Missing Stranger Things? Apple TV+ Thriller Home Before Dark Is Your Next Binge

If you just said goodbye to Stranger Things and want something with that same charm and kid-powered momentum, queue up Home Before Dark. It takes the small-town vibe, the scrappy friend energy, and the thrill of chasing down a mystery, then swaps the supernatural for secrets people actually keep. Different lane, same rush.

Why this scratches the Stranger Things itch

Home Before Dark centers on Hilde Lisko (Brooklynn Prince), a razor-sharp young reporter who moves with her family to Erie Harbor, Washington, the town where her dad Matthew (Jim Sturgess) grew up. She stumbles into a decades-old case the adults have quietly let fade. What follows is a grounded, knotty thriller driven by curiosity, courage, and a kid who refuses to be told to sit this one out.

Tonally, it lands close to Stranger Things: tight-knit kids, a town full of ghosts (the metaphorical kind), and adults who underestimate them. But this show stands firmly in the real world. The story is inspired by real-life journalist Hilde Kate Lysiak, who launched her own paper, the Orange Street News, when she was nine. She cut her teeth on local stories and, yes, pursued a homicide report. The series rides that true-story spark and makes it feel immediate.

'I love the feeling of nostalgia, I love the '80s feeling. But for me personally, I definitely didn't want to have monsters in the show. I wanted the secrets in the house to be the monsters,' co-creator Dana Fox said.

The setup that hooks you

Hilde arrives in Erie Harbor and starts digging into a long-cold case tied to the town's past, her father's history, and the kind of rot that only shows when someone shines a light. Her friends rally, the town bristles, and the mystery deepens in ways that feel both pulpy and plausible. It is cleanly plotted without losing the heart that makes you care who gets hurt when the truth comes out.

At a glance

• Where to watch: Apple TV+
• Premiere: April 3, 2020
• Seasons/episodes: 2 seasons, 10 episodes each
• Stars: Brooklynn Prince (Hilde Lisko), Jim Sturgess (Matthew Lisko)
• Vibe: Small-town mystery, kid reporter, zero sci-fi, high suspense
• Based on: Hilde Kate Lysiak, who founded the Orange Street News at age nine and pursued serious reporting

The ending, and the season that never arrived

Apple renewed Home Before Dark for Season 2 in January 2020, before Season 1 even premiered. Season 2 wrapped in August 2021. After that, silence. The show was never officially canceled, but Season 3 never happened.

Here is the pleasant surprise: the Season 2 finale plays like a real ending. It resolves the season's big threads, answers the questions that matter, and caps things with a final scene that teases Hilde's next story in a way that feels more like a promise than a cliffhanger. It is tidy without being tidy-tied, and that is rarer than it should be.

If you are still debating how Stranger Things stuck its landing after a years-long gap, you will appreciate how Home Before Dark handles its exit. Sometimes knowing a finale is a finale creates impossible expectations. Sometimes a show that quietly bows out leaves you more satisfied than you expected. This one does.

Bottom line

Home Before Dark never hit the size of Apple's louder hits like Slow Horses, Shrinking, or Severance, but it earns a spot in the queue. Two brisk seasons, an exceptional lead performance from Brooklynn Prince, and a mystery that respects your brain. Binge it in a week, or stretch it over two weekends if you want to savor it. And yes, Hilde and Eleven would make a terrifyingly effective team.