Reconstructing and/or Deconstructing the 1980s. Gothic and Horror Tropes in Stranger Things (Netflix, 2016-)

Resumen

This article focuses on the gothic and horror tropes utilised in the Netflix series Stranger Things to offer a critical discourse on 1980s cultural, economic and social norms. To do so, the emphasis has been laid on the construction of tween and teen characters as “Gothicised” heroes, whose relations to borders, thresholds and in-between places enable them to define themselves as marginal(ised) if not altogether “othered” creatures. Relying on Deleuze’s nomadism and Foucault’s heterotopy, this essay wishes to demonstrate that Gothic does not merely provide an aesthetic to give Netflix viewers thrilling and horrific entertainment but also, and above all, a rhetoric that helps the Duffer Brothers to counter any nostalgic view on a decade marked by Republican President Reagan’s conservatism.