6 Nightmare on Elm Street References in Stranger Things

Stranger Things season four was certainly a return to the Netflix series’ horror roots.

In fact, Stanger Things star Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, warned E! News’ While You Were Streaming that the new installment—out May 27—may be too “disturbing” for younger viewers.

“Kids will be scared,” he promised at the time. “Kids will have nightmares.”

And season four definitely lived up to the hype, as it introduced a new villain reminiscent of A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger.

Now, this isn’t the first time that creators Matt and Ross Duffer have paid tribute to ’80s horror classics. In previous seasons, we’ve seen references to Jaws, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Poltergeist, among others.

However, this time around, A Nightmare on Elm Street was the muse, inspiring not one, not two, but six separate references to Wes Craven‘s 1984 slasher.