While the general consensus on Stranger Things 2 is that it doesn’t quite live up to its phenomenal first season, there’s still not a lot of negativity being thrown at the show (other than that episode). People still love it … just not as much as they love the original Stranger Things. But one person who isn’t parsing their enjoyment of the new installment is legendary horror writer Stephen King, whose books and the movies based on his books have been a source of endless inspiration for the show.
STRANGER THINGS 2: Ladies and gentlemen, that's how you do it: no bullshit, balls to the wall entertainment. Straight up.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 9, 2017
Stranger Things has touched on elements from King’s work from Firestarter to It to The Mist and Stand By Me. And while the author has had iffy taste regarding some of his adaptations (he prefers the 1997 TV adaptation of The Shining over Kubrick’s 1980 classic), he’s been very on board with everything Stranger Things show creators the Duffer Brothers have been doing since the beginning.
Watching STRANGER THINGS is looking watching Steve King's Greatest Hits. I mean that in a good way.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 17, 2016
STRANGER THINGS is pure fun. A+. Don't miss it. Winona Ryder shines.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 18, 2016
Looking at those time stamps, it certainly seems like King may have been one of the many people to binge-watch the sci-fi horror series in its entirety.
“He’s amazing,” Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “And when he tweeted about Stranger Things, I was trying not to cry, because that was right before the premiere and it really f**ked me up. It was like 20 minutes before we were supposed to get in the car, and I’m like, ‘I’m barely functional right now.'”
All the homages to Stephen King’s works in Stranger Things are just part of an overall cultural revival the author’s work has been experiencing recently. While King never went anywhere and continues to churn out hefty tomes on a yearly basis, the recent financial and critical success of the new It film and streaming projects like 1922, Gerald’s Game, and 11.22.63 have reminded people exactly why he’s known as the master of horror.
Who knows, with King and the Duffer Brothers clearly part of a mutual admiration society, perhaps they’ll end up working together in some fashion down the line. The Duffer Brothers already tried to get in on directing It, moving onto Stranger Things after Warner Bros. shot the then-unknown filmmakers down.