Stranger Things Guide to the 1980s Stranger Things Guide to the 1980s

In the summer of 2016, the world was introduced to the Upside Down. Since Stranger Things—a sci-fi horror series created by twins Matt and Ross Duffer—launched on Netflix, it has become nothing short of a phenomenon that has gone way beyond its record-breaking streaming statistics. Fans across generations have repeatedly flocked to the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, where a collection of ’80s suburban kids (and their parents, plus the town sheriff) try to solve the mysteries and fight off the monsters that lurk just beneath the surface of our reality. Thanks to its engaging story, a dynamic cast featuring a mix of newcomers and recognizable veterans, and a full quiver of touchstone cultural references, Stranger Things has extended its reach far beyond Netflix, stretching its Lovecraftian tendrils into…

WINONA RYDER The show’s top-billed star was headlining movies long before many of her fellow Stranger Things actors were born, and the Oscar nominee was even featured in a handful of films that clearly inspired elements of the show, including Beetlejuice and Heathers. Ryder has successfully navigated the treacherous path between teen icon (Edward Scissorhands, Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Gen-X icon (Reality Bites) and prestige scene-stealer (Black Swan). In addition to Stranger Things, her TV experience includes a classic episode of The Simpsons (she’s the title character in 1994’s “Lisa’s Rival”) and memorable turns in the David Simon HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero and The Plot Against America. PAUL REISER The man Stranger Things fans know as the shady Dr. Sam Owens (a role that owes at least a casual…

E. T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL There are a multitude of references to Steven Spielberg’s classic tale of a young boy saving a friendly alien from nefarious government types. They are both broad (any time a group of kids rides bikes away from danger, it’s going to feel Spielbergian) and specific (in the first season, Eleven is disguised in the same mildly absurd way E.T. is, and her obsession with Eggo waffles stands in for E.T.’s beloved Reese’s Pieces). Stranger Things is inspired by cult classics like E.T. and The Goonies. THE GOONIES The 1985 cult classic found a group of misfit kids banding together in order to hunt down long-lost pirate treasure and outwit a group of criminals also seeking the booty. Though the kids in Stranger Things aren’t hunting for…

KATE BUSH, “RUNNING UP THAT HILL” One of the unlikeliest developments in the history of Stranger Things was the show’s ability to turn a 35-year-old song into a proper pop hit in the summer of 2022. Originally from English art-rocker Bush’s fifth album, Hounds of Love, “Running Up That Hill” was a moderate hit when first released in 1985, but after it became the soundtrack to Max’s struggles against Vecna it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in eight different countries. MADONNA, “MATERIAL GIRL” When Max and Eleven decide to distract from their respective boy troubles with a trip to the Starcourt Mall, what better accompanying soundtrack is there than Madonna’s iconic ode to avarice? The song, which appeared on Madonna’s second album,…

JOYCE Winona Ryder has crafted a wholly original character in beleaguered Midwestern mom Joyce Byers, but the Duffer brothers clearly drew plenty of inspiration from Steven Spielberg’s classic 1977 sci-fi epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind and its obsessive hero Roy Neary (played to perfection by Richard Dreyfuss). Both Joyce and Roy call Indiana home, Joyce is a single mom seeking her missing child and both are faced with skepticism in the midst of their bone-deep beliefs that something supernatural is happening in their small town. Though Joyce never makes a model of her vision out of mashed potatoes (as Roy does), she does set up Christmas lights in the living room in an attempt to communicate with the absent Will. HOPPER When we first meet Sheriff Jim Hopper,…

DUST IN’S “DUCKIE” Dustin’s curls tend to hide under his ever-expanding collection of clever caps, but for his entrance to the Snow Ball at the end of season two, he went all out. With some critical advice from Steve, Dustin went with a high-volume cross between a mullet and a perm that was a clear nod to the formal coif adopted by Phil “Duckie” Dale, the immortal best friend played by Jon Cryer in Pretty in Pink. NANCY’S PERM As a young woman in the early 1980s, Nancy Wheeler would obviously be seduced by the power of the perm, which was a solution for both women and men seeking both curls and volume on top of their heads. Actress Natalia Dyer has used a series of frizzy wigs over the…