Netflix’s ‘Fear Street’ Has Some Major ‘Stranger Things’ Connections

Netflix has released the first of its new Fear Street movies, and there are some major Stranger Things connections. The Wrap points out that both properties take place in retro settings that pay homage to pop culture, specifically iconic sci-fi and horror film, TV shows and creators. The similarities don’t stop there, however, as Fear Street trilogy director and co-writer Leigh Janiak is married to Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer. [Please Note: Spoilers for Fear Street Part One: 1994 Below]

In fact, it was Janiak’s proximity to Stranger Things that led to Season 3 star Maya Hawke being cast in Fear Street, as the director got to see the up-and-coming actress in action before becoming one of the breakout stars of the show. Janiak also realized that she could use Hawke to pay tribute to a classic horror franchise. “Maya was chosen because I obviously wanted to pay homage to the Drew Barrymore moment in Scream. We’ve got an It young actress and then we’re going to kill her. Immediately,” Janiak told The Wrap. Notably, Sadie Sink, another Stranger Things star, is featured in the first Fear Street sequel.

Notably, both Fear Street and Stranger Things Season 3 are centered around a mall, which seems to be a similarity she and Duffer did not necessarily intend to make but was necessary for each storyline. “There’s the healthy competition of, ‘What do you mean you’re putting a mall in your season? I have a mall!’ It’s that thing of like, well we don’t own malls. Malls are everywhere,” Janiak explained. “There’s those little quips, but generally it’s good to have the support of someone else that does what we do. So just healthy competition I would say.”

Finally, Janiak addressed one thing that is different between the two projects: the level of mature content. While Stranger Things tends to scale back violence, adult language, and sexual content, Janiak knew that Fear Street needed to lean hard into what it is. “It’s one thing to have a PG-13 haunted house movie. It’s a very different thing to have a PG-13 slasher movie,” she said. “And to be true to the spirit of what slasher is, you gotta have all the things! You’ve gotta have the blood and the crazy deaths and you have to have the sex. You have to have a little bit of all of that.”

Janiak continued, “I think back to when I was 10, 11 or 12 and sneakily watching Child’s Play or Nightmare on Elm Street at sleepover parties. And for me the sweet spot of having Fear Street was having the authenticity of people that are my age so that you can experience the nostalgia, but if you’re a younger teenager, you feel like you’re doing something a little subversive. Am I allowed to watch this? Am I allowed to sneak into the theater or stream this?”

Fear Street Part One: 1994 is now streaming on Netflix. The first sequel, Fear Street Part Two: 1978, will be released on July 9. The final entry into the trilogy, Fear Street Part Three: 1666, debuts on July 16.