The clever storytelling in Stranger Things has made it 2016's small screen phenomenon.

The Netflix series dropped on July 15th and yet the public is still talking about Stranger Things. Why? It's loaded with 80's nostalgia for a Millennial audience, sure, but more importantly, its shrewd genre storytelling takes familiar tropes and imbues them with enthralling new twists. We've all seen monster tales done with a big government conspiracy slant before, but not quite like what the Duffer Brothers have done here. For starters, they've created their show for discriminating adults, yet the characters at its center are four pre-teens. And unlike most genre efforts, this one has three women, of three different ages, driving the investigations into the disappearance of a small town boy. Stranger Things is full of rich characters, breathless action, and a crackling energy that makes each of its eight episodes zip by. What's not to love? And that's why everyone is still obsessing over it.