A poster for John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing" can be seen in the basement where the boys spend most of their time.
Carpenter's influence hangs over the show in many ways, with many noting he highly influenced the score. Carpenter both directed and composed the 1978 horror classic "Halloween."
The score also has hints of "Blade Runner."
Look closely and you'll also spot a "Jaws" poster. Similar to the Spielberg film, "Stranger Things" is about a small town haunted by a monster.
It's one of many references to Steven Spielberg. Joyce (Winona Ryder) uses lights and a special code to communicate with her son, who's stuck in the Upside Down.
The light show looked a lot like the way humans communicated with aliens in 1977's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
When the spaceship makes first contact, aliens and humans communicate through a series of musical notes and colors.
Meanwhile, Joyce shares a similarly maddening obsession with the existence of another world like Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) in "Close Encounters."
There's a scene where the boys ride on their bikes while being chased by the government before Eleven uses her powers to send a van flying in the air.
The show, which draws heavily on the films of Steven Spielberg, was paying tribute to the bike chase from "E.T." In the scene in question, E.T. uses his powers to send Elliot flying through the air.
In the season finale, Will is finally found deep in the woods. While watching, it feels like you're watching Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) exploring LV-426 from "Alien" and "Aliens."
Let's not forget about the Monster. The Demagorgan seems like a combination of "Alien" and "Predator."
Source: Vulture
In the end, Will spits out a strange creature from the Upside Down. It's hard to know whether this was real or a dream. Similar to the Xenomorphs in "Alien," these creatures may use humans to give birth to their young.
If you've seen "Alien," then you know the way the alien is born is not pleasant.
In one episode, the gang goes on an adventure that takes them through railroad tracks in the middle of the woods.
It's shot nearly the exact same way as a similar scene in "Stand by Me," in which a group of four best friends, in search of a dead body, walk on railroad tracks deep in the woods.
"Stranger Things," which relies heavily on 1980s nostalgia, was inspired by a 1980s movie that relies heavily on 1950s nostalgia.
The friendship also draws many parallels with 1985's "The Goonies."
The show has been compared to "The Goonies" many times over. It has the precocious kids on an adventure, but with a few more scares. However, nobody on "Stranger Things" can do the truffle shuffle.
You could compare her to 1976's "Carrie." Eleven and Carrie are both misfits who get powers they can barely control.
However, one character's story ends in sacrifice, and the other with tragedy.
Many have compared the testing scenes, and Eleven in general, to 1984's "Firestarter," in which Drew Barrymore stars as a telekinetic child.
Scott Tobias points out in Vulture that Eleven is a combination of two Stephen King stories about girls with telekinetic powers: "Carrie" and "Firestarter." Both "Stranger Things" and "Firestarter" connect these abilities with nose bleeds.
And of course, it wouldn't be the 1980s without a "Star Wars" reference. During a scene in episode seven, Dustin says, "Like Lando Calrissian! Don't answer!"
This is Dustin's way of saying to be careful of who you trust.
In an interview with the New York Times, the Duffer Brothers said that "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was a major influence on them.
Source: The New York Times
They've also cited Stephen King's "It" as another major influence.
Between "Firestarter," "Carrie," "Stand by Me," and "It," the horror author clearly has a profound influence on the show. King didn't just inspire small scenes: he inspired the entire tone of the show.
"It felt back that then that there was this facade of 'Oh, everything is perfect, everything is wonderful,'" Matt Duffer told the NYT. "And a lot of these stories that we love, they’re sort of ripping at that facade. Even Stephen King’s stories, they always talk about that. There’s always the supernatural evil, but the real evil in his stories is always human in nature."