Release orderRecommended
0 / 6 watchedEvery screen entry in release order. Finish season 5 before the animated side story.
Stranger Things
- 1 Stranger Things Season 1
- 2 Stranger Things Season 2
- 3 Stranger Things Season 3
- 4 Stranger Things Season 4 Nine episodes split into two volumes, May 27 and July 1.
- 5 Stranger Things Season 5 Final season. Eight episodes in three drops: Nov 26, Dec 25 and the Dec 31 finale.
Stranger Things: Tales From '85
- 6 Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Season 1 Animated side story set between seasons 2 and 3. Latest released entry.
About Stranger Things
Stranger Things ran for five seasons on Netflix, from the 2016 debut to a final season split across November and December 2025. The story follows the kids of Hawkins, Indiana as gates to the Upside Down open and Henry Creel, known as Vecna, returns for a last fight set in the fall of 1987.
Stranger Things: Tales From '85 is a 10-episode animated series released in April 2026 and set in the winter of 1985, between seasons 2 and 3. Watch the live action seasons first, then treat the cartoon as a side story.
Good to know
Season 5 has eight episodes: four released Nov 26 2025, three on Dec 25, and the finale on Dec 31, with select theater screenings of the finale. The stage play The First Shadow (a 1959 Hawkins prequel about a young Henry Creel, West End 2023 and Broadway 2025) is optional and not listed here since this guide covers screen entries. Release order matches story order throughout.
