13 Books to Read If You Love Stranger Things

Written by the master of horror, Stephen King, It follows "The Losers Club," a group of seven misfit children living in a small town in the late 1950s as they are terrorized by a mysterious being they call "It." It preys on the fears of children and often appears to them in the form of a clown. (As if clowns weren't scary enough!) Twenty-seven years later, members of "The Losers Club" return to their hometown to help defeat It once again.

One of his science fiction works, Stephen King's 1980 novel Firestarter tells the story of a father and daughter duo on the run from a secret government group known as "The Shop." Andy, the father, developed telekinetic and autohypnotic abilities after participating in "The Shop's" experiments. His daughter, Charlie, is pyrokinetic with uncontrollable power. Together, they go on a journey to not only survive persecution, but to expose the evil inner workings of "The Shop" to the rest of the world.

Set in the 1950s, Joyce Carol Oates's novel Foxfire follows a group of five teenage girls who form a gang called Foxfire. The gang's activities start off morally advantageous, as they expose sexual harassment, protest animal cruelty, and give to the poor. However, things quickly spiral out of control. Extortion, physical violence, car chases, and kidnappings ensue, leading to the disappearance of one of Foxfire's own.

The Secret History begins with the protagonist, Richard, remembering his college years. While attending the fictional Hampden College, he befriends the other five members of his Classics seminar. Once embedded in the group, secrets come out and someone winds up dead. The victim's identity is revealed early on, but it's up to the reader to figure out why they died.

Written by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In takes place in 1980s Stockholm. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy who is consistently bullied. He finds a companion in Eli, a child who moves next door. It is soon revealed that Eli is a centuries-old vampire. While the novel focuses on their friendship, it also incorporates loaded themes such as alcoholism, pedophilia, murder, and suicide.

Winner of the 2016 Eisner Award, Paper Girls is a comic book series about four 12-year-old girls who deliver newspapers. In the wee hours of Halloween morning in 1988, their small, suburban town is invaded by time-traveling aliens. Armed with their walkie-talkies and hockey sticks for protection, the girls take it upon themselves to get down to the bottom of the invaders' mysterious visit. There are 10 issues so far, but they're guaranteed to be a quick and fun read.

After nearly drowning in the ocean, 10-year-old Jack Peter Keenan is terrified of the outdoors. To cope, he draws the monsters that flood his imagination, hence the title The Boy Who Drew Monsters. But, when those monsters come to life and begin terrorizing the town, Jack is the only one who knows what's going on and how to defeat the monsters.

In 1979, 9-year-old Todd Willis is left in a coma after barely escaping the tornado that demolished his Texas town. Four years later, Todd awakens but struggles to separate reality from the fiction that he dreamt while he was asleep for years. He befriends four other boys, and together, they come of age over one, long Summer — but a terrible secret drives them apart. Twenty-five years later, they reunite and while reminiscing, realize that their memory of the past doesn't align with reality and so they come together once more to discover the truth in The Boys of Summer.

Twenty years after a virus outbreak, humanity is divided into three groups: Hungries, Junkers, and the Uninfected. Hungries are similar to zombies, in that they retain almost no mental capabilities and feed on human flesh. But if a Hungrie has never tasted flesh, they are sometimes able to maintain language and think. Though uninfected, Junkers are vicious scavengers who have lost their humanity. In a research lab in London, a behavioral psychologist forms an attachment to Melanie, a 10-year-old Hungrie with a genius IQ. Together, they go on a journey to understand the virus, find a cure, and reshape humanity as they know it in The Girl With All the Gifts.

Abby Barnes falls asleep on the eve of her 18th birthday. When she wakes up the next morning, she's a college student at Yale. With the help of her best friend, Abby discovers that the time lapse is the result of a parallel universe. For every small decision she makes, Abby's path is altered. Even more complicated, an alternate Abby is living her "real life" while the real Abby is stuck trying to figure out what in the hell is going on and how she's going to fix it in author Lauren Miller's Parallel.

In 1988, lifelong best friends Abby and Gretchen are about to start their sophomore year of high school. But after a skinny-dip in the lake goes terribly wrong, Gretchen begins to act differently. What could be the cause of such a sudden change in behavior? Teen angst? Trouble at home? A secret relationship? Abby decides that there's only one explanation: Gretchen's possessed. With the help a few unlikely allies, Abby goes on a mission to save her best friend and get back the Gretchen she knew . . . no matter the consequences in My Best Friend's Exorcism.

In his 1987 novel, The Tommyknockers, Stephen King tells the story of a small Maine town that begins to change after a mysterious object is found in the woods. The object is discovered to be part of an alien spaceship that releases a gas once exposed. Gradually, the gas transforms the townspeople into the aliens that previously inhabited the ship. While the transformation gives people new genius abilities, it also traps them in the town and provokes violence. In the midst of the chaos, a young boy disappears and his older brother does everything in his power to save him . . . including venturing to space.

In 2044, the world has succumbed to an energy crisis and most people escape to OASIS, a virtual universe. Recently deceased, the creator of OASIS detailed in his will that he left behind an Easter egg. Whoever finds the Easter egg will inherit his fortune and gain complete control over OASIS. The key to finding the Easter egg? Eighties culture. The first to be hot on the trail in years, teenager Wade Watts goes on a virtual journey to find the Easter egg and, along the way, discovers '80s pop culture gems like Dungeons & Dragons, War Games, Joust, and more. Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ready Player One is set to be released in 2018!