6 aids for getting over Stranger Things

Stop pining for the Netflix sleeper summer smash with these not-so-dissimilar odds and ends.

Album: Turbulence by Miami Nights 1984

The many Stranger Things-inspired playlists are brimming with Tangerine Dream, show composers Survive and lots of spooky synths – and it’s all a bit intense. While you wait for the official Netflix soundtrack release, try Miami Nights 1984 instead. Turbulence is less moody, but still brilliantly retro.    

TV: The Leftovers

Post-apocalyptic? Check. Handsome small-town cops struggling with life? Yes. Online naysayers complaining that it’s overrated? Of course. Ignore the moaners: The Leftovers, which takes place three years after two per cent of the world’s population has disappeared, is quietly terrifying. 

Book: Summer Of Night by Dan Simmons

Five pre-teen protagonists uncover eerie supernatural events unfolding in their sleepy small town. Dan Simmons’ early-Nineties-set Summer Of Night might sound uncannily similar to Stranger Things but, unlike the TV show which is just mildly eerie, this a genuine slow-burning nightmare. Proper bum-clenching terror.

Film: Akira

Akira is a kid recruited by the government and forced to develop terrifying psychic powers. The 1988 animated film is rich with cyberpunk cool and grisly violence. You can’t help but think that maybe shadowy government execs should stop training kids to blow stuff up with their minds.

Style: Cap

Aside from the stomach-churning plot twists, have you noticed how well these kids dress? Who actually looked good in a puffa ski jacket? Um, these guys do. Make like the show’s goofy but lovable Dustin – and nab your own slice of Eighties fashion – with this New Era cap. (£35; neweracap.co.uk)

Game: Half-Life

Stop us if you've heard this one before: there's this guy who goes to work one day and accidentally witnesses the secretive science firm he works for open a portal into another dimension, through which pour all manner of horrors that start messing with the world. All the flavour of Stranger Things, just swap the kids for a crowbar. One of the greatest video games ever made, it shows its age (released back in 1998) but it's well worth a play - swiftly followed by its arguably better sequel, Half-Life 2.