- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Apr 23, 2026
Critic Reviews
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Mounted by showrunner Eric Robles, it’s a streamlined, supercharged telling, stripped of the soap operatics that occupied more of the original series than you might remember. It’s a classic kids-versus-monster adventure from which adults are largely absent, which in its own way makes this a superior “Stranger Things.”
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Tales From ‘85 does the one thing we all want but can’t have: it successfully captures the strengths of childhood friendships, before the pressures of growing up set in.
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By the end of the series, you’ll find your heart warmed by the returning characters and comforting world, even if nothing much really changes.
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Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is good enough that franchise completists aren’t going to cringe while watching it, and it may be a good way to introduce younger kids to the franchise. But we just wish it was a little scarier, and the character animation a little less weird.
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"Stranger Things: Tales From '85" is a fun watch, whether for fans of the franchise or not, but is ultimately inessential.
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While this animated spin-off makes little sense as part of the established Stranger Things canon, as a stand-alone story with twists aplenty, it’s a witty, vibrant hoot.
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It’s not helpful that the scripts are, predictably but not inevitably, not as funny as the parent show, so there’s nothing to offset the feeling of going round in circles. But eventually, the peril intensifies, the intrigue goes deeper.
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Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is a colorful but underbaked addition to the Stranger Things universe.
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“Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85” has its high points. It just seems like maybe the show’s creators aren’t fully aware of what they are.
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While the scares are softer and the humor broader, the emotional through line remains intact.
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“Tales from ’85” illustrates a good idea that’s still hamstrung by a devotion to the show’s preexisting lore.
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While Tales from '85 may struggle to justify its own existence, it will be interesting to see if another chapter of the animated show will come into fruition since the finale doesn't completely close out the story.
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I suspect viewers content to settle for a diet version of Stranger Things, whether because they’re too little for the real thing or too fanatical to pass it over, will find little to object to in the spinoff’s faithful if watered-down recreation of the original’s appeal. But I can’t imagine most of them finding much to adore about it, either.
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Who’s the audience for this infantile, animated take on an indelible series? Only diehards and dimwits need apply.
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Tales From ’85 tries to appeal to both longtime fans of the live-action series wanting more of this universe and also kids who aren’t old enough to watch Stranger Things. That divide impacts every aspect of the show, from the visuals to the tone to the story—and not for the better.
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Every chance to do something inventive and interesting in “Tales from ‘85” is ignored for lazy fan-fic writing, slack plotting, and inconsistent characters.
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Without the liability of actors whose voices will deepen and heights will shoot up over time, Netflix can continue to exploit this IP as long as its audience desires, looking ever-more-solipsistically inward rather than branching out. I’ll give “Tales From ‘85” this much credit: it’s as creepy and unsettling an idea as this horror-adjacent franchise has produced in years.