Stranger Things Season 4 will be coming to Netflix as an epic two-volume run starting May 27th. The long-awaited return of Netflix’s hit series comes with the surprise announcement that the fourth season is being split into two parts to allow the first episodes to be released as soon as possible. According to the ’80s style typed out release put out by Netflix on their Geeked Twitter account, the new season is twice as long as previous seasons, and rather than make fans wait until the entire season is ready to go, Netflix will be releasing Volume 1 on May 27th, and then Volume 2 five weeks later on July 1st.

Stranger Things is one of the biggest original series on Netflix, and with a lengthy wait since the end of the third season, the release date for the fourth season also came with the bittersweet news that Season 5 will then be the last of the series. As was hinted last year by David Harbour, it seems that Stranger Things’ days are now numbered, and fans will need to savor the upcoming episodes as the series is “hurtling towards our finale.”

In the statement, the Duffer Brothers said: “With nine scripts, over eight-hundred pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one. Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

“Given the unprecedented length, and to get it to you as soon as possible, Season 4 will be released in two volumes. Volume One will release on May 27th; Volume Two will release five weeks later on July 1st. So that’s the good news. It’s coming soon. And it’s bigger than ever. It’s also the beginning of the end.”

Before fans of the series could get too excited, Matt and Ross Duffer then revealed the bad news that this is indeed a run in to the end of the series. They continued, “Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four or five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but - - as you’ll soon see for yourselves - - we are now hurtling towards our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.

“There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes. But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternative dimension known only as the Upside Down. As always we are grateful for your patience and support.”

Stranger Things Final Seasons Could Prove to Be the Biggest Shows in Netflix History

Stranger Things has always proved to be a big crowd-pleaser, and as all episodes of a season drop at the same time, it has always been a great “binge-watch” series, as opposed to many other big shows that stagger their episodes over a weekly release schedule. Unlike many shows, Stranger Things has succeeded in building in scale, season on season, and now it is clear that the Duffer Brothers are looking to do it again with the fourth season.

Season 4 will see the return of Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, David Harbour, and Winona Ryder, as well as the addition of horror icon Robert Englund, who will be playing the role of the mysterious Victor Creel, “a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s.” With storylines based on the Creel House, a Russian facility, and the town of Hawkins, there is a lot to look forward to in Stranger Things Season 4 when it debuts in May.