'Stranger Things' Season 3: 3 Reasons It Will Be Scarier Than Ever Before

Stranger Things has always blended the worlds of horror and sci-fi in a fantastically spooky way, and it looks like Season 3 won’t be any different. In fact, the next season of Netflix’s hit show could be even scarier thanks to some inspiration from the masters of the horror genre.

According to Worlds Turned Upside Down, the recently released official Stranger Things book (via Screen Rant) Season 3 will take its inspiration from three directors in particular: John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing), David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome), and George Romero (Night of the Living Dead).

“There are horror movies and horror masters that we haven’t really paid tribute to as much in previous seasons that we are definitely going to get into this season,” Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer says in the book.

All three of those directors helped pioneer the horror movie genre with terrifying movies that didn’t hold back on disturbing visuals. Cronenberg, in particular, is known for implementing some extremely gross moments in his movies (The Fly is a gross-out horror masterpiece, starring Jeff Goldblum). Romero’s inclusion could also be a pretty big hint since the director is best-known for popularizing the zombie sub-genre.

Will there be zombies in Stranger Things Season 3? Maybe, but either way, you can definitely expect some serious scares beyond anything we’ve seen so far.

The book also confirms the return of the Mind Flayer, which probably isn’t a surprise to anyone who watched through the end of Season 2, where we see the monster towering over the town in the final shot. Here’s a quote from producer Shawn Levy about what Season 3 will bring:

“We ended season two with a clear signal that the Shadow Monster was not eliminated, and maybe he’s even identified his foe. And that darkness, and the battle that it will require grows in season three.”

Additionally, it reveals that Stranger Things Season 3 will take place during the summer of 1985, picking up less than a year after Season 2. In the time that’s passed, Steve graduated from high school. Mike and Eleven are officially dating, as are Lucas and Max.

Here’s Ross Duffer on how our heroes have changed since the end of Season 2:

“It’s really the final summer of their childhood. They’re dealing with growing up, with these complicated new relationships. They’re starting to fall apart a little bit, and maybe they don’t love playing Dungeons & Dragons as much as they used to. Naturally, that’s going to generate conflict.”

Stranger Things Season 3 hits Netflix in Summer 2019.