I was born in the 80's and loved the movies and music from that time. I heard this show paid homage to that time frame however, it just never looked all that appealing to me. Out of sheer boredom I put it on and was hooked after the first episode. My husband, who is an extremely tough critic and hates the sci fi genre, caught the 4th episode so I was surprised when he asked me to wait for him before watching further. We binged the series over this last week. It's nostalgic, yet unlike anything currently on television at this time. It has the sentiments of The Goonies and cheesey horror like Freddy Cougar and Carrie. It gets corny intentionally, also to pay homage to the 80s but has its creepy moments. It even manages to nail the pitchy soundtrack or background music thats so distinctive in movies from the 80s. The children are amazing actors, every last one of them. My only complaint is the the CGI doesn't look great at times. Some of the monsters would be terrifying if the CGI looked a bit better or if they swapped the CGI altogether for some really good prosthetics and special effects (always the option I prefer). Because at times it's obviously computer generated, the fear factor or goriness leaves less of an impact. All in all, I now understand the hype!