Stranger Things Season Three Trailer Makes a Splash with Summer Hijinks, ’80s Nostalgia and, of Course, Horror

Holy hell, folks. The trailer for Stranger Things season three just dropped, and it’s leaning into its July 4 release date in the best way possible, with pool parties, ice cream and hijinks galore for the summer of ‘85.

Right off the bat, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) mistakenly hairsprays Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) when his friends surprise-welcome him home from camp because, well, these kids are clearly a little traumatized after years of fighting monsters. As Mike (Finn Wolfhard) notes in the voiceover, “We’re not kids anymore.”

From there on, it’s a wonderland (or teenage wasteland) of ‘80s summer imagery scored by The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” We get plenty of hints about what’s to come and, thankfully, it looks like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Max (Sadie Sink) are actual friends this time around. While this season is set in 1985, that particular storyline about female jealousy was awfully forced and dated. Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) isn’t just a poolside stud, apparently afflicted with a strange infection of some kind. As for the monster itself, the creature looks a bit like a Cronenbergian mess, but it’s a little early to judge. The best moment definitely comes at the end, when Steve’s (Joe Keery) co-worker Robin (Maya Hawke, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman’s daughter) calls out his wholesome, meme-ified relationship with the younger characters—”How many children are you friends with?”

Either way, this is the type of trailer that requires you to pause constantly in order to glean every drop of information possible. Watch the trailer and check out the new season’s first-look images below, and explore everything we know about Stranger Things season three so far here.