Stranger Things is an American science fiction television series created, written, directed and co-executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, as well as co-executive produced by Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. The first season, released in July 2016, stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono and Matthew Modine, with Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery in recurring roles. For the second season, Schnapp and Keery were made series regulars, with actors Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin and Paul Reiser also appearing. The series is allegedly based on a 1992 book "" which tells stories about the Montauk Project, an alleged series of secret U.S. government projects in Long Island.