#books like stranger things

[rockislandadultreads]

Stranger Things Readalikes: a book list

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey

Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet—or as safe—as it seems. Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them. All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale. One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards

A hitched ride home in a snow storm turns sinister when one of the passengers is plotting for the ride to end in disaster.

When Mira flies home to spend Christmas with her mother in Pittsburgh, a record-breaking blizzard results in a cancelled layover. Desperate to get to her grief-ridden mother in the wake of a family death, Mira hitches a ride with a group of friendly college kids who were on her initial flight.

As the drive progresses and weather conditions become more treacherous, Mira realizes that the four other passengers she's stuck in the car with don't actually know one another.

Soon, they're not just dealing with heavy snowfall and ice-slick roads, but the fact that somebody will stop at nothing to ensure their trip ends in a deadly disaster.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she's got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter's been dead for years. The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.

Dark Site by Patrick Lee

On an otherwise normal morning, former Special Forces operative Sam Dryden is the target of an unsuccessful attempted abduction. Using his attacker's cellphone, he learns that another person, a woman named Danica Ellis, is also being targeted. Dryden arrives just in time to save Danica from the assault team sent after her. But neither of them recognize the other, or have any idea why they are being targeted. The only clue is a heavily redacted, official-looking document given to Danica by her stepfather before he was killed. Dryden immediately recognizes it as a 'scrub file.' A scrub file is a record of what a subject knew before their memories were chemically destroyed. The redacted document refers to witnesses to a secret military site in Ashland, Iowa in 1989. Both Dryden and Danica Ellis lived in Ashland in 1989, when they were both twelve years old, though neither of them has any memory of the other.

#mystery #mysteries #thriller #horror #mystery thriller #stranger things #netflix #books like stranger things #the upside down #books to read #tbr #booklr #booktok #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #book recs #library books

[catharusustulatus]

I just love how Steve Harrington was supposed to be killed off after a couple of episodes but Joe Keery was so charming and so likable they rewrote the whole season and show to keep him alive like he really Darren Criss’d it. He is that bitch. He gave the Duffers the ol razzle dazzle and now he IS the show for most normies. My uncle who has never watched ST and doesn’t even have Netflix loves Steve on vibes alone. The people’s prince.

#stranger things #steve harrington #Joe Keery #he just showed up on set with his big puppy dog eyes and princess Diana hair and said I’m stealthy like a ninja #and the duffers were like okay I guess we’ll keep him #and now he’s the star #at least he is in my book #and I bet if Eddie comes back it will be for the same reason #since they mentioned they regretted filming the death scene first after realizing how charming Joe Quinn was #we shall see

[b4kuch1n]

polymer broadcast signal hijack

#pikmin #captain olimar #ft. louie captain shepherd and collin #as well as #moss (pikmin) #watched a stream series of pikmin 4 (its frankenbugs' series) thats what this is about really #but mostly. I just love olimar. I just really enjoy that man #also this really got me flexing those bande dessinée muscles from back thens lol #Ive missed drawin with this kinda proportions... I should do it more #Im gonna draw an olimar to put in my wallet. I need to make my life harder to explain to strangers #I also wanna. add more details to his space suit. make it look more like real life space suit for fun & entertainment #man I enjoy the animals in pikmin so much. they really are just like. animals. theyre animals #its great I love how genuinely bug-lookin the bugs are even with the stylization. pikmin and pokemon are really good at that #would like to learn how to do that... sometimes in the future #oh yeah fun fact. my effort at cleaning up my undercut a few days ago went badly. right before I went to a family reunion thing for 2 days #so I was goin out of my mind at that event postin abt olimar bc I love him #and then. when I got home. I decided to shave my head instead of trying to fix the haircut again #and so the sequence of events becomes I post about olimar -> I enter my bald arc #I am okay with this. have a good night lads. binding books is actually really fun u should try it

[messrsbyler]

ao3 authors who have no social media are are so mystical. they really be writing and posting some of the most perfectly crafted pieces of media and then disappearing without a trace

#ma'am or sir or folk please give me an username where to find you because i need to become your loyal follower #it's like going from tavern to tavern asking for the tales of the great CoffeeAndWriter from the mythical land of AO3 #but seriously every time i find an amazing fanfiction i'm holding my breath crossing my fingers and scrolling to the ending notes hoping to #find a tumblr username and when there's nothing i go to the profile and then when there's nothing there i know #i found another mythical creature in the fandom to add to the book #at this point i'm collecting them like pokemons specially in st fandom #byler #byler tumblr #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #fandom #writing #fandom things #fandom culture #byler ao3 #stranger things ao3

[musicalchaos07]

Do y'all think sometime in the mid-90s there was an Unsolved Mysteries about Will (and Hawkins). The Party is obsessed with it (they like to point out the inaccuracies) but it mostly gets forgotten by the general public.

Then in the mid-2000s they go over "The Strange Town of Hawkins and The Mysterious Vanishing of Will Byers" on Buzzfeed Unsolved and that picks up and every horror/true crime podcast is covering it, and 45 yo Will is like "are you fucking kidding me?" and Mike thinks it's the funniest thing.

#I love the idea of old married comic book artist Will being annoyed at conventions #like are you THAT will byers???? #Will starts demanding profits so he never has to work again #stranger things #will byers #byler #st headcanon

[deoidesign]

sleeping beauty (available in print!)

#I dont like the kissing a stranger thing so pretend there was a big sign out front like 'kiss me!!!' #sleeping beauty #comic #comic books #my art #digital art #my ocs #original comic #short comic #mini comic #web comic #wahoo! #I love this little comic I'm happy with it still methinks #I have other short comics planned and written just... #havent had the time to actually make them #but it's on my list #my ever growing list..

[stevesbipanic]

@steddiemas Day 22: Santa Shenanigans

Steve was going to kill Robin.

Well, not really because he doesn't think he'd survive more than a couple days without her. But he'd certainly be giving her the stink eye next shift for suggesting a secret Santa between the older ones of the party.

"We just rog it so that I get Vickie and she'll fall madly in love with me, it's a perfect plan Steve!"

To her credit it was an ok plan.

"Last week you spent an hour bemoaning the fact that she smiled at a boy."

"But yesterday she spent two hours studying with me in the library!"

Steve rolled his eyes at her shenanigans but agreed nonetheless. They drew names the next time they had all gone out for burgers at the diner. Steve tried not to make it obvious when he saw who his name was. Eddie.

Steve wasn't disappointed, no, far from it, he'd been hiding a crush on the older boy for a few months now, let's just say Eddie spent a lot of time by Steve's pool last summer. But now he felt the pressure to get him the perfect gift. The plan hadn't even worked for Robin.

"I got Argyle! Now how will I win her heart."

"Could always plant some mistletoe."

"You're a genius! Who'd you get."

"It's Secret Santa, Rob's, it's meant to be secret."

"Boo you're no fun, bet it's me."

It took Steve weeks to finish his gift for Eddie and Steve found himself hastily wrapping it the morning of their little Christmas party, grateful that Robin had thought of the plan well in advance otherwise he'd have never finished.

Steve greeted everyone and watched as they placed their secret Santa gifts under the tree. They ate, laughed and picked a Christmas movie to watch after presents. One by one they opened their gifts.

Nancy got Vickie some water colour paints.

Argyle got Jonathan rolls of fresh film.

Jonathan got Nancy some new notepads with larger covers.

Robin got Argyle a big bright tie dye shirt with Groovy printed on the front, he quickly put it over the sweater he was already wearing.

Vickie turned to Robin and Steve quickly saw her cheeks start to redden. She passed her the gift and Robin unwrapped a bag full of pins and badges.

"I've been collecting them for a few weeks for you from around town and around where I went to visit my grandma, thought your work vest needed some more fun ones."

Robin grinned widely at Vickie, the effort making a big impact on her. Steve knew he'd be hearing about it for weeks but he hoped the mistletoe in the kitchen sped things along.

Steve was about to give Eddie his gift when he realised that this meant Eddie also got him for Secret Santa. He turned to the metalhead to find him already shyly holding out a gift.

"It's not much but I hope you like it, Stevie."

Steve unwrapped the small package to find a collection of mixtapes inside, Eddie's handwriting clearly scribbled on the side.

"I started making a mixtape of songs that made me think of you but U ran out of room on the first one and might've gotten carried away," he said shyly scratching his neck.

Steve glanced over the names of the songs and it was clear that the majority of them certainly wouldn't remind someone of their dear platonic friend. Steve smiled softly at him and passed him his gift.

"I think I know what you mean."

Eddie slightly confused at the statement unwrapped the gift, his mouth forming a small o looking inside. He took out the book, a worn copy of The Hobbit that Steve had thrifted as soon as he knew Eddie was his secret Santa.

"Stevie, you know I've got this one, it's my favourite," he said slightly awkwardly.

"Look inside."

Eddie slowly opened the book to see small dribbles of ink between the words. The handwriting clearly Steve's. As he flicked through he saw Steve's thoughts spilling into almost every page.

"It's your favourite and you're always wanting me to read it so I did, I thought it'd be fun if you saw exactly what I thought of it."

Eddie's eyes caught on one of the words near the end, a small red shape next to them, yeah, he thinks he and Steve are on the same page, but he'd wait until the end, no spoilers early after all.

"I love it, Stevie, thank you."

As Steve sat curled up next to Eddie on the couch watching the film he too had the same thought, definitely on the same page.

Ao3

#Vickie just looks like shed like water colouring #some people hate when people annotate i dont mind #enjoy a book how you want to its your experience #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #st christmas #steddiemas #rockie #background robin and vickie #stobin #how is it week 4 already of steddiemas

[littleststarfighter]

There’s only one thing any van in the 80s needed. And that’s one bitchin airbrushed demon horse.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #stranger things #stranger things art #my fanart #80s #originally drawn for a fan book cover but I didn't like it

[artiststarme]

Eddie loved to read. He enjoyed immersing himself in books, letting the stories wash over him, and escaping his own reality for the imaginations of another. He adopted new personas and became someone else as he skimmed every word. He put himself in the shoes of people he could only dream of and let their lives replace the problems in his.

On the other hand, Steve hated reading. He sat alone for hours staring at words without meaning with letters that floated through paper and dripped from the pages. He couldn’t derive any knowledge from books nor could he enjoy the lives of the characters or the storylines of novels. As soon as the wretched piece of paper flipped, whatever contents were on it were swiped from his memory. He never understood the literary importance of any book much less hidden meanings somehow woven into the pages that the English teachers talked about.

After escaping the talons of both Vecna and the mob out for blood, the boys were left with too much time and too little to do. No one wanted to hire someone that associated with the town’s not-so-secret-teen-killer and on the off chance that they went into public, they were persecuted by their peers.

To deal with the boredom, loneliness, and restlessness alike, Eddie turned to reading. He would dive right into the words like Steve had dived into Lover’s Lake. He would adopt the lives of the characters and pretend that maybe his life wasn’t so bad after all.

Steve watched Eddie flip each page, a look of innocent wonder on his face and a hopeful smile on his lips. They couldn’t do book club or share notes on what was being read but Steve could still follow the emotion of the story through Eddie’s expressions and the trace of a finger along his jumping pulse. Eventually, Eddie would read aloud. He’d keep Steve entranced in the story with his raspy voice combing through every word. Sometimes he’s stumble, his eyes moving faster than his mouth could speak, but it was still the most satisfying thing Steve had ever heard.

On a random Thursday when they finally finish the book, Steve holds Eddie’s face in his hands and delicately kisses his lips for the first time.

“Maybe now it’s time we start our own story, Eds.”

And so they do.

#their favorite activity is sitting on the couch or laying in bed with Eddie reading and Steve dozing off #(I’m asexual and it shows lol) #the rest of the Party find it disgustingly mushy #however Steve and Eddie ignore them like they always do and make an even bigger effort to read in front of them #Eddie even starts reading the horrific romance books old ladies read to really piss them off #stranger things #steddie #ficlet #steve harrington #eddie munson

[suzieburself]

give me voice overs of Max’s letters sprinkled throughout season 5. Start with the letter to her mom explaining some of the supernatural stuff (to intro the season). Give me the letter to Mike as he stares at Wills painting. Give me El’s letter as she’s preparing to face off against Vecna agin. Give me Lucas’ letter at the very end and have him read it to her. I’m dying to know what she wrote to Lucas, but I want to hear what she wrote to other characters too!

#I feel like it’s more likely this won’t happen though #and they’ll make another book to comment that has the letters in it #like we’ll probably hear one or two but definitely not all #Stranger things #max mayfield #Lumax #byler #Stranger Things theory

[whynotimtired]

The best part of Will saying he wants forever with Mike so blatantly is that he isn't the one who brought it up, Mike was. In an act of projection he asks "What did you think? That we'd actually get to be together forever? When we're both boys?" and will says yes. He says yes, and Mike immediately regrets it.

#not even going to get into how earth shattering it was for me to make that reference #i didnt even realize that's what i was writing until halfway through #he said yes. he said yes. (it was the worst thing I'd ever done.) #accidentally implying he doesnt also want forever with Will #gonna scream #this is so stupid dkndnd i just woke up #byler #will byers #byeler #mike wheeler #stranger things #mike wheeler is gay #AND KNOWING THAT WHEN WILL MOVED ALL MIKE DID FOR A FULL MONTH WAS LOCK HIMSELF IN HIS BASEMENT AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES #LIKE #IT CANNOT GET MORE BLATANT THAN THIS #will 'i want forever with you' byers and el 'hes my first boyfriend' hopper #also imagine how much white hot rage mike felt when will said 'you called maybe a couple times' when mike called CONSTANTLY- #and will NEVER called him back #i hate the roller rink scenes they both think that theyre being ignored and dropped by the person who they care about most in the world #& the idea that once mike finally got on the right page and understood what the painting & the speech meant. WILL flew to a whole diff BOOK #mikes like holy shit he loves me this is all ive ever wanted & then wills over here like TELL HER YOU LOVE HER CAUSE YOU'LL NEVER LOVE ME #mike 'I thought my wants were something i had to grow out of. i thought i you would never love me the way i do you so i tried to move on- #but YOU want ME?? YOU want forever with ME? Then i want it with you.'

[emblazons]

So (because I cannot go three seconds without noticing new little things that tell the wider story in this show):

Let’s talk about how the music that plays during the S3 Byler fight is the exact same music that plays during the S4 conversation Mike & Dustin have with Lucas as they walk to class after the pep rally—

—and how that parallel gives us insight not only into how Mike (and his devotion to Will) has evolved between seasons 3 and 4….but also how The Duffers are evolving Mike as a character in the wake of the "conflict" of forced conformity they introduced in S3.

To start: here are snippets of both scenes where “Not Kids Anymore” plays, both in Season 3 and Season 4.

Now, even though Mike is present in both scenes, it’s not entirely obvious why these things would be parallels, given the radical difference in tone. That said: when we look at these scenes in their wider contexts, we see that they are both exploring the exact same issue, only with Mike on opposite sides of the convo each time—

—namely, whether or not its worth it for Mike to embrace conformity, given that there are behaviors/roles he is meant to fill when trying to keep up with being normal/growing up...and "society" says that DnD / nerdiness (and a refusal / lack of desire to participate in performative relationships) stands entirely apart from that.

Let me see if I can explain.

First: these things are parallels because they are asking us to compare the Mikes in each situation—to notice how he took Will’s words to heart, and decided on some level that Will was right, not him. How do we know? Because in the time between these two convos (aka the rain fight and then the first few episodes of S4), we learn that Mike has made a point to address and rectify all criticisms Will had of him & his behavior during the rain fight.

As of the very first episode of S4, we are shown that Mike is 1) paying attention to both the party/DnD the way Will criticized him for not doing (to the point of calling out Lucas for not prioritizing it the way he now wants to)—

—2) he is focusing on keeping closeness with Dustin (even to the point of judging Lucas for not doing the same), because Will accused him of ignoring Dustin as readily as he ignored him—

—and 3) he has entirely stopped "swapping spit" with El (to the point of removing her from a hug at the airport, kissing her on the forehead...and then never kissing her again lmao) while letting his relationship fall apart without much of a fight…right before apologizing to Will for letting El get in the way of their time spent together in the first place.

Basically: even though he is still struggling in many ways to defend himself from being bullied/being an outcast by hiding behind his relationship with El (the same way Lucas is with “being popular” and basketball), we can see that Mike has made clear strides towards embracing the sides of him that aren’t conformist, which is reflected in all of his decision-making in Will's absence.

Though Mike is getting older and the party “aren’t kids anymore,” them paralleling these scenes is showing us that Mike, at least on some level, has realized that growing up is not at odds with embracing the things he enjoys & his various identities, whether that be through playing DnD—

—wearing clothes he chose on his own—

—or willingly choosing closeness with Will over the performance of relationships with girls (the same way Will already had in Season 3, and Dustin reflected as well).

Now...this isn't to say that he's entirely succeeded at the task, given how many times we see him fumble through actually implementing these changes/revelations in himself, whether with clothes (hello 'shitty knockoff'), embracing his actual interests, or even letting himself want to admit he wants to be with/around Will and not El—

—on top of the fact that I've already talked (many, many times) about how the journey of "feeling like you lost" the Duffers took us on had Mike ending up in a position where "conformity" temporarily wins, how that plays into his relationship with El versus Will, and why it matters for his character even outside of his queerness.

Still: I think this parallel in particular is important to understanding his character because it rules out any idea that Mike is somehow oblivious rather than intentionally working through to the changes happening in himself, whether they be in regards to him re-choosing DnD, making decisions about his clothing for himself...or wanting to be closer to Will / not participate in "liking girls," which is what he gets projection-mad at Will about during the rain fight.

tl;dr: Mike has realized on some level that he wants to be more like / closer to Will than his S3 "conformity" self—and the war we see on his face throughout the season in conversations with Will has a lot to do with that, among other things.

This musical parallel in particular draws attention to the fact that there have been changes happening within Mike that he sees and recognizes—he just "lost" like every other character this season, aka failed at walking into a more secure sense of self / out of his "conformist" relationship in its entirety...which we'll resolve in S5. :)

#byler #anti mlvn #mike wheeler #will byers #mike wheeler core #this could have gotten SO MUCH LONGER and I know I'm gonna do a companion piece on lucas right after this but lmao I had to START SOMEWHERE #like? one day I'm just gonna have to write a fucking book on mike wheeler because I have SO MUCH TO SAY LMAO #my st commentary #st parallels #stranger things #st music analysis

[drangues]

gay tumblr users said they wanted more cleradin i said oh im sure

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #cleradin #stranger things #my art #byler fanart #ok but howls moving castle au would fit cleradin so well HELLO #ive watched the movie AND read the book #just bear with me #howl is described as heartless cus he legit has no heart and made a deal with a fire demon #howls castle being run by his heart aka calcifer and sophie being the only one able to make calcifer obey her? peak byler #in the book sophie discovers she can actually do magic! while making hats she would say ’oh u look like u belong to a rich woman’ #and viola the person who then buys her hat would become rich #but sophie was so clueless that it couldve been her doing #will like this but instead of a hat shop he paints for people #ppl commission paintings from him and/or come to him for portraits #when sophie sees past howl and screams ’find me in the future!’ and at the beginning of the movie #howl says ’there u are sweetheart ive been looking everywhere for u’ #like just…..byler #thanks #and hi if ure reading this teehee #if u see any mistakes no u dont

[bigskyandthecoldgun]

i find it so interesting that in rebel robin, robin seems confident that her parents will be cool with her being a lesbian whenever she decides to come out to them (they’re major hippies), and that angle isn’t really explored in fanon works all that much

like yes i also love the headcanon that wayne would be like. very chill about all that and the trailer is where the older kids come to hang out and be openly queer without worry but !! i also think the buckley household being a safe space is such an interesting idea that nobody really explores !!

#like yes i’m aware the books aren’t canon OBVIOUSLY #there’s some stuff in the books that i adopt into my hc’s and stuff i choose to ignore #but i’ve like. NEVER seen a fic where steddie and ronance chill at the buckleys’ place bc robin’s parents are cool #like yes robin thinks they’re lame bc they’re her parents but she’s also so certain they’ll accept her #and i feel like fanon doesn’t really explore that #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler

[fyeaheddiemunson]

#flight of icarus #i just finished the book #if season 5 of stranger things doesnt bring Eddie back and give him the happy ending he deserves so help me #let him come back and rampage a little with vecna the town kind of deserves it #but like.... #let the poor guy graduate 😭😭 #give him a break #also let him make a small fortune by selling to Jonathon who didnt smoke at the time of the book and to argyle #let him graduate get rich and leave hawkins #how dare you create this character to torment then kill #this isnt Game of Thrones #joseph quinn #joe quinn #jq #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things 4

[musicalchaos07]

My ST 4 coloring book is here and

We're so back

#but also im UPSET bc there's only 1 Jonathan #like there's a predictable lack of cali crew on favor of Ed*ie #BUT STILL #BYLER ENDGAME #THE ONLY MILKVAN PAGE IS WITH WILL AT THE RINKOMANIA #VAN SCENE IS IN THE COLORING BOOK #stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers