'Stranger Things' Prequel Novel to Explore Max's Troubled Backstory

A new Stranger Things novel will explore the history of one of Hawkins, Indiana's newest residents.

Stranger Things: Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff will reveal how Max Mayfield and her family ended up in Hawkins.

Here's the description from publisher Random House:

"Don't miss this gripping, emotional prequel to the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things! The never-before-told backstory of the beloved Dig Dug maven, Max Mayfield, written by New York Times bestselling author Brenna Yovanoff.

This must-read novel, based on the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, explores Max's past–the good and the bad–as well as how she came to find her newfound sense of home in Hawkins, Indiana."

This is the third such prequel novel from Random House. The first, Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds, focused on Eleven's mother. The second, Stranger Things: Darkness at the Edge of Town, tells the history of Chief Hopper.

Stranger Things has also branched off into comics. Dark Horse published its first Stranger Things miniseries began in September 2018 and revisited the show's first season from the perspective of Will Byers. A follow-up series has been announced titled Stranger Things: Six, which will focus on another experimentation victim like Eleven.

Star David Harbour has teased that the new season of Stranger Things will take inspiration from some "epic" movies, though he wouldn't reveal which films specifically.

"If you're a real fan of Stranger Things and you really want to know, I would go look at the great films that were released in '85, of which there were many, and just go down that list and think of the possibilities that we could be going with," Harbour suggested. "I think it is a specific season to 1985, and so you'll see references to that.

"We're experimenting a lot this season, and we're taking risks, and I hope that they pay off but they are risks." Harbour continued. "We're going into territories we've never been to before, and it's exciting."

Producer Shawn Levy has teased some things to come in the new season and beyond.

"I mean I will say we have a good sense of stuff that happens in Season Four," he said. "Season Four is definitely happening. There's very much the possibility of a season beyond that one, that's currently undecided. And what I would just say is part of the chaos and fun of this particular show is that while the Duffers and the writer's room and we producers outline the entire season, the Duffers really use the writing process to revisit, reassess and question all of their prior assumptions. So even though we always start off with a good sense of the major arcs of the season. We're always ready for shifts and surprises because if the Duffers stumble into a different or surprising inspiration while they rewrite the script, we're going to follow that inspiration and throw out some ideas in order to embrace some new ones that are more exciting. And I have no doubt that Season 3 will be no exception."

Will you be checking out the new Stranger Things novel? Let us know in the comments.

Stranger Things: Runaways Max goes on sale June 4th.

Stranger Things Season 3 premieres July 4th on Netflix.

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