A new Stranger Things novel is coming, and it will focus on the origin story of Jim Hopper, his life before Hawkins is primarily a mystery, but now viewers will have a chance to learn more about the beloved character. Titled Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town, the novel is set to release on June 4th and will unearth some “long-buried secrets” from Hopper’s past.
It is the second in a series of prequel novels that serve as a tie-in to the events of the Netflix-hit series and will focus on Hopper’s life as a New York City homicide detective in the late 1970s. The author of the canonical prequel novel, Adam Christopher, confirmed the news on his blog, stating: “This was a dream project and the book was a joy to write – I’m a huge fan of the show, and Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper is my favorite character. Digging into his past in NYC was a real blast, and I hope readers have as much fun reading about his bizarre 1977 adventure as I did writing it.”
Netflix also revealed that Eleven is the one who pushes Hopper into unearthing these secrets, with the pair bonding throughout her life in Hawkins.
Picking up where the first Stranger Things prequel novel, Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds, left off. With that of Eleven’s backstory serving as the main story, specifically the life of her mother in the late ’60s. These tie-ins are apart of Netflix’s latest efforts to expand the Stranger Things universe, or to cash in on it. There were plans of a Telltale video game adaptation at one point or another, but the sci-fi novels seem to be in rhythm with the show’s pop-culture nostalgia far more than anything else, maintaining a sort of mystique. Stranger Things Season 3 will release on Netflix on July 4th, 2019.