Since its release in 2016, Stranger Things has become one of the most successful streaming science fiction horror series in television history. Distributed by Netflix, the Duffer Brothers’ creation has spawned multiple novelizations, a Dungeons & Dragons board game, and even a series of successful comic books. The latest of these, Stranger Things Halloween Special, is a one-shot collaboration between Dark Horse and Netflix that further explores the odd occurrences that take place in Hawkins, Indiana. While the series’ first three seasons focus on the Demogorgon’s escape from the “Upside Down”, another just as deadly monster terrorized Hawkins twenty years earlier on Halloween night.
Stranger Things Halloween Special is set on October 31st, 1983, just six days before the events of Season 1. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will are sitting around a campfire outside of Will’s make-shift fort in the woods behind his house. After Lucas tells a less-than-spooky campfire story, he defies the other boys to do better. Will remarks that he knows a terrifying tale, but that he probably shouldn’t tell it. After much coaxing, he reluctantly recounts a story passed down from his father to Jonathan, and from Jonathan to him. A story that the citizens of Hawkins have sworn never to tell.
In 1953, four children have gone missing and the town of Hawkins is on lockdown. Four other students find themselves trapped in the school library after the curfew has taken effect. The kids stumble upon a history book that recounts a similar occurrence in 1937, except that the murders didn’t stop until eight kids were gone. They deduce that “the Child-Eater of Hawkins”, as it’s come to be called, still craves four more victims. The full story of this twenty-year-old incident comes to light, and through a series of twists, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will find themselves running from the monster that terrorized their town even before the Demogorgon.
Stranger Things Halloween Special is the first comic book in the series not written by either Grek Pak or Jody Houser, perhaps as not to interfere with their work on Star Wars: Darth Vader and Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor, respectively. That said, readers will be pleased with Michael Moreci’s faithful interpretation of this beloved show. He has quite a bit of experience with other established properties such as Planet of the Apes, Army of Darkness, and Robocop. Artist Todor Hristov is a newcomer but represents himself well, and journeyman colorist Chris O’ Halloran effectively sets the tone for this creepy Halloween horror.
To date, all of Dark Horse’s Stranger Things comic books have been one-shots or four-issue mini-series. The quality of Stranger Things Halloween Special proves that this property is ready for an ongoing title. So many questions are left unanswered that could be picked up in a long-form arc. If the Child-Eater pre-dates the Demogorgon, is it also from the Upside Down? If not, why do so many unrelated nightmares occur in Hawkins? It’s like a Midwestern Derry, Maine. Finally, why are the townsfolks so eager to keep this quiet? Do they have a darker ulterior motive? It doesn’t take a string of Christmas lights nailed to a wall to spell out that fans need more of this 80s-themed sci-fi favorite.