Stranger Things and the '80s Audiobook By Joseph Vogel cover art

Stranger Things and the '80s

The Complete Retro Guide

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Stranger Things and the '80s

By: Joseph Vogel
Narrated by: Patrick Miller
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Since its premiere in the summer of 2016, Stranger Things has become a global phenomenon. It also restored in vivid detail the pulse and feel of a decade: the 1980s.

Indeed, the show's creators - the Duffer brothers - describe the series as "a love letter to the '80s". From its synth soundtrack, to its retro fonts, to its nostalgic nods to Spielberg and Stephen King, Stranger Things is populated with references, homages, and artifacts from the Reagan era. This audiobook dives deep into that world, revealing everything you wanted to know about the series and its influences, including:

  • The parallels to the show's biggest touchstone: the 1982 classic, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial
  • The significance of The Clash's hit song "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
  • The context behind Dungeons and Dragons - which incited a national panic in the '80s - and an explanation of how the game works in the show
  • The connections to a host of '80s books and movies, including Stand by Me, IT, The Thing, Aliens, and The Goonies

Other stops on this "curiosity voyage" include: explorations of arcades, Ataris, BMX bikes, MTV, Radio Shack, Carl Sagan, Ronald Reagan, Eggos, Steve's hair, and mom jeans. Packed with detail and insight, Stranger Things and the '80s is the ultimate companion to the hit show and the era that inspired it.

©2018 Joseph Vogel (P)2018 Joseph Vogel Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism
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I love the story because I love the homage to Stephen King and I just love the 80’s despite never having lived through them. But the narrator has a click in his throat that borders on wet. I found it quite distracting. I am also very observant to sounds so it may just be me. If that type of thing doesn’t bother you, enjoy this short book!

The narrator has a weird wet click in his throat

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There is some great content in this book and its organized very well - but I cold not finish it as the narration was poor. I could literally notice the pause between each page. I could hear the beginning on the sentence, then a pause, and the end of it. In one instance, it was the first name of someone, followed but the last name after a pause. Seemed like he just picked up the book and read in one sitting without rehearsal.

This one - just read the book. Some good material there, I just could not get past the narration .

Great Content But Could not Get Past the Narration

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I appreciated the research that went into writing this book. The author breaks the fourth wall a bit more than worked well for me; I’d prefer to keep the opinions more in Web blogs and less in a book I’m looking to for context and Easter Eggs I’ve missed. That said, there was a good deal of interesting content I hadn’t encountered in other books covering Stranger Things.

Patrick Miller’s performance is simply bad. He mispronounces words and well-known names. He takes odd breaks at what I have to assume are line breaks. It’s extremely distracting throughout the performance.

Summary: if you love Stranger Things, I recommend the book for backstory and context. Go into it expecting a jarring reader, and hopefully you’ll be able to focus on the information and not be too distracted by the uneven delivery.

A good dealOf interesting context and backstory, but the performance leaves a lot to be desired.

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Really enjoyed listening to this! I love the 80’s and enjoyed hearing about all of the links to Stranger Things, but the narrator was awful.

Loved the info but hated the narration!

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loved it sooo much. great extra details about characters and 80s nods. back story on movie references.

Blend of Nostalgia and Stranger Things

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Great book about the history and pop culture influences behind Stranger Things! Only issue was Patrick Miller is such a horrible narrator, he sounds flat and lifeless and occasionally flubs his lines. Did an editor listen before this was released?

Fantastic book, horrible narration

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This is a fun book summarizing the pop culture connections for the first two seasons. Unfortunately, it was difficult to finish and I only did so because I used a credit and the topic is fun. I've completed over 200 audiobooks from all genres, and there was only one other I couldn't finish. This was rough. Flat and disaffected tone, almost as if the narrator had no interest in the content or had never done this before. Errors that should have been re-recorded and obvious audible clicks where the narrator switched pages or screens to keep reading. Run-on reading and difficult to tell chapter titles from sections to sentences. I'll definitely get other books by the author but avoid the narrator in the future.

Great book, terrible narration.

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