Stranger Things Tarot Deck and Guidebook
Sándor Szalay works under the name Sonnyfive and has spent two decades in movie key art and pop-culture mashup illustration, which is the visual language of theatrical posters rather than of card illustration. The result looks like a set of tiny movie posters. Casey Gilly, a comic writer whose credits include Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer and a number of other Insight Editions decks, wrote the accompanying text.
What you get
- 78 tarot cards, major and minor arcana
- 124-page guidebook with card meanings and several simple spreads
- Collectible gift box, outer dimensions 3⅞" x 5¾" x 2"
- New, factory sealed
- ISBN 9781647227432, Insight Editions, September 2022
About the deck
This was the first officially licensed Stranger Things tarot, and the deck follows the full traditional structure with twenty-two major arcana and four minor suits across seventy-eight cards. The publisher describes the art as drawing on classic tarot iconography rather than reproducing any one historical deck.
Each card places a character, creature or scene from Hawkins into a tarot position. If you know the series, recognition is instant and the reading moves fast, because the archetype wears a face you know. If you prefer cards that stay open enough to mean several things at once, a fixed character assignment narrows the room you have to work in. Readers who own the deck tend to use it for personal and casual reading rather than for client work.
The imagery includes the show's horror elements, the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer among them, rendered in full detail. Beautiful on the table, and not what you want to hand to a nervous eleven-year-old without a look through first.
The 124-page booklet is substantial for a licensed tie-in. Many novelty decks ship a folded leaflet; this one is long enough to teach the cards.
Provenance & tradition
Insight Editions is a San Rafael, California pop-culture publisher, and their licensed tarot line is one of the largest in the category, spanning Disney, Marvel, and a long list of film and television properties. These decks come out of entertainment publishing rather than from the esoteric houses.
Who this is for
Stranger Things fans, whether or not they read tarot. Collectors of licensed and pop-culture decks. Readers who want an eighties-horror deck for October, Samhain season, or spooky-season reading. Gift buyers looking for something for a teen or adult fan that isn't another T-shirt. Beginners who'll actually open a guidebook because it's attached to a show they love.
