No one could have predicted just how big a phenomena Stranger Things would become when it debuted back in 2016. The Duffer Brothers created a love letter to 80s PG-rated fantasy/horror. It connected with Generation X and Elder Millennials who grew up on repeated VHS viewings of films like The Goonies, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Scooby Doo and Ghostbusters in a way like nothing the streamer had put out before. It captured the thrills and chills and also managed to connect to the heart of that era.
Stranger Things follows the story of the 4 best friends from Hawkins, Indiana, and the new friends they make as they begin to move beyond spending their nights playing Dungeons & Dragons in the basement. It may look like they just fight paranormal monsters from another dimension, with the help of a telekinetic girl they find and befriend, but it is really a story about growing up. They discover life gets hard. They find out about love and loss.
Now, after a 3 year break (thanks COVID), we are finally getting our first look at the upcoming fourth season, and it looks like the future for the Hawkins gang lies in the past. Check it out, below.
“Stranger Things” is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a boy vanishes into thin air, his close-knit group of friends and family search for answers and are pulled into a high-stakes and deadly series of events. Beneath the surface of their ordinary town lurks an extraordinary supernatural mystery, along with top-secret government experiments and a dangerous gateway that connects our world to a powerful yet sinister realm. Friendships will be tested and lives will be altered as what they discover will change Hawkins, and possibly the world — forever.
The teaser introduces a previously unknown chapter in Hawkins’ history. Like all great small towns in America, there is that one house with a story. In Hawkins, it’s the Creel House. The trailer shows a bit of that history. A young family moving in. Odd things happening in the house. Lights flash, strange noise… then tragedy. It sits empty, filled only with dust and ghosts. That is, until the Scoop Troop shows up to investigate. Steve Harrington (Joe Kerry) Robyn (Maya Hawke), Nancy (Natalie Dyer), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) explore the house.
Although we don’t see everyone, we can expect the whole gang from the past 3 seasons to return. We already have a tease that Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) didn’t die at the end of Season 3. How he will get back to Indiana from the Siberian gulag is anyone’s guess, but when he does, will he be able to find Joyce (Winona Ryder) and the rest of the Byers family?
Joyce, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) left Hawkins behind for a new start. They were nowhere to be seen in the tease nor was a heartbroken Mike (Finn Wolfhard). What will bring them back together? Only time can tell. And by time, I mean the creepy grandfather clock that ticks away in the Upside Down.
Are you excited about going back to the Upside Down? Or has it been too long since your last visit to Hawkins, IN? Have you left the 1980s in the past? Or are you zipping up your parachute pants and grabbing a can of Aquanet? Let us know in the comments.
Stranger Things Season 4 arrives on Netflix in 2022.