Those who powered through all eight hours of Netflix’s Stranger Things know the supernatural drama wears many influences on its sleeve, often out-and-out referencing famous Spielberg movies, or even legendary author Stephen King. King heartily seems to approve of the comparison, however, sharing his praise for Stranger Things online.

The prolific author with never a shortage of his prior work being adapted shared his thoughts on the series over Twitter, noting that yes, at least some of it felt eerily familiar:

In a prior interview with The Wall Street Journal, co-creator Matt Duffer spoke to their affinity for and reference to King:

The books of Stephen King were a big inspiration. It was those films and books that were such a big part of our childhoods. What made all these stories so great, and connected all of them, was that they explored that point where the ordinary meets the extraordinary. That’s what we wanted the show to do, because, when we were growing up, we were just regular kids living in the suburbs of North Carolina playing Dungeons & Dragons with our friends, so when we watched these films or read these books, we felt [like those characters]. You watch “The Goonies” and you felt like you were one of those kids going on one of those grand adventures. So, the goal was, could we capture that feeling? Could we make basically a long-form movie that evoked that feeling of our favorite things in the world, which were these books and these movies, mostly from the ’80s.

Not for nothing, but fellow horror master Guillermo del Toro also offered his praise of the series:

Presumably, Stranger Things would continue to channel Stephen King in a second season, though Netflix has yet to issue a formal declaration, even as critical raves continue (and those kids aren’t getting any younger). What King influences and other ‘80s touchstones should inform the next run?

All episodes of Netflix’s Stranger Things are available to stream right now.