Stranger Things: Tales From 85 review — Netflix heads back to Hawkins for an unnecessary animated spin-off that'll entertain newcomers, but infuriate long-time fans

TechRadar Verdict

Stranger Things: Tales From 85 is as dissatisfying as its parent show's incredibly divisive final season was. Taken at face value, it's a fun ride that might entice newcomers to the sci-fi horror franchise. Long-time Stranger Things fans, though, will not only be hugely frustrated by its timeline and mythology-disrupting story, but will also wonder why it needed to be made at all.

Pros

• +Occasionally fun
• +Some of its voice cast are great
• +Works well as an animated project

Cons

• -Largely unessential viewing
• -More sci-fi mystery than supernatural horror
• -Canonically disruptive
• -Would have worked better as a standalone story with new characters

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Light spoilers follow for Stranger Things: Tales From 85 episodes 1 to 10, which are all out now on Netflix.

Stranger Things is in a, well, strange place right now. One of Netflix's biggest success stories, it's been watched by millions of people worldwide and won numerous awards since it debuted in 2016. Yet, thanks to the main show's incredibly polarizing fifth and final season, there's a tangible sense that the supernatural sci-fi horror franchise might have run its course.

The arrival of Stranger Things: Tales From 85, an animated show viewed as both a spin-off and canonical interquel starring the main show's cast, then, is most curious. Netflix is one for one on the well-received offshoot front, with its prequel stage play The First Shadow garnering universal praise since its 2023 West End debut, although the launch event for that project came amid fervent fan anticipation for Stranger Things season 5's upcoming launch.

The question now, then, is does Tales From 85 further prove that Stranger Things has staying power in an era where viewers' attentions quickly turn to the next big thing? Having watched all 10 episodes, I'm inclined to say "just about" — but only if it swiftly moves on from the Hawkins setting and young cast that made it a pop-culture phenomenon in the first place.

Snowed under

Set between the main show's second and third seasons, Tales From 85 reunites us with Eleven, Mike, and company as they get caught up in a new mystery amid wintry conditions in their home town.

Indeed, despite Eleven closing the rift to the alternate dimension dubbed the Upside Down in its parent show's season 2 finale, the introduction of mutated flora and fauna in Tales From 85 sees the core six — Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max — embark on a new quest to find out what's going on. Cue a hijinks- and mishaps-laced investigation that sees the group uncover more nefarious sci-fi malpractice, and combat a monstrous new threat with ties to the aforementioned parallel realm.

Tales From 85 is a return to the enjoyable albeit dangerous adventures of seasons 1 and 2

The first positive thing to note about this Netflix offering is that we get to see the kids be, well, kids again. Gone are the world-ending stakes — for the most part, anyway — of the main show's latter seasons and, in their place, is a return to the enjoyable albeit dangerous adventures of seasons 1 and 2.

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors