What Stranger Things gets right (and wrong) about spiritual warfare

Stranger Things is devoid of God but heavy on the supernatural, unseen realms and the battle between light and darkness. Martin Saunders reflects on how Christians can best join the conversation about Netflix’s most watched show

Here is another world that runs parallel to our own. Most of us are ignorant to it, yet this alternate dimension is teeming with evil and danger. Dark spiritual forces conspire within it, plotting to burst out of one reality and corrupt our own. Though these demons can be violent, their real power comes through influence and mind control. And while a light shines in the darkness, evil looks like it might prevail – or at least, win some brutal victories – if a few good people choose not to resist it.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that I’m describing a Christian perspective on spiritual warfare; that this could be a passage straight out of a Rick Joyner prophecy. In fact, it’s an attempt to provide a spoiler-free precis of one of the most popular TV shows of the streaming era. Welcome to the slimy, scary and spiritually significant world of Stranger Things.