Netflix’s Stranger Things spinoff Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will return much sooner than many fans may have guessed. The show’s second season drops on Sept. 17, just a few months after the first season, which aired on April 23. The news release announcing this return date provides the following description of what’s to come: “With Valentine’s Day on the way, the gang must uncover the truth behind ghostly apparitions and a swarm of strange creatures causing chaos around town.”
For those unfamiliar with Tales from ’85, it’s an animated spin-off of Stranger Things set between the main show’s second and third seasons. The series was officially greenlit for a second season shortly after its release. Considering the exceptionally quick turnaround time, it’s probably fair to assume that animation studio Flying Bark Productions was working on the show’s next batch of episodes before then.
Is Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 worth watching?
The first season of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 received a mixed response from critics and fans, with a 63% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 52% users’ score. While some praised the show for recapturing the charm from earlier seasons of Stranger Things, others criticized it as a perfunctory midquel.
Eric Robles and Jennifer Muro developed the show’s first season and Robles also served as showrunner. The series’ original creators, The Duffer Brothers, were executive producers. It was produced by Netflix Animation Studios, Upside Down Pictures, 21 Laps Entertainment, and Flying Bark Productions. Flying Bark is known for contributing animation to Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, Marvel’s What If…?, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.
With Stranger Things ending its 42-episode run on Dec. 31, 2025, it isn’t surprising that the show got a spinoff. The series has proven tremendously popular, with its third season setting the record for the most-watched original Netflix series.
As of 2023, a live-action spinoff was in development, but nothing has been formally announced.