Exclusive: Stranger Things theme gets turned upside down with Vitamin String Quartet's classical cover

Netflix hit Stranger Things is appearing in every corner of the media world as its third season approaches its streaming debut, with comics, novels, and now string ensembles paying tribute to the just-off universe based in Hawkins. When Christmas lights and waffle companies got in on the fun, fans knew it was just the beginning.

But back to the music. The show’s synth-driven, throwback score has a theme that instantly sets the highly referential and nostalgia-based show’s tone: You’re going back to your childhood, only this time with real monsters and government conspiracies.

Covering that theme in a classical style doesn’t take away from the John Carpenter-esque connotations; rather, Vitamin String Quartet’s version of the track, which SYFY WIRE can exclusively debut below, adds enough class to the affair that fans might think they need to put on a tie over their E.T. T-shirts.

Check it out:

Now that’s an update worthy of the instantly classic theme. The quartet — who are in reality a revolving crew of musicians committed to prolific cover-album production, with over 300 to their name since 1999 — have had their music appear in Westworld, and this cover fits right into that strange middle ground between past and future.

The performance — set, fittingly, in neon-lit Royce’s Games Arcade — is like the music at the nerdiest (and creepiest) wedding reception of all time. The song will appear on Vitamin String Quartet’s album Geek Wedding Forever - Vol. 3, out March 8, and make our haunted dreams just a little fancier.

Stranger Things returns to Netflix on July 4.