After almost ten years on Netflix, Stranger Things has come to an end with the season 5 finale. As shown by the “Conformity Gate” conspiracy theory, many fans have been struggling to accept that their favorite TV series is no longer airing new episodes. Though Stranger Things will have some spinoffs in the near future, fans don’t have to wait to fill the void.
There are plenty of other TV shows with similar stories and characters that should hook fans of Stranger Things. Across the sci-fi, horror, and mystery genres, these are the shows you should watch now that Stranger Things has ended.
It: Welcome to Derry (2025-present)
Stranger Things drew a lot of inspiration from Stephen King’s It, so it’s natural that this prequel series feels similar to the former. Taking place in 1962, It: Welcome to Derry follows a handful of residents in the titular town as they face off against Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård), long before the Losers Club destroyed It.
While we see more local kids battling the bloodthirsty clown, we also see the U.S. military trying to find and weaponize the fear-inducing entity, with the help of psychic Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), to win the Cold War. Welcome to Derry goes much deeper into the origins of Pennywise and Derry’s dark history than the It movies do. The series is also far scarier, presenting Pennywise at his most vicious and conniving while delivering a powerful commentary about the real evils still embedded in small-town America.
Stream It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max.
Dark (2017-2020)
This German sci-fi series came out over a year after Stranger Things, and the similarities between these two shows are quite astounding. While Stranger Things follows everyday people as they explore a parallel dimension filled with monsters, Dark shows its characters traveling to different points in time through a wormhole opened by a nearby power plant.
Dark begins with a local child disappearing in the woods one night, setting off the heroes’ journeys much like Stranger Things did with the vanishing of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). But as Dark’s protagonists try to save their loved ones, they uncover dark and shocking truths about each other in their adventures through history, revealing how their bonds have stretched across time and space.
Stream Dark on Netflix.
Lost (2004-2010)
Years before Stranger Things dominated streaming, Lost helped pave the way for blockbuster sci-fi to wow and shock audiences on television. The latter show’s premise is very different, as it follows a group of people who survive a plane crash on an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. While they all try to return to civilization, these castaways discover the island is filled with paranormal mysteries that baffled audiences for years.
But like in Stranger Things, the heroes of Lost uncover the remnants of a shadowy organization that conducted research on the island connected to how they crashed there. The show also grew more epic in terms of scale, with the characters repeatedly facing an evil, eldritch smoke monster very similar to the Mind Flayer. Both Lost and Stranger Things forced audiences to tune in to unravel the many mysteries in their stories, making them pop culture phenomena.
Stream Lost on Hulu.
The Last of Us (2023-present)
Based on the popular PlayStation game series, The Last of Us follows hardened smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they travel across the United States long after a mutant fungus turned much of humanity into killer zombies. The Duffer Brothers revealed that the show’s source material influenced them when developing Stranger Things, and the similarities between the two stories are as clear as day.
From the plant-like monsters to the horror-heavy adventure to Hopper and Eleven’s unexpected father-daughter relationship, it’s hard not to see Stranger Things in this hit show. Though The Last of Us certainly is darker and less nostalgic, it features enough terror and found-family drama to satisfy fans of Netflix’s epic series.
Stream The Last of Us on HBO Max.
From (2022-present)
Despite consistently receiving rave reviews, this sci-fi horror series hasn’t achieved the same height of popularity as Stranger Things. From revolves around a mysterious town in the U.S. that somehow traps all who enter. As they build their own community in their paranormal prison, the town’s residents work together to survive as they are hunted every night by grinning monsters that look straight out of Smile.
Similar to Stranger Things, this supernatural series explores the terrifying secrets hidden in a seemingly ordinary town, featuring a rich mythology and a variety of characters. From will keep its audience guessing and coming back for more with its story packed with mystery and dread.
Stream From on MGM+.
Alien: Earth (2025-present)
The classic horror film, Alien, another inspiration for Stranger Things, recently received its first-ever TV series on FX. The show follows a group of children whose minds were transferred into android bodies as they try to retrieve the alien specimens from a starship that crash-landed on Earth.
Along with its killer creatures, Alien: Earth calls Stranger Things to mind with its “gifted” children imprisoned by the evil Prodigy Corporation, much like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her psychic “siblings” were in their respective series. Both sci-fi stories feature terrifying coming-of-age tales as their young protagonists confront the monsters that inhabit their worlds.
Stream Alien: Earth on Hulu.
The X-Files (1993-2002, 2016-2018)
The X-Files focuses on two FBI Agents, conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and skeptic Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), as they investigate several unsolved instances of paranormal activity. Although many of their cases throughout the series differ, they eventually discover a larger conspiracy to conceal the existence of alien life.
For years, X-Files captivated audiences with Mulder and Scully’s various investigations into the unknown. Filled with government coverups, supernatural occurrences, and a variety of frightening monsters and figures, this sci-fi sensation was very much the Stranger Things of the ’90s. The show could even make another comeback with its reboot from Sinners director Ryan Coogler.
Stream The X-Files on Hulu or on Disney+.
Source: www.digitaltrends.com
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