Old-fashioned, freaky family mystery nails it
It’s been a long time since all-ages entertainment was this good
The strangest thing about Netflix’s new show Stranger Things isn’t the scary monsters, the super creeps or even star Winona Ryder’s wildeyed hysterics. No.
The strangest thing by far is the show’s mass popularity. In the week or so since its release, Stranger Things has gone from retro geek curiosity, to cult hit and can now be validly called a cultural phenomenon. It’s totally deserved, the show’s terrific, but it is a little puzzling.
Step outside of geekdom’s sheltering umbrella for a second and a thunderstorm of mainstream strikes rain down against it.
The series is a 1980s flavoured scifi show about horrific supernatural beings that terrorise a small town. As if that wasn’t enough to have people changing channels, the show also stars a bunch of kids . . .
I’ll admit that last part was a stickler for me. Despite every aspect of the show appearing tailor-made to my specific interests (sci-fi, supernatural, the ’80s . . .) I just didn’t want to watch a bunch of kids running around.
Maybe it’s because I have one and by the time she’s down in bed for the night I’m fairly over the sight of