When a fire breaks out at the local mall, teenager El Hopper assumes it was just an accident. But when she learns that her father, who was last seen in the food court, is missing–along with half of the town’s citizens–she quickly realizes that not everything is as it seems, and things only get worse when a series of meteorites start crashing all over the place, slowly destroying the small town of Hawkins and sending the survivors into hysteria.
Her home ruined, El is desperate to find refuge somewhere safe. It’s not long before she finds a house untouched by the debris but, to her surprise, there’s a teenage boy living in the basement who’d opted out of going to the mall that fateful evening when the first meteor hit. Unsure if she should trust the only sane person around, and still a little socially awkward from years spent in isolation, the girl will eventually come to realize that Mike Wheeler just might be the right person to spend the end of the world with.