By Molly Briggs ’19, Contributer

Stranger Things, a new series on Netflix, has been a huge hit. It combines supernatural mystery, drama, and horror. Managing to be creepy and chilling but not quite scary, even people who aren’t into horror movies would love it. It is wonderfully written and directed by the Duffer brothers, but it’s inspired by Steven Spielberg.
In a small town called Hopkins, Indiana, in 1983, 12 year old Will Byers vanishes mysteriously. Three groups set out to find him and the truth about the peculiar events following his disappearance. Mike, Lucas, and the hilarious Dustin, middle school geeks who ended up sticking together, are determined to find their best friend no matter what. They stumble upon a mysterious psychokinetic girl named Eleven who claims she knows the location of Will. Nancy, Mike’s older sister, and Jonathon, Will’s older brother, also search for the missing boy. And finally, Hopper, the chief of police of Hopkins, and Joyce Byers, Will’s frantic mother, try to find Will and who—or what—took him, all while a secret scientific government group tries to cover the disappearance up.
This show makes you feel scared, intrigued, and completely invested in it from the very beginning. As soon as Netflix released it in mid-July, it grew increasingly popular. Everyone who watches it is guaranteed to love it- the series even got a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. There are only eight episodes, which definitely made many people yearn for more at the end and makes you feel like you can’t get enough. But, the short season prevented the plot from repeating itself and kept the plot moving so it was always very thrilling and exciting. Luckily, it has already been renewed for a second season.
A great part of Stranger Things is that it includes very smartly constructed flashbacks. When heroes are under high stress, the show takes you back in time to special events that keep a sense of sorrow and trauma. These are surprisingly not cheesy but instead show vulnerability that makes you get attached to the characters.
Stranger Things keeps you on the edge of your seat. It chills you to the bone, but also makes you laugh. The characters, especially Joyce Byers (played by Winona Ryder) and Chief Hopper (played by David Harbour) are amazing. Ryder captures the agony and stress that any mother would be feeling if they lost a child, all while showing how eager and frantic she feels while searching and grasping at anything she can reach that might help her get her son back- even things that most people would never believe. David Harbour’s character seems like a jerk at first, but in the end Harbour reveals that underneath his toughness, there is a big heart. The child actors are also spectacular. Finn Wolfhand (Mike), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathon), Gaten Natarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), and Noah Schnapp (Will) all make the show fun while also showing the struggles of growing up that every kid goes through. Overall, this Netflix series is incredible, and anyone who has watched it would agree that it is definitely a must-see.