Top 5 Thrilling Shows Like Stranger Things to Binge This December 2025

If you just burned through Part I of Stranger Things Season 5 and need something to tide you over until Part II drops on December 25, I got you. Nothing fully replicates Hawkins, but these shows hit the same nerves: eerie mysteries, kids (or ex-kids) in over their heads, and that feeling that normal life is one step away from the supernatural.

• Dark

  Yes, this is the one that always shows up in the search bar the second you type 'shows like Stranger Things.' It is absolutely worth your time. The German series ran for three seasons and is sitting on Netflix right now, so you can pivot straight into it.

  The setup: two kids vanish in the fictional town of Winden, Germany. That investigation cracks open decades of buried secrets and a time-traveling wormhole inside a cave that connects the present to 1986 and 1953. The web of families, lies, and timelines is dense, and the mood is pitch-black.

  Fun bit of trivia: Dark was already in pre-production when Stranger Things first aired, so it is not riffing on Hawkins. Also, a heads-up — this one is darker than Stranger Things and not aimed at kids.

• Twin Peaks

  If you want the original small-town-weird vibe, go back to 1990 and David Lynch's Twin Peaks. It starts with the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer and the arrival of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). From there, it slides into a surreal stew of murder mystery, supernatural lore, and soap opera melodrama.

  Like Stranger Things, it lives where the ordinary bumps against the uncanny. The difference: Hawkins leans Spielbergian adventure; Twin Peaks dives into the absurd and often goes proudly camp. If you know Lynch from Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, or Lost Highway, you know exactly how delightfully off-kilter this gets.

• The OA

  We are still not over Netflix canceling this after two seasons. The hook: Prairie Johnson, a blind young woman missing for seven years, suddenly comes home. She is no longer blind, has strange marks on her back she will not explain to her adoptive parents, and hints she was held captive with others.

  Prairie recruits a group of teenagers and one exhausted teacher for a very specific mission. Then she starts telling her story — which involves crossing dimensions, dying and coming back, and being forced into experiments by the chilling Dr. Hap (Jason Isaacs, doing some of his best work).

  It begins like a kidnapping mystery and grows into a metaphysical, cosmic ride about consciousness, death, and what might exist between worlds. Buckle up.

• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

  Want something lighter but still occult? This Netflix series from the Riverdale team tilts more camp and YA than Stranger Things, but it is surprisingly easy to binge. It shares the whole 'dark forces lurking under teen drama' thing and leans hard into vintage aesthetics — more curated than Hawkins' scruffy authenticity, but stylish in its own way.

  Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) is half-witch, half-mortal, juggling school, friends, and spells that do not always go as planned. On her 16th birthday, she has to choose between embracing the witches or living as a mortal. Also on the docket: demons, portals to other dimensions, and a serious threat of darkness coming for her.

• Yellowjackets

  This one is not a one-to-one match with Stranger Things — it leans more psychological thriller than monster adventure — but it scratches the same itch for secrets and trauma that will not stay buried. A high school girls soccer team crashes in the Canadian wilderness on their way to a national tournament. Survival mode kicks in, and the show hints right up top at something cult-like brewing.

  The story runs on two timelines: 1996, where the team fights to stay alive, and 25 years later, where the survivors are dealing with the fallout — including someone blackmailing them about what really happened in those woods. For the record, you will not find cannibalism in Stranger Things. Here? Different story.

Why these picks work between Stranger Things episodes

I zeroed in on series that blend dark fantasy or supernatural mystery with character-driven drama and a shot of nostalgia. These shows all start with ordinary lives and then kick open the door to the extraordinary — tight-knit groups facing forces they barely understand, with the constant sense that something strange is humming just out of sight. If Hawkins has you in the mood for secrets, portals, and the occasional reality-bender, any of these will keep the lights flickering until December 25.