It's been a long wait for the final season of Stranger Things to arrive. Sure, the showmakers did deliver a two and a half hour finale to round out season four, but the battle against Vecna is hardly over and we have been insatiable ever since. Sue us.
We will most likely roll through the series a few more times to ring out every last drop of entertainment until part one of season five lands on Netflix this Thursday. Then we'll do the same again as we wait for part two. But then what? For those who have little in the TV pipeline for once Stranger Things heartbreakingly wraps for good, then we're bringing you a list of shows to fill the Hawkins-shaped hole in your heart.
Below, find six shows like Stranger Things, ready to comfort you when we finally say goodbye to the Upside Down.
1. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018)
A seemingly normal town American town. Teenagers with supernatural powers. Sound familiar? The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina begins with a magical realism slant and gradually becomes more enmeshed with the occult as the seasons unravel. If you're into witches, hail Lilith, are fascinated by Salem, or simply loved the old Sabrina, then this is a much darker reimagining but no less enjoyable with Kiernan Shipka at its helm.
2. Freaks and Geeks (1999)
Freaks and Geeks and Stranger Things are much more alike than first glance would suggest. For example, both are set during the 80s and are coated in that kind of cold war existentialism that defined the era. Then there's the fact that both of them focus on two different generations; the older high school-aged teens and their younger siblings. We would argue that the younger of the two have more personality.
3. Yellowjackets (2021)
Some have boiled Yellowjackets down as a schoolgirl-focused take on Lord of the Flies. Alone in the wilderness school girls must fight for their lives, a matter which becomes more difficult when someone resorts to cannibalism. It's premise, one that follows an all-girls high school football team whose plane crashes while travelling to a national tournament, certainly sets it up for this comparison. But add in a split timeline, one grounded in the present day and another stuck in 1996, and you have an original whodunit on your hands plus a web of mysteries to rival Stranger Things.
4. Twin Peaks (1990)
Twin Peaks. You may have heard of it? We're just throwing in a classic here, because just like Stranger Things, even if you've watched it a thousand times over it can always be revisited. Magical realism and the 80s collide once again, for another murder mystery with a sprinkling of the supernatural. While the median age of the characters sits somewhere much higher than that of Stranger Things, it's still youthful and is rampant with delicious style and stylish sequences. We're fans.
5. The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Don't see the similarities? Hear us out. Just like Stranger Things, The Queen's Gambit also centres the power of friendship and a group mentality over the individual. There's Russian adversaries, period dressing and problem solving. It even revolves around a board game, so there's that too.
6. I Am Not Okay With This (2020)
It's not enough that Eleven has to manage her superpowers, she must do it while going through puberty too. It's rough, it's also the premise behind I Am Not Okay With This. The equally as angsty Syd is navigating the absolute hell that is high school, she's bullied, coming to terms with her sexuality and lusting after her best friend, hard. When her best friend begins dating the high school jock, that anger begins to manifest in new and frightening ways.
Image: @sadiesink_
