genuinely captivating genre fare." Metacritic gave a score of 71 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Stranger Things was ranked the third-best television show of 2016 by The Guardian and Empire. It was also included on The Atlantics list of best TV shows of 2017. In 2021, BBC Culture polled 206 "critics, journalists, academics and industry figures" from around the world to compile the 100 greatest television series of the 21st century; Stranger Things came in at number 68.

Commentary

Controversies

In April 2018, filmmaker Charlie Kessler filed a lawsuit against the Duffer Brothers, claiming that they stole his idea behind his short film Montauk, which featured a similar premise of a missing boy, a nearby military base doing otherworldly experiments, and a monster from another dimension. Kessler directed the film and debuted it at the 2012 Hamptons International Film Festival. During the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2014, he pitched his film to the Duffer brothers and later gave them "the script, ideas, story and film" for a larger film idea which he called The Montauk Project. Kessler contended that the Duffer brothers used his ideas to devise the premise for Stranger Things and sought a third of the income that they had made from the series.

The Duffer brothers' lawyer stated that they never saw Kessler's film nor spoke to him regarding it, and that Kessler had no input into their concepts for Stranger Things. The judge denied summary judgment for the Duffer brothers in April 2019, allowing Kessler's suit to proceed to trial. Just before the trial was due to start in May 2019, Kessler withdrew his lawsuit after hearing the depositions and seeing documents from as early as 2010 which showed him that the Duffers had independently come up with the concept of Stranger Things.

Journalists have noted that the idea of supernatural events around Montauk had originated due to urban legend of the Montauk Project, which came to light from the 1992 book The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time.

In September 2017, multiple media outlets published articles about a cease-and-desist letter sent by a Netflix in-house attorney to the operator of a Stranger-Things-themed bar in Chicago. The letter included humorous references to the series: "unless I'm living in the Upside Down"; "we're not going to go full Dr. Brenner on you"; "the demogorgon is not always as forgiving". The letter also won praise from lawyers for its even-handedness in not demanding immediate closure of the bar, only demanding that the bar not remain open without Netflix's permission past its initial scheduled run.

In July 2022, six Jewish and Roma groups condemned the use of Lukiškės Prison as a filming location for the fourth season. Protesters pointed out the prison's involvement in the Holocaust and its role in the Ponary massacre; denounced Netflix's partnering with local tourism board Go Vilnius to rent out a refurbished Stranger Things-themed prison cell on Airbnb; and criticized Netflix's decision to repost images of fans' Eleven-inspired numerical tattoos on their Instagram, saying it "desecrates the living memories of Holocaust survivors". A petition calling on Netflix to close the rental and apologize garnered more than 60,000 signatures, leading Go Vilnius to shut down the Airbnb listing indefinitely. Multiple news outlets contacted Netflix for comment, but received no response.

Accolades

List of awards and nominations received by Stranger ThingsList of awards and nominations received by Stranger Things
Stranger Things has received numerous awards and nominations across the entertainment industry, including ten Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations through the second season. The series' cast has received several of these: the series' first-season cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, while series leads Ryder, Brown, and Harbour have earned individual awards and nominations.

Franchise

Stranger Things (franchise)
The success of the series has led to a wider multimedia franchise, which includes various television spin-offs, a stage play, a line of novels and comics, several video games, and extensive licensed merchandise.

Notes

References

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• The cinematic influences behind Netflix's 'Stranger Things', July 18, 2016, ScreenerTV, February 16, 2017, February 16, 2017, live
• How Netflix's , Stranger Things, Channels Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Stephen King, Sarene, Leeds, The Wall Street Journal, subscription, July 13, 2016, July 29, 2016, September 25, 2018, live
• Ben Travers, 'Stranger Things': Season 2 Plans & How David Lynch Could Control the Ending, en, IndieWire, July 27, 2016, May 30, 2022, May 30, 2022, live
• Stranger Things: all the hidden (and not-so-hidden) movie, TV and book references, The Daily Telegraph, August 6, 2016, January 1, 2017, January 2, 2017, live
• Yes, Stranger Things' Upside Down was totally inspired by Silent Hill, GamesRadar+, August 26, 2016, February 19, 2020, October 16, 2019, live
• Tilly, Chris, How Silent Hill, Dark Souls and The Last of Us Influenced Stranger Things, IGN, August 26, 2016, October 13, 2018, November 17, 2019, live
• Stranger Things, : 21 '80s Relics We've Spotted So Far, Meriah, Doty, TheWrap, July 21, 2016, July 29, 2016, July 28, 2016, live
• A , Stranger Things, Glossary: Every Major Film Reference in the Show, From A–Z, Tobias, Scott, Vulture.com, July 18, 2016, August 31, 2016, August 29, 2016, live
• Strange Influences: Our Favorite Movie References From , Stranger Things, Tyree, Kimber, Boom Howdy, July 26, 2016, July 29, 2016, January 18, 2017, live
• Every '80s Pop Culture References in , Stranger Things, Sean, Hutchinson, Inverse, July 19, 2016, July 29, 2016, April 16, 2019, live
• 'Stranger Things' Season 4 villain Vecna inspired by Freddy Krueger – USA Today, January 29, 2023, May 29, 2022, live
• 'Stranger Things' EPs on Season 2: 'We Could Explore It If Netflix Wanted To', Debra, Brinbaum, July 27, 2016, February 14, 2017, Variety, February 15, 2017, live
• Sharf, Zack, July 17, 2024, Winona Ryder's 'One Condition' for Joining 'Stranger Things' Was a Filming Break If 'Beetlejuice 2' Ever Happened: 'They Agreed. Luckily, It Worked Out', live, July 18, 2024, September 9, 2024, Variety
• 'Stranger Things': Winona Ryder Discusses First Major TV Role in Netflix Featurette, Lamarco, McClendon, June 15, 2015, May 8, 2023, Variety, February 11, 2017, live
• 'Stranger Things' Star David Harbour's Long, Dark Road to Leading Man, Matt, Wilstein, August 9, 2016, February 10, 2017, The Daily Beast, February 11, 2017, live
• This 19-Year-Old Unknown Actress Just Became an '80s Cult Icon, Coates, Tyler, Esquire, August 1, 2016, August 4, 2016, live, August 4, 2016
• Ross Partridge Joins cast of Stranger Things, Petski, Denise, Deadline Hollywood, September 1, 2015, August 4, 2016, live, August 8, 2016
• Netflix's Atlanta Filmed 'Stranger Things' Looks Amazing, Jonathan, A., Project Casting, July 19, 2016, September 15, 2016, September 15, 2016, live
• New Netflix Show 'Stranger Things' Films in Georgia, Gross, Dough, July 19, 2016, TheWrap, September 15, 2016, September 12, 2016, live
• live, 'Stranger Things' shoots on Jackson square, Jackson Progress-Argus, November 24, 2015, July 11, 2017, September 3, 2019
• Stranger Things's Filming Locations Are Just as Spooky in Real Life, –Elizabeth, Stamp, Architectural Digest, August 4, 2015, September 15, 2016, September 12, 2016, live
• Georgia Locations for Netflix's 'Stranger Things', Deep South Magazine, July 28, 2016, January 1, 2017, December 26, 2016, live, Admin
• Loch, Jeff, January 18, 2020, The Making of "Stranger Things" with DP Tim Ives, June 4, 2025, CineD, en-US
• 'Stranger Things' dismantling what's left of Starcourt Mall at Gwinnett Place Mall, ajc.com, January 21, 2020, January 21, 2020, live
• Stranger Things Season 4: Here's How Many Episodes We're Getting, Michael, Ausiello, October 29, 2019, October 29, 2019, TVLine, October 29, 2019, live
• 'Stranger Things 4' Teaser Reveals That Hopper's Alive and Imprisoned in Russia, Maane, Khatchatourian, February 14, 2020, February 14, 2020, Variety, February 14, 2020, live
• Stranger Things Season 4: New Behind-The-Scenes Images Revealed, Dan, Auty, February 18, 2020, February 18, 2020, IGN, February 18, 2020, live
• All the Shows and Movies Shut Down or Delayed Because of Coronavirus, Thorne, Will, Aurthur, Kate, March 12, 2020, Variety, en, live, March 14, 2020, March 15, 2020
• Spencer, Samuel, September 28, 2020, 'Stranger Things' Season 4 expected to start filming today, November 21, 2020, Newsweek, en, February 7, 2021, live
• Lutz, John, March 5, 2023, 'Stranger Things' Star David Harbour Reveals When Season 5 Will Begin Filming, May 13, 2023, Collider, en
• Petski, Denise, January 8, 2024, 'Stranger Things' Is Officially In Production On Season 5 — First Photo, live, January 8, 2024, January 8, 2024, Deadline Hollywood
• Petski, Denise, December 20, 2024, 'Stranger Things' Wraps Production On 5th & Final Season; Behind-The-Scenes Photos, December 20, 2024, Deadline Hollywood
• Stranger Things: the Duffer brothers share the secrets of their hit show, Emma, Thrower, July 27, 2017, February 9, 2017, Empire, December 6, 2016, live
• 50 Things You Didn't Know About 'Stranger Things', November 6, 2017, Harper's BAZAAR, April 23, 2018, April 24, 2018, live
• 'Stranger Things': How the Duffer Brothers created their monster, Entertainment Weekly, April 23, 2018, April 24, 2018, live
• How the Stranger Things Titles Came Out So Perfectly Retro, Sean Patrick, Ferrell, August 11, 2016, February 11, 2017, Wired, February 12, 2017, live
• Stranger Things (2016), Will, Perkins, August 9, 2016, February 9, 2017, Art of the Title, February 11, 2017, live
• Stranger Things, Co-Composer Shares the Story Behind 2016's Most Unlikely Musical Sensation, Kaufman, Gil, August 29, 2016, Billboard, August 31, 2016, September 2, 2016, live
• Twells, John, Stranger Things: 10 eerie electronic gems to hear if you loved the Netflix show, FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music., August 6, 2016, September 5, 2016, September 13, 2016, live
• 'Stranger Things': Meet the Band Behind Show's Creepy, Nostalgic Score, Christopher, Weingarten, August 1, 2016, February 10, 2017, Rolling Stone, February 11, 2017, live
• Gruttadaro, Andrew, How the Duffer Brothers Picked the Perfect Music for 'Stranger Things', October 21, 2018, Complex, August 2, 2018, October 21, 2018, live
• Unpacking the '80s nostalgia of the 'Stranger Things' soundtrack, Phillip, Mylnar, July 25, 2016, February 10, 2017, Mashable, February 11, 2017, live
• Netflix's , Stranger Things, Soundtrack Detailed, Evan, Minsker, Pitchfork, August 10, 2016, August 19, 2016, August 19, 2016, live
• Dunworth, Liberty, November 28, 2025, Kate Bush gets another huge streaming boost after premiere of , Stranger Things, season five, November 29, 2025, NME
• How 'Stranger Things' Pulled Off Its Most Ambitious Music Moment Yet, Josh, Wigler, July 6, 2019, July 9, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter, July 8, 2019, live
• Kate Bush heading to number one after chart rule reset, Mark, Savage, June 14, 2022, June 14, 2022, BBC News, July 12, 2022, live
• 'Master of Puppets' got some 'Stranger Things' love. Now Metallica returns the favor, Alexandra, Del Rosario, July 5, 2022, July 5, 2022, Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2023, live
• Netflix Unveils Premiere Dates For 'Orange Is The New Black,' 'The Get Down,' 'Flaked' And Others, de Moraes, Lisa, Deadline Hollywood, January 17, 2016, January 2, 2017, July 16, 2019, live
• Stranger Things Season 2 Premiere Date, Huge Monster Threat Revealed, Chris, Harnick, July 11, 2017, July 11, 2017, E! Online, July 11, 2017, live
• Stranger Things, Netflix, January 2, 2017, January 3, 2017, live
• Exclusive: 'Stranger Things' Season 3 Starts Filming Monday; Andrew Stanton Not Returning, Haleigh, Foutch, Collider, April 21, 2018, April 22, 2018, April 21, 2018, live
• Netflix Reveals 'Stranger Things' Season 3 Premiere Date, Wigler, Josh, The Hollywood Reporter, December 31, 2018, January 1, 2019, January 1, 2019, live
• Campione, Katie, February 17, 2022, 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Gets a Premiere Date, But New Season Will Be Split in Half, February 17, 2022, The Wrap, February 17, 2022, live
• Stranger Things, Renewed For Fifth And Final Season, Gets Premiere Dates For Split Season 4 As Duffer Brothers Tease Potential Spinoffs, February 17, 2022, Dade, Hayes, Deadline Hollywood, June 14, 2022, February 22, 2022, live
• Stranger Things Season 5 Release Dates Revealed Alongside New Teaser Trailer, IGN, Adam, Bankhurst, June 1, 2025, June 1, 2025
• 'Stranger Things' Writers Deny Old Episodes Are Being Re-Edited, Including That Creepy Jonathan Scene, Zack, Sharf, July 27, 2022, July 27, 2022, Variety, February 3, 2023, live
• Looks Like Stranger Things Is Coming To Blu-Ray, After All, Wampler, Scott, Birth.Movies.Death, October 5, 2017, October 12, 2017, October 10, 2017, live
• "Stranger Things" Season 1 Getting VHS-Style Blu-ray Release at Target, Squires, John, Bloody Disgusting, October 12, 2017, October 12, 2017, October 13, 2017, live
• Stranger Things Season 2 Target Exclusive (4K/UHD), www.target.com, May 22, 2019, May 9, 2020, live
• Stranger Things Season 2 (Target Exclusive) (Blu-Ray + DVD), www.target.com, May 22, 2019, March 9, 2020, live
• 'Stranger Things' Ratings: Where Series Ranks Among Netflix's Most Watched, Variety, August 25, 2016, August 26, 2016, Holloway, Daniel, August 26, 2016, live
• 'Stranger Things' won over most viewers in just two episodes, according to Netflix, Bethoine, Butler, September 23, 2016, February 6, 2017, The Washington Post, registration, February 25, 2017, live
• Stranger Things 3 smashes viewing figure record for Netflix, Gwilym, Mumford, July 9, 2019, The Guardian, July 9, 2019, July 9, 2019, live
• Spangler, Todd, 'Stranger Things 3' Is Most-Watched Season to Date, Netflix Says, January 24, 2020, Variety, October 16, 2019, en, December 18, 2019, live
• Netflix's Most Popular Original Has An Audience Bigger Than Canada's Population, January 24, 2020, Narcity, Narcity Media, October 17, 2019, en-CA, January 24, 2020, live
• Stranger Things (TVShow Time), TV Time, July 15, 2016, June 17, 2021, June 27, 2021, live
• Stranger Things, Rotten Tomatoes, December 26, 2025, August 30, 2017, live
• Stranger Things, Metacritic, June 30, 2019, August 17, 2016, live
• Review: With 'Stranger Things,' Netflix Delivers an Eerie Nostalgia Fix, Genzlinger, Neil, July 14, 2016, The New York Times, limited, June 17, 2019, 0362-4331, June 17, 2019, live
• The 50 best TV shows of 2016: the full list, December 6, 2016, The Guardian, March 18, 2019, 0261-3077, March 13, 2019, live
• The Best TV Shows Of 2016, Dyer, John Nugent, Emma Thrower, James White, Owen Williams, James, December 2, 2016, Empire, March 18, 2019, August 19, 2019, live
• The 20 Best TV Shows of 2017, Gilbert, Sophie, December 11, 2017, The Atlantic, March 18, 2019, December 30, 2018, live
• October 18, 2021, The 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century, live, October 19, 2021, April 12, 2023, BBC
• Shannon Purser: 'People have actually had Barb's face tattooed on their bodies', Michael, Hogan, December 17, 2016, February 12, 2017, The Guardian, February 11, 2017, live
• How the Internet Made Barb from Stranger Things Happen, Laura, Bradley, August 24, 2016, February 7, 2017, Vanity Fair, February 5, 2017, live
• EXCLUSIVE: 'Stranger Things' Star Shannon Purser Reacts to First Emmy Nom and Finally Getting Justice for Barb, Jennifer, Drysdale, July 13, 2017, July 14, 2017, Entertainment Tonight, July 14, 2017, live
• An Emmy Nomination Is Truly Justice for Barb, Laura, Bradley, July 13, 2017, July 14, 2017, Vanity Fair, July 15, 2017, live
• #JusticeForBarb: , Stranger Things, Shannon Purser receives Emmy nomination, Erin, Jensen, July 13, 2017, July 14, 2017, USA Today, July 14, 2017, live
• Why Eleven From Stranger Things Is the Perfect National Waffle Day Mascot, Ashely, Hoffman, August 24, 2016, February 14, 2017, Time, January 28, 2017, live
• Eggo's Role In 'Stranger Things' Turns Into Free Super Bowl Mention With More To Come, Garrett, Sloane, February 6, 2017, February 14, 2017, Advertising Age, February 15, 2017, live
• Coca-Cola is bringing back New Coke in honor of 'Stranger Things', Danielle, Weiner-Bronner, May 21, 2019, May 21, 2019, CNN, May 21, 2019, live
• 'Stranger Things' Trial Split Into Two Phases, Ashley, Cullins, April 23, 2019, April 23, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter, April 23, 2019, live
• Duffer Brothers Accused Of Lifting 'Stranger Things' From 2012 Short Film, Greg, Evans, April 3, 2018, April 3, 2018, Deadline Hollywood, April 4, 2018, live
• 'Stranger Things' creators respond to lawsuit alleging they stole the idea for the hit sci-fi series, Alejandra, Reyes-velarde, April 4, 2018, April 4, 2018, Los Angeles Times, limited, April 5, 2018, live
• 'Stranger Things' Creators Headed to Trial for Allegedly Stealing Idea for Netflix Series, Eriq, Gardner, April 17, 2019, April 17, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter, April 17, 2019, live
• 'Stranger Things' Plagiarism Suit Withdrawn By Plaintiff Just Before Trial, Dominic, Patten, Dino-Ray, Ramos, May 5, 2019, May 5, 2019, Deadline Hollywood, May 5, 2019, live
• Jason, Guerrasio, This Is The Crazy Government Conspiracy Theory That Inspired 'Stranger Things', sciencealert.com, September 20, 2016, July 19, 2017, January 29, 2017, live
• Jessica, Schladebeck, A look at 'Stranger Things' and the secret government experiments that inspired it, New York Daily News, September 1, 2016, July 19, 2017, July 6, 2017, live
• Anderton, Ethan, 'Stranger Things' Was Inspired By a Creepy, Supposedly Real Experiment Called The Montauk Project, /Film, September 6, 2016, September 7, 2016, September 7, 2016, live
• Netflix Sends Cool Cease-and-Desist Letter, Jeff John, Roberts, September 20, 2017, September 3, 2018, Fortune, September 4, 2018, live
• Netflix Ends Unauthorized 'Stranger Things' Bar With A Super Classy Letter, Mina, Bloom, September 18, 2017, September 1, 2018, dnainfo, May 2, 2018
• Myers, Emma, July 9, 2022, Netflix hit Stranger Things slammed for using Nazi prison and brutal asylum in new series, ABC News, December 5, 2022
• Moody, Oliver, July 12, 2022, Netflix accused over 'Holocaust link' to Stranger Things, live, July 12, 2022, December 6, 2022, The Times
• Rusnak, Ben, July 13, 2022, Netflix criticised for shooting Stranger Things in Nazi prison and marketing it as hotel, live, December 6, 2022, The Jewish Chronicle, December 6, 2022

External links

• Analysis of the Duffer Brothers' "show bible" from Screencraft.org