I’ve alway had a soft spot for Halloween. I have really fond memories of chilly, windy nights walking around my cousin’s neighborhood trying to get all the candy my fat little stomach could hold. As an adult, I love hanging with my son and watching him as he tries to sneak one or two extra pieces when the person handing out candy says the magic words “help yourself”.
This year I’ll be doing the same but after I get him to stop shaking from all the sugar and getting him to bed, I’ll be sitting down with the missus to stay up too late watching Stranger Things 2. And maybe snagging a couple of pieces he’ll never miss.
To say I love the first season of Stranger Things would be an insult to everyone involved in the show. Over the course of 3 nights, my bleary-eyed wife and I watched as the bravest kids in history battled the forces of the Upside Down to retrieve their best friend with the help of a strange girl with telekinetic powers.
The first season was an instant classic so it only made sense that a follow up would be announced. During the Superbowl, however, we got our first real look at a trailer for the second season followed a few days later by more details from EW. I decided we should break down what we know so far about Stranger Things 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Egf5U8xLo8
The trailer quickly establishes the year with a very popular Eggo commercial from 1984. Then it cuts to Eleven and someone screaming her name. The kids are seen riding their bikes in their Ghostbusters costumes from the first still image and then we see the walls exploding in on Sheriff Hopper. Text comes up to indicate that maybe the Upside Down has invaded the “real world”. We get a couple of flashes from what looks like the Department of Energy facility where Eleven grew up and then a drawing of a large monster on top of some D&D pages. The trailer ends with Will (?) looking out the front door of a house at the same monster from the drawing.
In their newest issue, Entertainment Weekly reveals that season 2 picks up about a year later on Halloween night. Will’s still seeing stuff from the Upside Down, Joyce is dating an old High School flame played by Sean Astin, Hop is still playing cleanup from the events of the first season, and Eleven is still “dead”. There are new characters in the mix as well including a new brother and sister named Max and Billy who are likely to cause trouble for the gang and Paul Riser’s Dr. Owens who is in charge of keeping the still open rift to the Upside Down safe.
Some keen-eyed folks at /FILM also pointed out that a page under the drawing of the towering monster there is a picture of a symbol from the 1983 D&D Adventure Module, Ravenloft. It features a vampire from another plane that kidnaps its victims to take them back there. In the quest, the hero must find two special weapons to defeat the monster. Is this just an easter egg or will the crew have to find magical weapons to defeat the monster?
There is an insane amount of speculation we could do from now until October and I’m sure the info will continue to trickle in until then. I’ll do what I can to keep you updated here.
