(Credits: Netflix)

If you’ve already rewatched Stranger Things so many times that you can quote Erica’s one-liners by heart, welcome to the club. The first volume of the fifth and final season drops next month on November 26th, and the wait is practically its own Upside Down.

Some of you are halfway through your annual Hawkins rewatch, and some of you are saving it for the last moment so the pain of goodbye hits extra hard.

But if your Hawkins-shaped heart is itching for something spooky and a little nostalgic, you don’t need to sit around staring at flickering lights waiting for Will’s messages. There are a few shows out there that scratch the same monster-hunting, mystery-solving, “where’s my best friend?” kind of itch.

These picks carry the same mix of supernatural weirdness, true friendships, and emotional gut punches that make Stranger Things what it is. Some have haunted houses instead of parallel dimensions, some swap Eleven’s telekinesis for ghost powers, but all of them feel like they could exist in one small town over from Hawkins.

So until our favourite teens suit up again to face Vecna one last time, here are five shows that’ll make the wait a little less unbearable and maybe even remind you why you fell in love with Hawkins in the first place.

Five shows to watch while waiting for Stranger Things 5:

Dead Boy Detectives (2024)

Supernatural mysteries? Check. Teen drama? Check. Existential dread and sarcastic banter? Double check. Dead Boy Detectives follows two ghostly best friends named Edwin and Charles, who decide to skip the whole “moving on” part and instead start solving crimes for the dead. With help from a psychic girl who can actually see them, they hunt down spirits, save souls, and argue like the undead version of Mike and Dustin.

If Hawkins ever hosted an afterlife investigation squad, these guys would be running it. They’ve got the group dynamic of the Hellfire Club, the loyalty of Steve and Robin, and the kind of friendship that makes you root for them even when they are being complete idiots. It’s eerie and funny and matches the energy of Stranger Things.

Raising Dion (2019-2022)

In Raising Dion, a single mom discovers her young son has superpowers, and not the cute, “look what I can do with magnets” kind. We are talking full-on telekinesis, lightning bolts, and mysterious men who may or may not want to steal his powers. It’s part superhero origin story and part mystery with lots of family drama that adds just enough emotional punch to make you tear up mid-episode.

Think of it as Stranger Things flipped inside out: what if Eleven had a mom who actually knew what was going on? Nicole, Dion’s mother, gives Joyce Byers energy all the way. She is protective of her child and somehow holding everything together with pure stubbornness. There is even a bit of that Hawkins-style tension between the young innocence and danger, making this one a perfect watch.

Locke & Key (2020-2022)

When the Locke family moves into their mysterious ancestral home after a tragedy, they find magical keys that unlock wild powers and even wilder secrets. Each episode contains a new mystery, introducing keys that can open minds, change appearances, or even control time. It’s spooky, right? It is full of moments that’ll make you keep track of what key unlocks which power.

If the Upside Down had a front door (which it sure does), it’d be hidden somewhere in the Locke house. The siblings are very much like the Hawkins crew, as they keep fighting forces way bigger than them. And their anger is powered by the grief of their father’s death, curiosity, and pure teenage recklessness. It’s the same energy as when the gang first discovers the gate to the other dimension, except this time, they have magical hardware instead of Dungeons & Dragons dice and Eleven.

Archive 81 (2022)

Meet Dan, an archivist who’s hired to restore a collection of old videotapes. Sounds chill, right? Except the tapes belong to a missing filmmaker who was investigating a cult. As Dan dives deeper, he starts seeing things that might be more than hallucinations. Archive 81 plays out like an eerie puzzle box, one that slowly opens into something supernatural.

If you have ever yelled “don’t go in there!” at Jonathan Byers or Hopper, this one is for you. It’s got the same creepy energy, the same eerie alternate-reality vibes as the Upside Down, and a mystery that reveals, like Will’s Christmas lights messages, one flicker at a time. It’s like practically feeling Vecna breathing down your neck.

Safe (2018)

In Safe, Michael C. Hall plays a single dad whose teenage daughter suddenly goes missing. He starts looking for her in a neighbourhood where everyone seems to be hiding something. The deeper he digs, the more secrets come out, and it turns out the scariest monsters here aren’t in another dimension… they are just people.

If you ever wanted a version of Stranger Things told entirely from Joyce Byers’ perspective, Safe is it. The frantic, unstoppable parent energy? The “I will tear apart dimensions to find my kid” vibe? Check and check. It’s more mystery than horror, but that doesn’t make it any less intense. Hawkins could use a dad like this.