Feature: Stranger Things Day Survival Kit

The clock is ticking in Hawkins. On November 26, the final season of Stranger Things drops, and the endgame begins (😭). Stranger Things Day, today, marks the date Will Byers vanished in 1983, setting off a chain of events that would pull an entire town into the Upside Down.

It’s the perfect day to dive head-first into the nostalgia, the supernatural, and the eerie charm that makes Hawkins unforgettable. So here’s your survival kit: a curated list of music, movies, shows, and books to binge before the big premiere.

How to Use This Survival Kit

• Build your own Fall ’87 playlist and blast it while you rewatch Season 4.
• Make your way through the movie list. Bonus points for watching them on VHS or in a retro-themed theater…or if you invite us.
• Pair your reading list with a cozy blanket and just enough light to keep the shadows at bay.
• Host a Stranger Things party with themed snacks (yes, Eggos are mandatory).

Soundtrack to a Hawkins Autumn: Fall 1987

Season 5 drops us into late 1987, a time when the radio was pure magic: swaggering pop anthems, mall-friendly bops, and a few tracks dark enough to belong in the Upside Down. These aren’t just chart hits…they sound like Hawkins.

• “Bad” – Michael Jackson – Cultural dominance in ’87, with the defiant edge of kids standing their ground against impossible odds. Cool, dangerous, unforgettable, like a Camaro pulling up outside Hawkins High.
• “A Hazy Shade of Winter” – The Bangles – Urgent and wintry, this Season 1 callback feels tailor-made for a cold Hawkins night when the air is thick with danger.
• “Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi – Pure, triumphant anthem energy, mirroring the Party’s resilience as they push through impossible battles.
• “Walk Like an Egyptian” – The Bangles – Offbeat, colorful, and perfect for a light mall scene—because Hawkins isn’t always shadows and Demogorgons.
• “Here I Go Again” – Whitesnake – Emotional drive and grit, perfect for the moment you get back up and decide to face the monster.
• “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” – Cutting Crew – Moody, romantic tension for those bittersweet, “don’t let go” character beats.

The Movie DNA of Stranger Things

The Duffer Brothers didn’t just create a show; they built a love letter to the sci-fi, horror, and adventure films of the ’80s. Whether you’re new to them or haven’t rewatched since VHS days, these classics will feel instantly familiar:

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – A found creature, a bike chase, and the government closing in.
• The Goonies – A ragtag crew, dangerous tunnels, and treasure maps.
• Stand by Me – Friends on a journey, growing up on the edge of something dark.
• Poltergeist – A quiet home hiding a dangerous other world.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street – Dreams that bleed into reality.
• The Thing – Snowbound paranoia and a monster that wears your friend’s face (paging Billy).

Modern Shows with Hawkins Energy

When the credits roll on your movie marathon, queue up these series. They’re spiritual siblings to Stranger Things, full of strange happenings, small-town drama, and dimension-bending mysteries:

• Twin Peaks (Paramount+) – Quirky, surreal, and deeply unsettling. A Kelly fav!
• The OA (Netflix) – Multiverses, chosen families, and impossible rescues.
• Dark (Netflix) – Time travel, missing kids, and tangled family secrets.
• Paper Girls (Prime Video) – A group of 1988 paper-delivery girls catapulted into a time-travel war.

Reads to Hold You Over Until Season 5

Not every Hawkins-style story has to come from a screen. These recent and recent-ish YA and crossover books bring the same mix of found family, supernatural danger, and small-town tension. Oh, and two recently announced books in the Stranger Things family!

• This Raging Sea by De Elizabeth – Haunted seaside carnival, ocean monsters, and a missing friend lost in time.
• Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power – A tense return to a hometown where family secrets rot just under the surface.
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix – High school, friendship, possession, and conspiracy in the late ’80s.
• Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero – A Scooby-Doo-style gang returns to confront the Lovecraftian horror they never truly defeated.
• Let Them Stare by Jonathan Van Ness & Julie Murphy – A gender-nonconforming teen and a ghost from the 1950s team up to uncover a buried history.
• Starcourt Mall Escape by Jennifer Brody – Max and Eleven take us back to the mall that season 3 centered on!
• One Way or Another by Caitlin Schneiderhan – Nancy and Robin after season 4? Say no more.

This is our last trip to Hawkins (for now…Anyone else waiting for news of more in the world, be it another series, more books, or further comics?). So let’s fill the days between now and November 26 with stories that make us believe in found family, fear the flicker of a single lightbulb, and wonder what’s hiding just out of sight.