Netflix's 'Stranger Things' Original Mystery Series Arrives July 15

A Netflix original series called Stranger Things will be launching next month, and ahead of that season 1 premiere is an official trailer. In it we see a show that appears to set in 1980s America (or Canada, maybe), with a seemingly ordinary family being the focus. The family's son is out late riding his bike one night when he ventures into the woods and sees....something. We don't get to see what that something is, but Netflix does give a long look at the resulting fallout.

According to Netflix, Stranger Things is "a love letter to the supernatural classics of the 80's," and the trailer certainly drives that statement home. The boy (named Will, it seems) is seen running in a panic after spotting something in the woods. Whatever it is follows him home, and despite pulling a bolt-action rifle on it, the thing manages to whisk the boy away without a trace.

This leads to some passionate pleas to the local police who, at first, take the disappearance as likely being no big deal. That appears to change at some point, though, and search parties head out into the woods. That's where they discover a little girl with a buzzcut, a tattoo on her forearm, and an affinity for light bulbs.

The girl adds a big element of mystery and more than a small sense of doom. She doesn't provide a location when asked where Will is, instead suggesting that maybe he's hiding from some terrible thing — and judging by the trailer, we're guessing there may be an alien or two involved. The first season will launch on Netflix this upcoming July 15.