It’s only 4 days until one of the biggest finales in Netflix streaming history begins. This all started almost a decade back when a group of kids and teenagers, who resembled every character from every 80s show, got us hooked into a town named after a famous scientist who coincidentally was into the exploration of black holes and parallel worlds, among many other things.

On the initial watch back in July, the reception was lukewarm. Millennials and even Gen X could see so many Easter eggs from their teen and young adult days once again. We could even say Stranger Things was the younger, kid-friendly version of The Hangover, as the whole point of the first season is to get Will back, like how the whole point of The Hangover movies is to get Doug back.

King Verse

If you have noticed that the motley crew from Stranger Things made you remember the Losers’ Club from the IT franchise or Stand by Me, that’s a good observation, as the characters’ appearance, their rapport, and the episode titled “The Body” from Season 1 is a scene-by-scene recreation from Stand by Me.

And then there is Eleven, a young girl having the power to nuke people. That’s classic King; Eleven’s powers have been modeled after the female protagonist from the famous King novel turned movie, Carrie.

The Spielberg Effect

One of the best movies of Spielberg in the 80s features a group of youth from the suburbs clashing with the government because they wanted to either talk with aliens or get one home. And the climax showdown, where the kids are fleeing from the government on their cycles to save their town, is a homage to E.T. Even the Demogorgon and the Upside Down can be compared to the deep water and hungry sharks from the world of Jaws.

Aliens and Giger

The world of the Upside Down closely resembles the world of Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise; the dread which fills the screen when it shifts to the Upside Down is identical to the planets infested by Xenomorphs.

The Mysterious Thing

As the seasons progressed, the stakes got bigger and more dangerous. So, in Season 3, the mastermind behind all this decided to get more serious, so they sent the Mind Flayer, a being that took over Billy and used him to gather more hosts to melt them down for something more sinister later.

Elm Street

The last season had the defenders of Hawkins face their greatest threat, Vecna, who in hindsight resembled Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, as they have a thing for killing their victims, who are mostly young teens, in their dreams or trances in gruesome manners.