Stranger Things: Chapter One- The Vanishing of Will Byers

”Mornings are for coffee and contemplation!”

So Mrs Llamastrangler have decided to watch Stranger Things now that Atypical is up to date. Mrs Llamastrangler took some convincing as she tends to resist things which are overly popular but, well, we’re now five episodes in and it’s only the unfortunate need for adulting that’s prevented us from bingeing further. We’re hooked.

This is the first episode, and by definition has a lot of work to do. There are the gang to introduce- Will, Lucas, Mike and Dustin, first seen playing D&D. This is (I think) 1982, so I’m wondering whether this is D&D or AD&D; I hope we find out. This is America, so they’re playing in Mike’s parents’ enormous basement, and this is the early ‘80s, so they all leave on bikes and mention X-Men #134 which, if I remember correctly, is one of the Phoenix Saga issues. Ah, the rush of nostalgia. I was five in 1982; these kids would be a few years older than me.

And then we have the horror stuff. The episode started with what looked like a scientist running through a corridor into a lift, and being grabbed by the unseen monster from the lift roof. And now Will goes into the science lab next to town... and vanishes, while a lightbulb does something weird. It’s all very well shot indeed.

We also meet Will’s mum Joyce (Winona Ryder, the only famous cast member) and Mike’s family including his older sister Nancy, as the ripples of Will’s disappearance spread across town. It’s already clear that, of the three remaining kids, we will be focusing on Mike. So far, with the horror and the POV of pre-pubescent boys, it feels very much like Stephen King’s It and its adaptations. The early ‘80s setting makes storytelling easier- no mobile phones (although the plot requires Sallie talkies!), no internet- and allows us to wallow in constant nostalgia. The fashions, the card, the hairstyles are all very well done, and it all looks like an American version of my early childhood.

We also get to meet Hopper, the local sheriff, gruff and not particularly likeable, at least at this stage until we learn he’s mourning a daughter (ouch), and a fugitive child stealing food from a cafe and who seems to have some kind of psychic powers. What’s shocking is that, when the cafe owner calls social services, he is shot and killed by the “social workers”; there is clearly a cover-up to return the girl to the nearby lab. Fortunately, she escapes, and is found by the boys.

As first episodes tend to be, this is a whirlwind. But I’m getting to know the characters and intrigued by the premise. The horror is also very well shot- unlike most current horror films- and the nostalgia is fun. More please.