Stranger Things

This article is about the series. For other uses, see Stranger Things (disambiguation).

Stranger Things
General Information
Genre	Supernatural Drama Science fiction Horror
Seasons	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 (in development)
Episode count	34 • 42 (overall; unreleased)
Production
Created by	The Duffer Brothers
Starring	Winona Ryder David Harbour Millie Bobby Brown Finn Wolfhard Gaten Matarazzo Caleb McLaughlin Noah Schnapp Joe Keery Natalia Dyer Charlie Heaton Cara Buono Matthew Modine (seasons 1 and 4) Sadie Sink (seasons 2-4) Dacre Montgomery (seasons 2-3) Sean Astin (season 2) Paul Reiser (seasons 2 and 4) Maya Hawke (seasons 3-4) Priah Ferguson (seasons 3-4) Brett Gelman (season 4) Jamie Campbell Bower (season 4) Eduardo Franco (season 4) Joseph Quinn (season 4)
Executives	Matt Duffer Ross Duffer Shawn Levy Dan Cohen
Country of origin	United States
Original Language	English
Broadcast
Broadcaster	Netflix
Premiere	July 15, 2016 – present
Chronology
Successor	Live-action spinoff, animated spinoff

Stranger Things is an American sci-fi television series created by the Duffer Brothers. It was first released as a Netflix original series on July 15, 2016.

The show takes place in the 1980s, with the central focus being the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. The first season, set in November 1983, follows numerous groups of characters as they separately investigate the disappearance of Will Byers. The subsequent second and third seasons expand the narrative scope, exploring the complex fallout from the events of November 1983. The fourth season further expands the show's scope, with major storylines taking place outside of Hawkins for the first time. A fifth season is in the works and is set to conclude the series. Two spin-off series - a live-action series and an animated series - are apparently in development.

Cast and Characters

Main Cast

• Winona Ryder ​as Joyce Byers
• David Harbour as Jim Hopper
• Millie Bobby Brown ​as Eleven
• Finn Wolfhard​ as Mike Wheeler
• Gaten Matarazzo​ as Dustin Henderson
• Caleb McLaughlin​ as Lucas Sinclair
• Natalia Dyer​ as Nancy Wheeler
• Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
• Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler (seasons 1-3; also starring season 4)
• Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner (seasons 1 and 4; recurring season 2)
• Noah Schnapp as Will Byers (seasons 2-4; recurring season 1)
• Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield (seasons 2-4)
• Joe Keery as Steve Harrington (seasons 2-4; recurring season 1)
• Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove (seasons 2-3; guest season 4)
• Sean Astin as Bob Newby (season 2; guest season 3)
• Paul Reiser as Dr. Sam Owens (seasons 2 and 4; guest season 3)
• Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley (seasons 3-4)
• Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair (seasons 3-4; recurring season 2)
• Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman (season 4; recurring season 2-3)
• Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna/Henry Creel/001 (also starring season 4)
• Eduardo Franco as Argyle (also starring season 4)
• Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson (also starring season 4)

Recurring Cast

• Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler
• Anniston and Tinsley Price as Holly Wheeler
• Rob Morgan as Chief Calvin Powell (seasons 1-2 and 4; guest season 3)
• John Paul Reynolds as Officer Phil Callahan (seasons 1-2 and 4; guest season 3)
• Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence (seasons 1-2; guest season 3)
• Randy Havens as Mr. Scott Clarke (seasons 1-2; guest season 3)
• Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives (seasons 1-2; guest season 4)
• Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives (seasons 1-2)
• Chester Rushing as Tommy H (seasons 1-2)
• Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Perkins (seasons 1-2)
• Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers (season 1)
• Shannon Purser as Barbara Holland (season 1)
• Mark Steger as The Demogorgon (season 1)
• Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier (season 1)
• Peyton Wich as Troy Walsh (season 1)
• Cade Jones as James Dante (season 1)
• Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond (season 1)
• Linnea Berthelsen as Kali Prasad/008 (season 2)
• Kai Greene as Funshine (season 2)
• James Landry Hébert as Axel (season 2)
• Anna Jacoby-Heron as Dottie (season 2)
• Gabrielle Maiden as Mick (season 2)
• Catherine Curtin as Claudia Henderson (seasons 2 and 4; guest season 3)
• Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland (season 2; guest season 1)
• Aaron Munoz as Mr. Holland (season 2)
• Jennifer Marshall as Susan Hargrove (seasons 2 and 4)
• Karen Ceesay as Sue Sinclair (seasons 2 and 4)
• Arnell Powell as Charles Sinclair (seasons 2 and 4)
• Matty Cardarople as Keith (season 2; guest season 3)
• Cary Elwes as Mayor Larry Kline (season 3)
• Jake Busey as Bruce Lowe (season 3)
• Alec Utgoff as Alexei (season 3)
• Andrey Ivchenko as Grigori (season 3)
• Francesca Reale as Heather Holloway (season 3)
• Michael Park as Tom Holloway (season 3)
• Holly Morris as Janet Holloway (season 3)
• Peggy Miley as Doris Driscoll (season 3)
• Gabriella Pizzolo as Suzie Bingham (season 4; guest season 3)
• Sherman Augustus as Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan (season 4)
• Logan Riley Bruner as Fred Benson (season 4)
• Logan Allen as Jake (season 4)
• Livi Birch as Alice Creel (season 4)
• Regina Ting Chen as Ms. Kelley (season 4)
• Nikola Đjuričko as Yuri Ismaylov (season 4)
• Mason Dye as Jason Carver (season 4)
• Amybeth McNulty as Vickie (season 4)
• Elodie Grace Orkin as Angela (season 4)
• Tyner Rushing as Virginia Creel (season 4)
• Myles Truitt as Patrick McKinney (season 4)
• Grace Van Dien as Chrissy Cunningham (season 4)
• Tom Wlaschiha as Dmitri "Enzo" Antonov (season 4)
• Kevin L. Johnson as Young Victor Creel (season 4)
• Clayton Royal Johnson as Andy (season 4)
• Hunter Romanillos as Chance (season 4)
• Joel Stoffer as Wayne Munson (season 4)
• Paris Benjamin as Agent Ellen Stinson (season 4)
• Ira Amyx as Agent Harmon (season 4)
• Kendrick Cross as Agent Wallace (season 4)
• Martie Blair as Young Eleven (season 4)
• Tristan Spohn as Two (season 4)
• Christian Ganiere as Ten (season 4)
• Vaidotas Martinaitis as Warden Melnikov (season 4)
• Nikolai Nikolaeff as Ivan (season 4)
• Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Oleg (season 4)
• Gwydion Lashlee-Walton as Gareth (season 4)
• Trey Best as Jeff (season 4)
• Grant Goodman as Freak 1 (season 4)
• Jessica Arden Napier as Five (season 4)
• De'Jon Watts as Six (season 4)
• Morgan Gao as Three (season 4)
• Sparrow Nicole as Four (season 4)
• Candice Rose as Laura Cunningham (season 4)
• Christopher Strand as Phillip Cunningham (season 4)

Seasons

Stranger Things

Main article: Season 1

Synopsis

When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.

Plot Summary

November 6, 1983. Hawkins, Indiana...

Young Will Byers is cycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons campaign at a friend's house, when a terrifying figure suddenly appears, Will tries to escape and hide, but the Monster abducts him to an alternate dimension. Will's friends Dustin, Lucas and Mike begin investigating his disappearance; while looking for Will in the local forest, the boys find a girl with a shaved head in a hospital gown, who they let stay in Mike's basement. They learn her "name" is Eleven and discover she possesses psychokinetic abilities.

Will's mother, Joyce, becomes transfixed by supernatural events affecting the house electricity - she's convinced Will is communicating with her. As these strange events continue, she witnesses (and is threatened by) the same monster that took Will. Meanwhile, police chief Jim Hopper grows suspicious of the nearby national laboratory and begins researching into the facility's shady history. Mike's older sister Nancy attends a pool party hosted by her new boyfriend Steve, begrudgingly accompanied by her best friend Barb. Jonathan, Will's brother, witnesses the events of the party, taking photos. While alone, Barb is abducted by the Monster....

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Stranger Things 2

Main article: Season 2

Synopsis

A year after Will's return, everything seems back to normal... but a darkness lurks just beneath the surface, threatening all of Hawkins.

Plot summary

October 28, 1984. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

A group of criminals killed a man; they flee in a van but are pursued by police. They escape from police when the group goes under a tunnel, where rocks fall and block the opening. However, it is revealed that the rocks were only a vision in the mind of the lead policeman. Back in the van, it is revealed that a girl named Kali, a member of the gang, has caused the vision. She is bleeding from her left nostril and we see a tattoo marked "008" on her wrist.

Back in Hawkins, the boys go to the Palace Arcade, where they find that someone with the name "MADMAX" has beaten Dustin's high score in "Dig Dug" by over 100,000 points. At the arcade, Will experiences an "episode", where he finds himself in the Upside Down version of the arcade. In the episode, he sees a large "shadow monster". The next day at school, they meet a new student from California named Max Mayfield, who immediately captures the affection of Lucas and Dustin. Dustin believes she is "MADMAX" but Lucas is skeptical. At Hawkins High, Max's stepbrother Billy Hargrove arrives, and begins to compete with Steve for the title of "King". Will, who has been experiencing the episodes frequently, is taken by Joyce and Hopper to Hawkins Lab, where he is seen by Dr. Sam Owens, the new head scientist. Meanwhile, Joyce has begun seeing Bob Newby, a classmate from high school and the manager of the local RadioShack. Nancy and Steve have been having regular dinners with the Holland family following Barb's death. Nancy, who is still grieving Barb's death, learns that the Hollands (who are unaware Barb is dead) are selling their house to afford to pay an investigative journalist named Murray Bauman to find Barb; Nancy feels responsible and guilty. At the basement, Mike futilely tries to contact Eleven for the 352nd day in a row since her disappearance but is unsuccessful. Later, Hopper goes to a cabin in the woods, where it is revealed he lives there with Eleven, who is still alive...

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Stranger Things 3

Main article: Season 3

Synopsis

It's 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana, and summer's heating up. School's out, there's a brand new mall in town, and the Hawkins crew are on the cusp of adulthood. Romance blossoms and complicates the group's dynamic, and they'll have to figure out how to grow up without growing apart.

Meanwhile, danger looms. When the town's threatened by enemies old and new, Eleven and her friends are reminded that evil never ends; it evolves. Now they’ll have to band together to survive, and remember that friendship is always stronger than fear.

Plot summary

June, 1984. A facility in Kamchatka, the Soviet Union...

Soviet scientists attempt to force open a gate to the Upside Down. However, the mission fails. Hitman Grigori kills a scientist under orders of Stepanov, who gives the other scientist Dr. Alexei one year. One year later in Hawkins, the divisive new Starcourt Mall has forced much of the town out of business. Mike and Eleven have begun a romantic relationship, much to Hopper's chagrin; he later threatens Mike into agreeing not to see her. Dustin returns from summer camp and sets up a radio tower to contact his new girlfriend, Suzie, but his friends ditch him; soon after, he accidentally intercepts a Russian-language transmission. Will, possessing a lingering connection to the Upside Down, privately senses that the Mind Flayer may still be alive. Rats congregate in an abandoned mill called Brimborn Steel Works, where they explode into an organic mass. On his way to a rendezvous with Karen Wheeler, Billy is run off the road by an unseen creature and dragged inside the mill. Billy escapes, but not before the creature induces a vision of the Upside Down. Tormented by further visions and voices, Billy is guided by the creature into kidnapping his co-worker Heather Holloway, taking her to the creature.

Nancy and Jonathan, working as interns at The Hawkins Post, investigate the home of Doris Driscoll, an elderly woman concerned about rabid rats eating her fertilizer. Max and Eleven bond to distract themselves from Mike and Lucas while shopping at Starcourt; Eleven breaks up with Mike after he lies to her about Hopper threatening him. Joyce investigates a strange loss of magnetism among objects at her home and workplace, accidentally standing Hopper up for a date. At Starcourt's ice cream parlor, Scoops Ahoy, Dustin reunites with Steve, who now works at the parlor. Steve's co-worker and former classmate Robin becomes curious about their activities, and helps them translate the Russian transmission; the three uncover a coded message...

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Stranger Things 4

Main article: Season 4

Synopsis

It's been eight months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time - and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery, that if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.

Plot summary

September 8, 1979. Hawkins National Laboratory, Hawkins...

Dr. Brenner is experimenting on test subject 010 until a mysterious incident kills all of the subjects except Eleven. In 1986 — eight months after the events at Starcourt Mall — Joyce, Will, Jonathan, and Eleven have moved to a new house in Lenora Hills, California, where Eleven struggles with the loss of her powers and is bullied by other students at Lenora Hills High School. Joyce receives a porcelain doll in the mail, seemingly from Russia, and finds a hidden note stating that Hopper is alive. In Hawkins, Mike and Dustin have joined the high school's "Hellfire Club", a Dungeons & Dragons club led by iconoclast Eddie Munson. As a result, they miss seeing Lucas win the basketball team's championship game. Max, who has broken up with Lucas, struggles to come to terms with Billy's death. Chrissy Cunningham, a student on the cheerleading team, is haunted by visions of her abusive mother Laura Cunningham and a chiming grandfather clock. While buying drugs from Eddie, Chrissy is possessed and killed by a sentient humanoid figure from her visions.

Hopper is shown in a flashback to have survived the explosion of the Key under Starcourt Mall, but is captured by Soviet soldiers and sent to a prison camp in Kamchatka. Joyce and Murray call the phone number on the note sent to Joyce and speak to "Enzo," revealed to be Dmitri Antonov, a prison guard that Hopper has bribed. Antonov has them deliver a $40,000 ransom to his contact in Alaska. Mike flies to California to visit Eleven, where he and Will witness her being bullied by her classmates Angela and Jake at Rink-O-Mania; Eleven eventually retaliates by striking Angela in the face with a roller skate. Back in Hawkins, Max tells Dustin she saw Eddie run away the night that Chrissy died. With help from Robin and Steve, they locate the traumatized Eddie and explain the Upside Down to him; Eddie and Dustin name the entity that killed Chrissy "Vecna". Nancy and her fellow student reporter at The Weekly Streak Fred Benson investigate Chrissy's death; Eddie's uncle Wayne Munson tells Nancy he believes the killer is Victor Creel, a Hawkins resident who was institutionalized after allegedly murdering his family in 1959. Fred is lured into the woods by visions of a student he accidentally killed before Vecna murders him...

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Stranger Things 5

Main article: Season 5

Synopsis

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things.

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Spin-offs

Following the announcement of Season 4's release dates, the Duffer Brothers hinted the Stranger Things universe would expand in the form of spinoffs.

In an interview published on May 23, 2022, the Duffers confirmed that they had ideas for at least one spinoff, but were yet to begin the writing process. They were yet to share their spinoff concept to anyone else, including Netflix executives. The proposed new series is "very different", and will apparently not involve characters from the main series. Though the Duffers had not yet revealed the spinoff's concept, Mike Wheeler actor Finn Wolfhard has apparently correctly guessed the idea behind the spinoff. The spinoff was later specifically described as being live-action.

On March 10, 2023, a separate animated spinoff was announced.

Episodes

#	Image	Title	Director	Writers
1		"The Vanishing of Will Byers"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		On his way home from a friend's house, young Will sees something terrifying. Nearby, a sinister secret lurks in the depths of a government lab.
2		"The Weirdo on Maple Street"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Lucas, Mike and Dustin try to talk to the girl they found in the woods. Hopper questions an anxious Joyce about an unsettling phone call.
3		"Holly, Jolly"	Shawn Levy	Jessica Mecklenburg
		An increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan's been up to. Joyce is convinced Will is trying to talk to her.
4		"The Body"	Shawn Levy	Justin Doble
		Refusing to believe Will is dead, Joyce tries to connect with her son. The boys give Eleven a makeover. Nancy and Jonathan form an unlikely alliance.
5		"The Flea and the Acrobat"	The Duffer Brothers	Alison Tatlock
		Hopper breaks into the lab while Nancy and Jonathan confront the force that took Will. The boys ask Mr. Clarke how to travel to another dimension.
6		"The Monster"	The Duffer Brothers	Jessie Nickson-Lopez
		A frantic Jonathan looks for Nancy in the darkness, but Steve's looking for her, too. Hopper and Joyce uncover the truth about the lab's experiments.
7		"The Bathtub"	The Duffer Brothers	Justin Doble
		Eleven struggles to reach Will, while Lucas warns that "the bad men are coming." Nancy and Jonathan show the police what Jonathan caught on camera.
8		"The Upside Down"	The Duffer Brothers	Paul Dichter · The Duffer Brothers
		Dr. Brenner holds Hopper and Joyce for questioning while the boys wait with Eleven in the gym. Back at Will's, Nancy and Jonathan prepare for battle.
9		"MADMAX"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up in the arcade, and a skeptical Hopper inspects a field of rotting pumpkins.
10		"Trick or Treat, Freak"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		After Will sees something terrible on trick-or-treat night, Mike wonders if Eleven is still out there. Nancy wrestles with the truth about Barb.
11		"The Pollywog"	Shawn Levy	Justin Doble
		Dustin adopts a strange new pet, and Eleven grows increasingly impatient. A well-meaning Bob urges Will to stand up to his fears.
12		"Will the Wise"	Shawn Levy	Paul Dichter
		An ailing Will opens up to Joyce -- with disturbing results. While Hopper digs for the truth, Eleven unearths a surprising discovery.
13		"Dig Dug"	Andrew Stanton	Jessie Nickson-Lopez
		Nancy and Jonathan swap conspiracy theories with a new ally as Eleven searches for someone from her past. "Bob the Brain" tackles a difficult problem.
14		"The Spy"	Andrew Stanton	Kate Trefry
		Will's connection to a shadowy evil grows stronger, but no one's quite sure how to stop it. Elsewhere, Dustin and Steve forge an unlikely bond.
15		"The Lost Sister"	Rebecca Thomas	Justin Doble
		Psychic visions draw Eleven to a band of violent outcasts and an angry girl with a shadowy past.
16		"The Mind Flayer"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		An unlikely hero steps forward when a deadly development puts the Hawkins Lab on lockdown, trapping Will and several others inside.
17		"The Gate"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Eleven makes plans to finish what she started while the survivors turn up the heat on the monstrous force that's holding Will hostage.
18		"Suzie, Do You Copy?"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Summer brings new jobs and budding romance. But the mood shifts when Dustin's radio picks up a Russian broadcast, and Will senses something is wrong.
19		"The Mall Rats"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Nancy and Jonathan follow a lead, Steve and Robin sign on to a secret mission, and Max and Eleven go shopping. A rattled Billy has troubling visions.
20		"The Case of the Missing Lifeguard"	Shawn Levy	William Bridges
		With El and Max looking for Billy, Will declares a day without girls. Steve and Dustin go on a stakeout, and Joyce and Hopper return to Hawkins Lab.
21		"The Sauna Test"	Shawn Levy	Kate Trefry
		A code red brings the gang back together to face a frighteningly familiar evil. Karen urges Nancy to keep digging, and Robin finds a useful map.
22		"The Flayed"	Uta Briesewitz	Paul Dichter
		Strange surprises lurk inside an old farmhouse and deep beneath the Starcourt Mall. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer is gathering strength.
23		"E Pluribus Unum"	Uta Briesewitz	Curtis Gwinn
		Dr. Alexei reveals what the Russians have been building, and Eleven sees where Billy has been. Dustin and Erica stage a daring rescue.
24		"The Bite"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		With time running out -- and an assassin close behind -- Hopper's crew races back to Hawkins, where El and the kids are preparing for war.
25		"The Battle of Starcourt"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Terror reigns in the food court when the Mind Flayer comes to collect. But down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.
26		"The Hellfire Club"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		El is bullied at school. Joyce opens a mysterious package. A scrappy player shakes up D&D night.
27		"Vecna's Curse"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		A plane brings Mike to California — and a dead body brings Hawkins to a halt. Nancy looks for leads. A shaken Eddie tells the gang what he saw.
28		"The Monster and the Superhero"	Shawn Levy	Caitlin Schneiderhan
		Murray and Joyce fly to Alaska, and El faces serious consequences. Robin and Nancy dig up dirt on Hawkins' demons. Dr. Owens delivers sobering news.
29		"Dear Billy"	Shawn Levy	Paul Dichter
		Max is in grave danger... and running out of time. A patient at Pennhurst asylum has visitors. Elsewhere, in Russia, Hopper is at hard work.
30		"The Nina Project"	Nimród Antal	Kate Trefry
		Owens takes El to Nevada, where she's forced to confront her past, while the Hawkins kids comb a crumbling house for clues. Vecna claims another victim.
31		"The Dive"	Nimród Antal	Curtis Gwinn
		Behind the Iron Curtain, a risky rescue mission gets underway. The California crew seeks help from a hacker. Steve takes one for the team.
32		"The Massacre at Hawkins Lab"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		As Hopper braces to battle a monster, Dustin dissects Vecna's motives — and decodes a message from beyond. El finds strength in a distant memory.
33		"Papa"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		Nancy has sobering visions, and El passes an important test. Back in Hawkins, the gang gathers supplies and prepares for battle.
34		"The Piggyback"	The Duffer Brothers	The Duffer Brothers
		With selfless hearts and a clash of metal, heroes fight from every corner of the battlefield to save Hawkins — and the world itself.

Production

See also: Category: Production, Season 1#Production, Season 2#Production, Season 3#Production, Season 4#Production

Conception

See also: Influences & references, Montauk

Growing up as avid movie fans, the Duffer Brothers were excited how television was going in a more cinematic direction, and they loved the idea of doing a long-form movie. When they started thinking out their ideas in early 2014, they were initially inspired by the plot of the 2013 film Prisoners, which starred Hugh Jackman as a man searching for his missing daughters. Wanting the show to have something more, the Duffers began discussing "more childlike sensibilities", like having a monster devouring people. They became interested in a paranormal missing child storyline, which would be connected to versions of mysterious, real-life government experiments which took place at the tail end of the Cold War. They thought it made sense to set it at the end of the '70s or early '80s and realized it allowed them to pay homage to the films they grew up with.

Growing up in the suburbs of North Carolina, watching films made them feel like their normal lives had the potential for adventure, which was a feeling they wanted to capture with Stranger Things. They aimed to return to a simpler style of storytelling and create something in the vein of the classic stories they loved growing up - such as films by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Wes Craven, and the novels of Stephen King. They have stated many times that, "What made those stories so great and resonant was that they explored that magical point where the ordinary meets the extraordinary."

Two weeks after having the idea, they threw it away, thinking no one would let them do a TV show. They were invited to write on Wayward Pines and, taking lessons from that experience, wrote a pilot script.

Development

The pilot script was brought to Dan Cohen, the vice president of production company 21 Laps Entertainment, in late 2014. He showed it to producer Shawn Levy, and within days they started talking about the project and how to bring it to the world. The Duffers created a mock-trailer, where they combined clips from more than twenty-five classic films, including Carpenter and Spielberg movies, and added a John Carpenter soundtrack over it. They also made a little notebook to help sell the show when pitching it with the cover aesthetically modeled after a Stephen King book.

Being filmmakers, the Duffers were determined to approach the show as an eight-hour movie and not have it feel like typical television which influenced their every key decision in the development process. They did not want anyone else directing as they wanted the show to be unified in the same way a movie is. The Duffers make emotional decisions leading with their heart, so when choosing the crew, they wanted to go with people who understood their idea and the show.

Netflix was their first choice when looking for a production company and broadcaster as their format would give them the freedom to tell the story like an eight-hour movie. With Cohen and Levy, the brothers pitched the show to Netflix in early March 2015. Netflix was very passionate about the show and bought the entire season within 24 hours of the first meeting. Matt Duffer later stated, "The dream scenario was always Netflix, so we’re very fortunate that we wound up there."

Originally, the show was set in Montauk and correspondingly titled Montauk because the twins always loved the idea of the coastal-town Amity feel in Jaws. As it would be impossible to shoot in Long Island during wintertime, production was moved from Montauk to Atlanta. The twins ended up falling in love with the idea that it was more Anywhere, USA, and it reminded them of their childhoods and homes, a world they inherently understood better than the coastal town.

Costume design

Main article: Costume design

It was important for the Duffer Brothers to create a world with characters that felt real while also maintaining that '80s aesthetic. With that in mind, Kimberly Adams and Malgosia Turzanska were selected as the costume designers for the first season.

Adams had to put together mood boards with images from her research to distinguish each character's look, including the background characters and extras, who were dressed with the same care as the main characters. The pieces of the clothes were aged and designed according to how long the characters had owned them, while also reflecting the characters' difference in social status.

For the second season, Kim Wilcox was brought as the new costume designer who created a bigger archive of clothing for both the kids and the adults.

For the third and fourth seasons, Amy Parris was brought in as the new costume designer for the series. For the third season, she searched for colorful clothes to reflect the mid-80s style, and because of different locations in the fourth season, she used color palettes to keep track of them for the characters.

Music

Main article: Music

The Duffers always wanted the music to play a major role in the show, deciding very early on that they wanted an entirely electronic score. They were charmed by existing electronic soundtracks, as they were very modern and cutting-edge, while also inevitably evoking the sounds of ’80s music (most notably Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and John Carpenter). The Duffers felt that having a synth soundtrack would do exactly what they wanted to achieve with the show: It would feel both modern and nostalgic at the same time. Some of the show’s biggest inspirations, such as E.T. or Jaws, feature a soaring, orchestral "John Williams" style score, so the Duffers thought that a synth soundtrack would play nicely against expectations.

The Duffers first discovered the synth band S U R V I V E when they heard one of their tracks in Adam Wingard's film, The Guest. The Duffers reached out to the band and asked if they were interested. Two band members, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, agreed to score the project. Kyle and Michael first started composing music in summer 2015, sending "sketch" tracks inspired by the characters, tone, and story.

Over the course of the year, over 13 and a half hours of music was accumulated from Kyle and Michael. Though not all of this music made it into the eight-hour first season, it gave the Duffers a huge library to pull from as they edited.

Season 1's score was eventually released in two parts: Stranger Things, Volume One, and Stranger Things, Volume Two. Dixon and Stein have also worked on the score for Stranger Things 2, which was released on October 20, 2017. Dixon and Stein released a Halloween-themed album for the series, Stranger Things: Halloween Sounds from the Upside Down, on October 5, 2018. They followed up on the soundtracks for Stranger Things 3 and Stranger Things 4, both released on June 28, 2019, and July 1, 2022, respectively.

Title sequence

Main article: Title sequence

The title sequence was designed by production studio Imaginary Forces. The first phone call between the studio and the Duffer Brothers was set up by Shawn Levy, where the Duffers spoke about what they were looking for. Imaginary Forces was sent the script for the first episode and started working on the titles before the show had started filming, which is fairly unusual for a TV show.

In terms of design, the Duffers referenced Richard Greenberg, who had designed the titles for The Goonies, Altered States, Alien, The Untouchables and many others. For the font, they were inspired by old Stephen King books and sent twelve different covers to Imaginary Forces. They felt that going back to the simplicity of Greenberg's titles and the King covers represented the show well. The production team tested out several typefaces before deciding on Benguiat.

Early concept of "Red".

Imaginary Forces initially presented three different ideas; one was called "Missing", which featured eerie scenes of abandoned toys; another was "Shadows," which was type creating shadows or objects creating shadows with type. "Red" was the idea that eventually became the final product.

The production team for the sequence was a small one. They used Cinema 4D, but most of it was done in After Effects, with "tonnes and tonnes of layering." For effects, they used elements of Lens Distortion 4K, which is real shot optical lens flares, and Gorilla Grail, which is real scanned 35mm film grain, which was also used in the actual film footage in the show.

Technical aspects

Stranger Things was shot on a RED Dragon camera. Aiming for a vintage film look, colorist Skip Kimball employed many tricks, including adding a layer of scanned ‘80s film grain on top.

Special effects

Main article: Special effects

The special effects in Stranger Things were achieved through a combined effort of practical effects and computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Reception

See also: Awards & Recognitions

Stranger Things has received critical acclaim from critics and viewers alike. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an overall approval rating of 92% (97% For Season 1, 94% for Season 2, 89% for Season 3, and 88% for Season 4), with an average rating of 7.9/10.

The site's critical consensus for Season 1 reads, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary, Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television." Critical consensus for Season 2 reads, "Stranger Things' slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against growing darkness that's all the more effective thanks to the show's full-bodied characters and evocative tone." Critical consensus for Season 3 reads, "Stranger Things transforms itself into a riveting -- yet familiar -- summer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing." Critical consensus for Season 4 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."

On Metacritic, the series has a score of 76, 78, 72, and 69 out of 100 for Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, indicating "generally favourable reviews". The series also currently has a score of 8.7 on IMDb.

Stranger Things has also received numerous awards and nominations for both seasons, including 31 nominations on the "Primetime Emmy Awards" with 5 wins, as well as winning the 'Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series' for the first season.

The series has also been recognized as the most in-demand digital original series of 2017 and will be included in the 2019 edition of Guinness Book of World Records.

Trivia

• The series's shortest episode, "The Bathtub", has a runtime of 42 minutes and 20 seconds, while the longest episode is "The Piggyback" with a runtime of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 13 seconds; that is a difference of 1 hour, 39 minutes and 53 seconds.
• The show's working title was Montauk; in the Duffer Brothers's original pitch, the series was set in Montauk, Long Island. When the Duffers realized the setting would need to be changed, they came up with a list of alternative show titles:
  • The Rift
  • The Nether
    • "The Nether" was the original name for the Upside Down.
  • The Keep
  • Sentinel
  • Indigo
    • "Indigo" was originally going to be the name of the government program at Hawkins Lab.
  • The Study
  • Wormland
  • (The) Tesseract
  • Wormhole
  • Flickers