Stranger Things

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This article is about the fandom. For other uses, see Stranger Things (disambiguation).
Fandom
Name: Stranger Things
Abbreviation(s): ST, SThings
Creator: The Duffer Brothers
Date(s): July 15, 2016 – present
Medium: television
Country of Origin: USA
External Links: Official site
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Stranger Things is a supernatural horror Netflix TV series that was released in July 2016. It stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery.

Stranger Things is notable for the way it pays homage to (or sometimes makes overt references to) horror or supernatural movies of the 1980s, like E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Carrie, or Alien,[1] and also 80s pop culture such as Star Wars and Ghostbusters.

Stranger Things was created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer and sold to Netflix after being turned down by over ten developers. The story is based on a myth originating in Montauk, New York about a government facility that kidnapped children and performed experiments on them during the Cold War. The show began filming in 2015 using sites around Atlanta, Georgia. The first season was released in 2016, was renewed, and the second season was released in 2017. Season three premiered on the Fourth of July in 2019. Season four was released in 2022 in two parts, the first part on May 27 and the second part on July 1.

Canon

On November 6, 1983 in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes mysteriously. Will's frantic mother, Joyce, searches for him while Police Chief Jim Hopper launches his own investigation. Will's friends Dustin, Mike and Lucas discover a psychokinetic girl who claims to know Will's location. As they uncover the truth, a sinister government agency tries to cover it up, while a more insidious force lurks below the surface.[2]

Main Characters

Reccurring Characters

Fandom

Stranger Things is a new fandom and has been growing in popularity since its release, especially in August 2016 after being recced constantly on Facebook and Tumblr. Fanworks started appearing nearly immediately on Archive of Our Own, Tumblr and FanFiction.net. Stranger Things RPF has also appeared. The fandom also has a strong presence on Reddit, Twitter and Instagram. Because the show draws inspiration from a lot of 80s media and uses it to plant clues and easter eggs, the fandom tends to write a lot of analysis and meta pointing them out. Before each new season drops the fandom sees an increase in discussions and theories about what's going to happen next, often encouraged by the Stranger Things official accounts on social media.

Fandom Popularity on TikTok

Stranger Things became extremely popular on TikTok after season four aired, especially focusing on the character of Eddie Munson. Many people cosplayed as Eddie either for short scenes, skits, to lipsync to songs, or simply while recording other videos.

Voice-lines from the show were remixed to created the "Chrissy Wake Up" song [1]which trended in various formats and song-writers wrote songs based within the canon material, such as Sapphire's song about Billy Hargrove from the perspective of Max Mayfield [2].

There were also many videos with ship discussions (and ship wars), short video analysis, reaction vids and other videos theorising about events that may or may not happen in the show.

There was also a lot of toxicity alongside this, with some fans of Stranger Things seemingly being exposed to normal fannish hobbies like cosplay for the first time and branding that side of the fandom "cringey" for the way they engaged with fandom. Sapphire, mentioned above, had to turn off all comments on their videos to prevent the barrage of hate comments and harassment they were subject to [3] [4].

Statistics

  • In 2016, Stranger Things was ranked eleventh in the Top 20 "most reblogged" live-action television show on Tumblr[5].
  • In 2017, Stranger Things moved up three places, ranking eighth in the Top 30 "most reblogged" live-action television show on Tumblr.[6]
  • In 2018, Stranger Things remained in eighth place on Tumblr's list of the Top 30 "most reblogged" live-action television shows[7]
  • In July of 2019, after the release of the third season, the show appeared for the first time in letzan's Top 20 Femslash Week in Review[8]
  • In 2019, Harringrove was the 31st most popular ship on Tumblr.[9] Toastystats listed Stoncy as one of the most popular poly ships on AO3.[10]
  • In 2020, Harringrove was the 32nd most popular ship.[11]
  • In 2022, Stranger Things became #1 on Tumblr's TV show year in review based on fandom presence.[12] Byler was the most popular ship on Tumblr, with Steddie in second and Ronance as fourth. Harringrove was 31 and Lumax was 32, with more Stranger Things ships appearing later on.[13] There was a separate year in review post to summarize Stranger Things fandom development.[14] AO3 Ship Stats 2022 listed Steddie as the 10th most popular ship on AO3.[15]

Pairings

Het

Slash

Femslash

OT3

Gen

Crossover Ships

Slash

Challenges

see also List of Stranger Things Challenges

Conventions

Fan Theories

JusticeforBarb

After season one and the death of character Barb Holland fans began tweeting #justiceforbarb, feeling that the character's death was not given the weight it should have been during the season. The hashtag became a fan campaign, it attracted the notice of the show's creators and stars. Barb's popularity and the anger at her death was a surprise

Brian Moylan suggested it’s because a certain type of fan sees something of themselves in her, the kind of girl who doesn’t get invited to the prom and instead stays home to polish her rock collection. Like Daria Morgendorffer or Enid and Rebecca of Daniel Clowes’ “Ghost World,” disaffected loners on the outside of teen life looking in, Barb stands in for the outcasts and the misfits.[16]

As a result of the campaign the show's creators promised that fans would find justice for Barb in the second season, and bringing closure to Barb's story was a large part of Nancy's arc.

Example Fanworks

Fanart

2018

untitled, Archived version by Hetteh-SpegettehFandom: Stranger ThingsDate: 14 January 2018Length: 6Medium: FanartStatus: Complete
I recieved SEVEN sketchbooks for Christmas and apparently the first one is just. Basically. All. Stranger Things. Oh well.
Stranger Things 2, Archived version by Gop GapFandom: Stranger ThingsDate: 2018Length: 5Medium: FanartStatus: Complete
Chapter one : MADMAX

Fanfiction

Fanvids

Gifset

2017

Stranger Things S2, Archived version by ElevnnsFandom: Stranger ThingsDate: 01 November 2017Length: 8Medium: Animated GifStatus: CompleteGenre: Canon
Nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was.

Date Published Unknown

stranger things meme ✿ ( 1/10 episodes ), Archived version by MichaelsWheelerFandom: Stranger ThingsDate: unknownLength: 7Medium: Animated GifStatus: CompleteGenre: Canon
Chapter Seven: The Bathtub. ❝Awesome. It was awesome. Everything I said about you being a traitor, I was wrong. I’m sorry.

Meta

Zines

Further Reading

Archives & Fannish Links

Tumblr

DeviantART

Discord

Resources

References

  1. ^ For examples, see this July 2016 Vulture article
  2. ^ Wikipedia
  3. ^ Stranger Things fans on TikTok are being told they’re ruining the show for cosplaying - The Tab. September 2, 2022. (Accessed November 6, 2023)
  4. ^ Stranger Things fans are being ridiculed over their Eddie Munson posts - Popbuzz. September 1, 2022. (Accessed November 6, 2023)
  5. ^ 2016′s Top TV Shows - Live Action
  6. ^ 2017′s Top Live-Action TV Shows
  7. ^ 2018’s Top Live-Action TV Shows
  8. ^ Femslash week in review: 2019-07-30 - 2019-08-05
  9. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/189431747929/2019-ships
  10. ^ https://archiveofourown.org/works/21698248/chapters/51753511
  11. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/636856116682375168/2020-top-ships
  12. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/702360895245991936/tv-shows-so-much-sci-fi-and-fantasyalmost-like
  13. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/702448526072987648/ships-if-its-not-canon-at-least-theres-always
  14. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/702360835242295296/stranger-things-in-a-busy-fantastical-year-of
  15. ^ https://archiveofourown.org/works/40795074/chapters/102218811
  16. ^ The cult of Barb: Why the Internet is obsessed with the “Stranger Things” doomed sidekick
Stranger Things
Master Lists Stranger Things Category • Challenges • Characters • Ships • Zines
Crossover Ships Will Byers/Richie Tozier • Bill Denbrough/Mike Wheeler • Eddie Kaspbrak/Mike Wheeler • Will Byers & Eddie Kaspbrak • Richie Tozier & Mike Wheeler
Part of the Fanlore Project on Stranger Things! Join us, say hello on the talk page, or join our Discord!
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