‘Stranger Things’ Does Its Best ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ With New Poster

Considering Stranger Things takes place in the ’80s, of course there are many pop culture staples from that decade that have found their way into the show. To build excitement for the upcoming season, the series has a new poster that honors one of the most iconic horror movies from that decade — A Nightmare on Elm Street. Even right down to the tagline.

The image comes from a scene in which Nancy (Natalia Dyer) went to explore the Upside Down in hopes of tracking down the whereabouts of her friend Barb. Sadly, Nancy discovered that Barb had fallen victim to the Demogorgon, a creature which aimed to make quick work of Nancy herself.

In addition to the above image looking familiar to the Nightmare on Elm Street poster, that film’s main character was also named Nancy, making for another connection to the slasher. Another interesting similarity is that one of the Demogorgon’s first appearances in the series occurred after pushing through a wall, reminiscent of a scene in Nightmare where Freddy Krueger did the same thing to Nancy.

This connection is far from the only reference to some of the greatest horror films of all time. With Eleven’s telekinetic abilities being similar to those featured in Carrie, the Demogorgon itself looks quite similar to the villain of Predator, and the narrative makes specific mentions of Poltergeist and The Evil Dead.

“We’re big movie nerds — that’s what we wanted to do,” said Matt Duffer, describing the genesis of the show he created with his brother Ross.

“We started to get into television as it became more cinematic,” he added, Variety reports.

The brothers shared that they asked themselves, “what would be the ultimate long movie — Spielberg directing a big, fat Stephen King book. That was the dream, that was the ambition,” Ross said.

The second season of Stranger Things comes to Netflix on October 27.