Dark Horse has announced a new entry in their long-running Stranger Things line — an adaptation of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the stage play that serves as a prequel to the Netflix series. Rachel Pinnelas and Jake Bartok will adapt it into an 80-page graphic novel that’ll arrive in January.
The play is currently running at London’s Phoenix Theatre and New York’s Marquis Theatre, and tells the story of Henry Creel, a.k.a. the villainous Vecna, when he was a teenager in the late 1950s.
The play opened to five-star reviews in 2023 and has racked up an extensive awards haul since, including multiple Olivier Awards and Critics’ Circle Awards, and a WhatsOnStage Award for “Best New Play.” It also took home four Tony Awards in 2025. The production marked Netflix’s first foray into theatre, and has sold nearly 1.6 million tickets across its West End and Broadway runs with more than 1,500 performances. The play was written by Kate Trefry from an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Trefry, and the Duffer Brothers have confirmed that the play is canon to the series.
Here’s the synopsis Dark Horse provided:
In 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, the Creel family seeks a fresh start, especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past. Initially, things seem to go well — he finds friendship and joins the school play. But when a wave of shocking crimes strikes the town, Henry is forced to confront a terrifying possibility: Something inside him may be connected to the horrors unfolding around him. As this thrilling mystery races forward, shadows of the past are unleashed, relationships are tested, and the town of Hawkins must band together to face unspeakable darkness.
The graphic novel will arrive in stores Jan. 19.