--- description: There may not be a Stranger Things book, but fans of the show may enjoy these six books similar to the Netflix series. title: 6 Books You Must Read If You Love 'Stranger Things' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144254a197915f63/6988e32eab6d77573c6b0579/stranger-things-books.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 6 Books You Must Read If You Love _Stranger Things_ by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:51 AM CUTPublished: Oct 24, 2017 9:05 PM CUT  Netflix (4) by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:51 AM CUTPublished: Oct 24, 2017 9:05 PM CUT _Stranger Things_ feels so much like a Stephen King horror novel that it sent fans Googling whether the show was based on a book. It’s not — any piece of entertainment that good is usually an original — but the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, clearly pay homage to many of the horror hits of the ’80s. The Duffer brothers have acknowledged that filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter loomed large in their imagination as they created _Stranger Things_, but so did the books of their childhood. Books by King were particularly formative, with the brothers saying they could [devour one book in a night](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fien-print/duffer-brothers-talk-stranger-things-916180 "undefined") when they were growing up. So while there isn’t a _Stranger Things_ book, there are plenty like it. As fans gear up for [_Stranger Things_ Season 3](https://time.com/5002685/stranger-things-season-3-details/ "undefined"), dropping on Netflix on July 4, here are six books to read to get inside the minds of the creators and characters.  Bantam ## [_Underground Kingdom_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553232924/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), by Edward Packard The [_Stranger Things_ font](http://time.com/4984529/stranger-things-font/ "undefined") for its title sequence is ITC Benguiat, which graced many King covers as well as the _Choose Your Own Adventure_ series. _Underground Kingdom_, the 18th book in the series, came out in 1983, the same year that _Stranger Things_ begins. It’s easy to imagine the Hawkins boys winding down after a long Dungeons and Dragons campaign with a _Choose Your Own Adventure_ book before bed.  Scribner ## [_It_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501142976/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined")_,_ by Stephen King You probably don’t need any extra encouragement to read _It._ The recent adaptation of King’s book had a [terrific box office run](http://time.com/4935221/it-box-office-stephen-king/ "undefined") and the paperback is still riding high on the New York _Times_ [best seller list](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/trade-fiction-paperback/ "undefined"), making it the perfect _Stranger Things_ book for fans. In classic King style, a group of kids band together against the common threat of a creepy clown. The parallels with the Hawkins gang are clear. In an interview with the [_Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fien-print/duffer-brothers-talk-stranger-things-916180 "undefined"), the Duffer brothers said the 1986 book was the single greatest source of inspiration for the Netflix show.  Berkley ## [_Firestarter_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501143794/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), by Stephen King King was a huge influence on _Stranger Things_, so it bears doubling down on his books. Like Eleven,[ the characters in _Firestarter_ (1980) are telepaths](http://time.com/4436008/stranger-things-netflix-references/ "undefined") whose powers derive from governmental experimentation — and also like Eleven, they’re on the run from their former overlords.  Scholastic ## [_Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062682822/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), by Alvin Schwartz The first book in this series came out in 1981, two years before the events in season one of _Stranger Things._ So it’s possible that Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas would have read the collected stories about villains like a killer with a hook for a hand, a woman with a creep hiding in her backseat and other kid-appropriate (age range: 8 to 12) urban legends.  HarperCollins ## [_The Hellbound Heart_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061452882/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), by Clive Barker The 1986 novella, which served as source material for the film _Hellraiser_, is about trying to bring a man back to life after a gruesome death. The horrific creatures in the story were one influence on the Duffer brothers as they came up with the monster for _Stranger Things_, as they told [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://ew.com/article/2016/07/20/stranger-things-duffer-brothers-episode-6/ "undefined").  Thomas & Mercer ## [_The Wayward Pines Trilogy_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612183956/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), by Blake Crouch These books are contemporary, neither written nor set in the ’80s, but they merit a mention because the [Duffer brothers worked on their TV adaptation](http://time.com/4966947/shows-like-stranger-things/ "undefined"). And their premise is not unlike that of _Stranger Things_: the plot involves a Secret Service agent in middle America after a car accident raises questions about the mysterious small town. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4971462/stranger-things-book/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4971462/stranger-things-book/"},"headline":"6 Books You Must Read If You Love Stranger Things","datePublished":"2017-10-24T21:05:45.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T02:51:58.000Z","description":"Stranger Things isn't based on a book, but it was certainly shaped by literary influences","url":"https://time.com/4971462/stranger-things-book/","keywords":["Books","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144254a197915f63/6988e32eab6d77573c6b0579/stranger-things-books.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144254a197915f63/6988e32eab6d77573c6b0579/stranger-things-books.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"stranger-things-books","caption":"","creditText":"Netflix (4)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4971462/stranger-things-book/","name":"6 Books You Must Read If You Love Stranger Things"}}]}] ```