Heavily
inspired by science fiction, horror and ‘coming of age’ narratives from the
1980s, Netflix’s Stranger Things (2016-) follows the supernatural adventures
of four young teenage boys; Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas
(Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). The boys come across a girl
with telekinetic powers, named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who has escaped
from the government run Hawkins Laboratory. They reveal the dark intentions of
the lab, its scientists and the existence of an alternative dimension of
monsters they nickname the Upside Down. The show is one of Netflix’s most
successful ventures into original programming and has garnered both popular and
critical acclaim. This conference seeks to explore Stranger Things' wider
significance within the canon of cult television. Cult narratives are often
associated with “empathetic audience identification with subversive characters”
(Kinkade and Katovich 1992: 194), “trans-genericism” (Ross and Stein 2008: 8),
and the inclusion of what Hills has termed a “hyper-diegesis” or “a vast and
detailed narrative space, only a fraction of which is ever directly seen or
encountered within the text” (2002: 137).
Kevin J.
Whetmore Jr.’s recently published edited collection primarily focuses on Stranger Things’ first season and covers such topics as contextualisation,
gender and intertextuality but largely omits a consideration of the show’s
position as a cult television narrative (2018). Stranger Things excessively
references cult media texts and by doing so, has developed a cult fan following
through its use of a vast “intertextual network” (Jenkins 1992: 40). This is
also evidenced through the show’s extensive foray into merchandising, presence
at fan-based conferences such as Comic-Con and Paleyfest and its recent
invitation to be a part of the immersive ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ experience
at Universal Studios theme parks.
