Stranger Things Season 3 is going to pay tribute to John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, and George Romero. The Duffer Brothers have admitted that the upcoming season will be the darkest one yet, and if they're really taking cues from Carpenter, Cronenberg, and Romero, horror fans could be in for a real treat. With that being said, David Harbour recently revealed that the Duffer Brothers are also heavily influenced by the 1980s comedy classic Fletch, which sounds like a pretty weird juxtaposition.

In Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down: The Official Behind-the-Scenes Companion book, which was just released this week, the Duffer Brothers talk about the influence of David Cronenberg, George Romero, and specifically John Carpenter's The Thing on Season 3. Some have accused the show of taking a little too much from their influences, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Ross Duffer explains.

"There are horror movies and horror masters that we haven't really paid tribute to as much in previous seasons that we are definitely going to get into this season."

It's also revealed in the new book that the Mind Flayer, aka the Shadow Monster, will return in Stranger Things Season 3. The malevolent entity lives in the Upside Down and was introduced in the second season when Will went outside of the arcade. Will continued to draw the Mind Flayer as it pursued him. The return of the mysterious entity will certainly add an extra element of horror for Season 3. The Mind Flayer was last seen over the Upside Down version of Hawkins Middle School.

David Harbour has given some cryptic teases about Stranger Things Season 3 over the last handful of months. The actor has instructed fans to get familiar with the movies that came out in 1985, which is the year that the upcoming season takes place. Fletch is one of the films, as is The Goonies, Back to the Future, Weird Science, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Return of the Living Dead, and The Explorers. Stranger Things often likes to wear its influences on its sleeves, so it should be pretty easy to spot which movies that Season 3 will be paying homage to.

Ross Duffer also revealed some other changes that are taking place in Stranger Things Season 3. The new season takes place in the summer of 1985, less than a year after the events of the last season, which Duffer notes will be the last summer of the characters' childhood. They're all going to be dealing with more adult-type of things from here on out, which is the way that the show has been heading since the start. The characters on the show are aging like the actors that portray them, so it's only natural that the show put in some elements of the horrors of growing up. You can check out a preview of the Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down: The Official Behind-the-Scenes book below, thanks to the Companion Random House YouTube channel.