A lawsuit levied at Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Netflix’s hit sci-fi series Stranger Things, claims that the brothers stole the idea for the show from Montauk director Charlie Kessler. Kessler says that he told the Duffers his idea for a paranormal story set close to a mysterious military base at a 2014 Tribeca Film Festival party.

Kessler also claims that Stranger Things is based on his 2011 short film Montauk, a faux sci-fi documentary about strange occurrences in the Montauk, New York area, and a feature film script entitled The Montauk Project. As of reporting, Montauk has been removed from the Vimeo video service where it was originally hosted.

RELATED: Stranger Things Promises More ‘Dad Steve’ in Season 3

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kessler’s attorney alleges that the pitch his client made to the Duffers at the 2014 party created an implied-in-fact contract, meaning that a verbal contract had been formed by the trio based on industry expectations.

If successful, Kessler’s lawsuit would require the Duffer brothers and Netflix destroy all materials based on the allegedly pilfered concepts, as well as provide restitution, lost profits and punitive damages. The lawsuit comes at a strange time, as it was recently reported that the series’ cast has been negotiating major salary increases for the upcoming third season, and that Universal Studios will be decked out Upside-Down style for the park’s Halloween Horror Nights event.