WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Stranger Things Halloween Special by Michael Moreci, Todor Hristov, Chris O'Halloran and Nate Piekos of Blambot, on sale now.
Dark Horse Comics' Stranger Things Halloween Special takes place shortly before the events of the Netflix series' first season. In it, we find Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Will, when they were simply four friends -- before they would meet the super-powered Eleven, an encounter that changed their lives. On Halloween, the four are holed up at Will's Castle Byers, sharing ghost stories in the hopes of scaring each another.
But even though the events of the comic take place before the start of Season 1, it nevertheless delivers a dire warning to a character who later suffers a brutal fate on the television series: Barbara Holland.
Barbara Holland became a fan-favorite character throughout her appearances on Stranger Things, even though she wouldn't come out of Season 1 alive. In the series, she was a student and friend of Nancy Wheeler who was taken to the Upside Down and killed by the Demogorgon. The character's death leads to an online movement that demanded "Justice for Barb," given that the character's death wasn't properly resolved and swept under the rug by Hawkins National Laboratory.
Barb's death would torment Nancy in Season 2 and it would push her to try and expose the Laboratory for what they had done. And, through her efforts, Barbara would eventually get the justice she deserved.
Now, the Halloween Stranger Things Special takes us back to the days before Season 1, and it immediately opens with a warning for Barbara.
Indeed, the comic opens with a scene featuring Jonathan Byers in his home, listening to his brother Will and his friends telling each other ghost stories over a walkie-talkie. Since this is Halloween, Jonathan is watching a horror movie on television: George A. Romero's 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead. Jonathan is now at an iconic scene from the film when the character of Johnny playfully teases his sister by saying that the monsters are coming for her. "They're coming to get you, Barbara," he jokes. But little does he know that, moments later, he would get attacked by a zombie.
Here, the comic delivers an homage to the classic horror film, but it also offers a warning for Barbara Holland, given that she would soon become a victim of a monster herself. Of course, Barb isn't anywhere to be seen in the comic, but fans of the television series will surely pick up on this foreboding nod.
Created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Priah Ferguson, Cary Elwes, Jake Busey and Maya Thurman-Hawke. Season 4 has yet to receive a release date.