Tentative release dates for Stranger Things Season 5 have finally surfaced—though we say “tentative” because rumors have been all over the place. Some even suggested we wouldn’t see the new season until 2026!
As of now, the expected dates fall in early October and late November, just in time for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the holiday season. Could this mean Season 5 will wrap up where it all began—Christmas lights, an alphabet on the wall, and a throwback to the eerie magic of Season 1?
At a Netflix presentation of the streaming giant’s 2025 slate for press on Wednesday, “Stranger Things” creators Ross and Matt Duffer revealed that in 2026 they will be executive producing two new shows, titled “The Boroughs” and “Something Very Bad is Going to Happen,” both of which “encompass what we feel is at the core of ‘Stranger Things,’” according to Ross Duffer – “they’re stories about ordinary people who encounter the extraordinary.”
Matt Duffer added that “The Boroughs” “probably shares the most DNA with ‘Stranger Things’ because it’s about a group of misfits who fight an otherworldly evil.”
“Only unlike ‘Stranger Things,’ it’s set in a retirement community, so that’s something different,” he quipped. “This time our misfits are a little on the older side. They ride golf carts, not bikes,” he said, in reference to the young characters in “Stranger Things” who ride their bicycles around Hawkins, Indiana.
With how long we have waited for season 5 of STRANGER THINGS, the Duffers may as well just use the current cast!
For those old enough to remember how watching less than desirable late night movies on HBO and Cinemax were back when you had the box and the channels were scrambled? Think that.
Comically.. at times Mike Tyson looked as he did during his MIKE TYSON PUNCH OUT game from the 1980s..
Iron Mike is less than iron, or “i run” as last night’s announcer kept calling him. But he made for a ‘made for streaming moment’ that frustrated viewers around the world.
WEDNESDAY, based on the characters created by Charles Addams is breaking records after its first week, with 341.23M hours viewed.
It is now enough to beat the fourth season of Stranger Things, which previously held the title with 335 million hours clocked. Squid Game remains the all-time record holder for those playing at home, with 571.8M hours viewed during its best week.
Additionally, Wednesday made its way into the Top 10 in 93 countries. Wednesday has streamed in over 50 million households.
We have previously written that this show is incredible, one of the best of the year, and extremely creative. It’s wonderful to see Tim Burton returned with a hit. If you have not seen Wednesday already, you really should check it out.
Were you naïve enough to think that just one season would be enough for both stories? Not a chance, we’re on the way.
Netflix has ordered two more seasons of Monster, which will move away from Jeffrey Dahmer to “tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society.” The Dahmer season of Monster has already achieved over 934 million view hours from Netflix subscribers around the world, and is expected to reach 1 billion hours soon.
The “real estate thriller” The Watcher, which is also inspired by a true story will be getting a second season.
Those who follow the real life story of Watcher know full well that the Netflix version veered away substantially from the true story. Count that one as a “inspired by true events,“ and nothing like the Jeffrey Dahmer “based on real events.”
Move over Stranger Things? Jeff Dahmer is running up that hill..
Reporting from Deadline:
The Ryan Murphy series has become Netflix’s second most popular series of all time, behind the fourth season of Stranger Things, after another impressive week. In its third week, the series continued to top Netflix’s global Top 10 English TV List with another 205.33M hours viewed.
This takes it to 701.37M hours viewed in its first three weeks after racking up 196.2M hours watched in its first week and 299.84M hours viewed during its second week.
People are hungry for this story.. yes pun intended..
“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” production coordinator Kim Alsup went viral on Twitter before the Netflix series even debuted when she revealed she was “treated horribly” on set. Alsup wrote that she was one of just two Black people on the set and that other crew members often called her by the other Black person’s name.
“They kept calling me her name. We both had braids, she was dark skin and 5’10. I’m 5’5,” Alsup wrote on Twitter. “Working on this took everything I had as I was treated horribly. I look at the Black female lead differently now too.”
And more:
“I just feel like it’s going to bring back too many memories of working on it. I don’t want to have these PTSD types of situations,” Alsup said. “The trailer itself gave me PTSD, which is why I ended up writing that tweet and I didn’t think that anybody was going to read.”
This is on the heels of another story we read a few days ago about at least one of the people who lived through the Jeffrey Dahmer real life nightmare speaking out about how it feels to see his image and story being broadcast to a global audience in the hit Netflix show:
In an essay for Insider, Errol Lindsey’s sister Rita Isbell felt that Netflix should have asked for their thoughts on the project. Instead, she feels like “they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”
MORE..
“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself — when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said.
If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That’s why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.
I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”
Now some are enraged that the movie makers would use “PTSD” in their description of emotion–after all it should really be those who were directly involved that may experience that. But we all could experience a little touch of it.
The Dahmer nightmare was real .. I lived through news coverage but that was the closest I got. Along with the 1990s being filled with dark morbid jokes using his name..
To run Upside Down, they’ve hired Hilary Leavitt, a vet of BBC America and MRC who most recently ran her own Hulu-based Blazer banner. Series she helped develop include Orphan Black, Ozark, The Great and Shining Girls.
We all knew this was coming–and many of us hoped it would be.
Spinoffs of the popular Netflix hit Stranger Things.. With Season 4 winding down we all know the fifth and final is coming (coming soon is another question, they don’t start filming until next year according to David Harbour) ..
Creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer: “There’s a version of it developing in parallel [to season 5], but they would never shoot it parallel,” Ross reportedly said. “I think actually we’re going to start delving into that soon as we’re winding down and finishing these visual effects, Matt and I are going to start getting into it.”
Matt added, “The reason we haven’t done anything is just because you don’t want to be doing it for the wrong reasons, and it was just like, ‘Is this something I would want to make regardless of it being related to Stranger Things or not?’ And definitely. Even if we took the Stranger Things title off of it, I’m so, so excited about it. But it is not… It’s going to be different than what anyone is expecting, including Netflix.”
Netflix at this point may not care what the storylines will be, just that they work! The streaming service is bleeding money and also laying off people. Heading into a recession, they are looking for hope. Perhaps a future of Duffer Stranger spinoffs is the best hope they’ve got.
It is fair to say–at least this is how we think–that without Stranger Things season 1, Netflix may have struggled a lot sooner than they did.
We finally binged STRANGER THINGS season 4.. we wanted to make it last, so we broke up the binging into sections..
Each section was emotional. Fun.. and edge-of-your-seat entertainment..
Some dull moments were interspersed through the noise and horror–but this season upped the ante on horror and scares.. It created a mosaic of fright along with the cheerfulness of big 80s-hair and bright colors.
What landed best? DEAR BILLY, episode 4 of the season, could very well be the strongest episode of any of all four seasons.. What missed? The more drawn out storylines that were offered in episode 5 through 7 regarding Hopper and Eleven? And what was worst of all? The show still trying to showcase Will Byers as a child, attempting to fit him into childlike clothing despite his tall appearance and Johnny Cash-style deep voice. But kids grow faster than shows can be filmed. So we give some forgiveness on that.
But we are fans. We know that some people LOVE season 1 and hate season 3.. or find season 2 to be lukewarm at best. We also know that there are some who are highly critical of the Duffer Brothers “homaging” so much that they are often accused of outright copying.
But we also don’t care. As a matter of fact, this show has been one of our favorites since July 2016 when it first aired and changed the world. Now 4 seasons in we are frightened of the fifth that promises to end it all..
So far, season 4 are two Vecna-claws up.
After what we saw we are high anticipating the final two movie-length episodes 8 and 9. PAPPA, and PIGGYBACK.
