What To Watch
10 Shows to Watch While You Wait for Stranger Things Season 5
Teens solving mysteries, fighting creatures, and more shows to scratch that ’80s-tastic itch.
May 1, 2024
10 Best Shows Like Stranger Things to Watch Before Season 5 - Netflix Tudum
Our favorite monster-fighting 1980s teenagers will be back for a fifth season of Stranger Things, but you’re going to want a few other shows to watch while you wait for its return. So, to tide you over until then, we’ve put together this list of series that will fill that Demogorgon-shaped hole in your heart.
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Dead Boy Detectives
These supernatural, mystery-solving teens have a lot more fun than our Hawkins crew, despite the fact that they are, as promised in the title, dead. Set in the world of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, our titular sleuths track down the forces hindering some of their ghost brethren from moving on — all with the help of a few corporeal friends.
The Umbrella Academy
Is there any theme more universal than a dysfunctional family trying to band together in support of a common goal? Because that’s definitely what Stranger Things is about (and, you know, fighting monsters), and it’s also what the Hargreeves kids do in The Umbrella Academy. Plus, there’s a ton of snarky dialogue, impressive effects, and a kick-ass soundtrack, all of which Stranger Things has in spades.
Raising Dion
The plot of this two-season series also involves a young child’s emerging superpowers, though this show centers around a widowed mother attempting to solve the mystery around her son’s abilities (while keeping them hidden from people who would want to take advantage of them). This multigenerational story is perfect for those who love how Stranger Things splits its time between the adult storylines and the kids of Hawkins.
Locke & Key
If you’re willing to go along with the concept of the Upside Down, you’re definitely willing to invest in a story about a family living in a house with magical keys that unlock both powers and secrets. Like The Umbrella Academy, Locke & Key is also based on a comic book.
Archive 81
When a young archivist takes a job restoring damaged videotapes, he gets pulled into the vortex of a mystery involving a missing director and a demonic cult. Or “Sunday,” as they call it in Hawkins.
Safe
Harlan Coben’s first Netflix series is about a desperate father searching for his oldest daughter, who has disappeared. Joyce Byers can commiserate.
Dark
We know what you’re thinking. “Another missing child tale?” Not quite. This time-twisting German story is even more of a mind trip than the Upside Down. The official description: “A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.” Yes, that means time travel, a mysterious conspiracy, and a whole bunch of people who suddenly learn about a supernatural phenomenon plaguing their town. Sound familiar?
Mortel
The Hawkins gang didn’t have much choice when it came time to fight the Demogorgon (or the Mind Flayer, or any other of the Upside Down’s monsters). But the group of French teens in Mortel who make a deal with a voodoo god in order to attain superpowers? They had it coming.
Alice in Borderland
The Dungeons & Dragons Hellfire Club has nothing on the Japanese teens of Alice in Borderland, who find themselves in a parallel Tokyo where they have to compete in a series of games to survive.
All of Us Are Dead
What is it about teenage life and zombies that goes so well together? Here’s another story about students fighting for their lives amid a virus outbreak — like the Hawkins teens constantly fighting multiple different creatures (not to mention the government conspiracy against them).
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All About Stranger Things
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