It Came from the Stacks, Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down

“I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel. . . . These books are my paddles.”

Reading Stephen King’s early works of horror fiction is as much an adolescent rite of passage as learning to drive or attending the prom. Throughout his decades-long, wildly prolific career, King has tapped into something powerful and primal with stories of outsiders and outcasts confronting supernatural threats. Those who make it out alive are forever changed by their experiences, and not always for the better. His tales are especially relatable as metaphors about the horrors of leaving childhood behind, but King’s deftness with character is often overlooked. His books are filled with fully realized heroes and villains whose relationships are well drawn and compelling.

Although the wildly prolific author isn’t the only literary figure who inspired Matt and Ross Duffer—the list also includes Dan Simmons, Clive Barker, George R.R. Martin, and many more—King’s novels serve as a foundational text for Stranger Things, no question.

CARRIE (1974)

Stephen King’s debut novel offers a terrifying look at the life of bullied Carrie White, a high-school student with telekinetic powers living with a deranged, abusive mother. When Carrie is pushed too far, she channels her extraordinary abilities to exact bloody revenge on her tormentors. Eleven would come to share many of Carrie’s unique gifts—and when confronted by “the bad men,” she would turn out to be just as deadly.

THE SHINING (1977)

Writer’s block turns lethal when Overlook Hotel caretaker Jack Torrance descends into madness fueled by alcoholism and the ghosts of the past. King revisited the idea of a gifted child with an abusive parent in his third novel—Jack’s young son, Danny, can see the bloody history of the Overlook’s haunted halls. The Shining’s influence would be keenly felt in Stranger Things 2 once Will Byers acquired second sight (“now memories”) through his contact with a supernatural menace.

THE DEAD ZONE (1979)

Former high-school teacher Johnny Smith awakes from a coma after nearly five years to discover that he can see the future, and things don’t look good. With his clairvoyance comes a brain tumor and the knowledge that a rising-star politician is a deeply unhinged man destined to start nuclear war (filmmaker David Cronenberg brought The Dead Zone to theaters in 1983, with Christopher Walken as Smith). The novel features many of the hallmarks of King’s best work, which the Duffers would channel for their series—a small-town setting, a protagonist with extraordinary abilities, richly drawn supporting characters, and an overarching feeling of escalating dread.

DIFFERENT SEASONS (1982)

This collection of four novellas includes The Body, a poignant coming-of-age tale about four twelve-year-old boys who venture along a set of train tracks looking for the corpse of a missing child. Along the way, they’re pursued by dogs and a pack of bullies; persevering through the adversity, they form a deep bond. The story inspired the 1986 film Stand by Me, which, in turn, became one of the principal cinematic inspirations for Stranger Things.

FIRESTARTER (1980)

King crafts another gifted girl in Charlie McGee, who inherits psychic powers from her parents as a result of a covert government program involving mind-altering substances—a story line that clearly parallels the foundational elements of Stranger Things. Eleven could be seen as Charlie’s literary cousin; both girls struggle to understand and harness their abilities. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial star Drew Barrymore played Charlie in the 1984 film.

IT (1986)

“We all float down here,” Pennywise the Dancing Clown tells little Georgie Denbrough before luring the boy to his demise. Pennywise is the favored form of a mythic, ancient evil terrorizing a small town, but it’s a group of social misfits who get wise to the supernatural nature of the threat. At one time, the Duffers had hoped to direct a movie adaptation of It, but instead, they turned their attention to developing their own series about friends in a rural community confronting the paranormal. (Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things, would star in the 2017 film adaptation of the novel.)