<P> The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners , detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped , and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach . As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story , they wanted to introduce the idea of `` childlike sensibilities '' they could offer , and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans . The brothers thought the combination of these things `` was the best thing ever '' . To introduce this monster into the narrative , they considered `` bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War '' such as Project MKUltra , which gave a way to ground the monster 's existence in science rather than something spiritual . This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period , as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out , which focused on Cold War paranoia . Subsequently , they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s , the decade they were born , as elements of the series , crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror . The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show ( among others ) : Stephen King novels ; films produced by Steven Spielberg , John Carpenter , Wes Craven , Robert Zemeckis , George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro ; films such as Alien and Stand by Me ; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied ; and video games such as Silent Hill , The Last of Us , and Dark Souls . The Duffer Brothers also believe that they may have brought influences from other works unintentionally , including Beyond the Black Rainbow and D.A.R.Y.L. , discovered by reviewing fan feedback on the show . </P>
<P> The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners , detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped , and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach . As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story , they wanted to introduce the idea of `` childlike sensibilities '' they could offer , and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans . The brothers thought the combination of these things `` was the best thing ever '' . To introduce this monster into the narrative , they considered `` bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War '' such as Project MKUltra , which gave a way to ground the monster 's existence in science rather than something spiritual . This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period , as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out , which focused on Cold War paranoia . Subsequently , they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s , the decade they were born , as elements of the series , crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror . The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show ( among others ) : Stephen King novels ; films produced by Steven Spielberg , John Carpenter , Wes Craven , Robert Zemeckis , George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro ; films such as Alien and Stand by Me ; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied ; and video games such as Silent Hill , The Last of Us , and Dark Souls . The Duffer Brothers also believe that they may have brought influences from other works unintentionally , including Beyond the Black Rainbow and D.A.R.Y.L. , discovered by reviewing fan feedback on the show . </P>
when was stranger things supposed to take place
when was stranger things supposed to take place
1983
1983