Final countdown to the second season of Stranger Things is on

Don’t those pumpkins look like they have seen better days?  This weekend Netflix released the final poster (above) for the second season of Stranger Things, on its way to Netflix this Friday.  Last year’s blend of 1980s sci-fi and horror returns one year later, and as the poster suggests, a focus of season two will be young Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), who was absent for most of the first season, sucked away into the “Upside Down.”  And Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) looks… angry.

Netflix also added two new features on the Web to help fans of the show get ready for the season premiere.

A retro-style free Stranger Things video game is available now for download.  You can find it on both Google Play here and via iTunes here.  Here’s the description from game creator BonusXP:  It’s 1984 all over again. Stranger Things: The Game is an action adventure game true to the games our heroes would have played back in the day.  Explore Hawkins and its surroundings. See your favorite locations like Mirkwood Forest and Hawkins Lab.  Uncover exciting areas you’ve never seen before!  Solve puzzles with the unique abilities of each character.  Lucas can nail anything with his Wrist Rocket.  Nancy has a whole set of bats to swing this time.  Collect all the Eggos and Gnomes you can lay your hands on.  You never know what they might unlock.

You can look forward to some new, driving beats, along with some haunting sounds from the Stranger Things season 2 soundtrack by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.  As with last year’s soundtrack, the duo provides funky techno arrangements in the style of John Carpenter.

The overall feel of the album, heard end to end, is something like bits and pieces from the 1996 album Pure Moods, a classic album including mysterious vibe songs from groups like Enigma and Enya, as well as the Halloween staple, “Tubular Bells.”  From the new Stranger Things soundtrack, Track Five, “Gearing Up,” sounds like something Vangelis would do a Blade Runner sequel.  Track Twelve: “Danger Danger” is a solid homage to John Williams scores, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws.  Track Twenty-Three, “Time for a 187” is a trippy, blood-pumping chase with plenty of chilling sounds–maybe a little A Nightmare on Elm Street inspired.  Track Twenty-Five, “Still Pretty,” feels like an Angelo Badalamenti tune.  You can stream the soundtrack to Season 2 now here at Amazon, and it’s free with Amazon’s unlimited streaming service.

A screencap from the Stranger Things 1980s style video game.

It’s almost here.  Stranger Things returns this Friday, October 27, 2017, only on Netflix.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

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