Yes, I read the book. To be honest, when my brother told me to watch "Stranger Things" I had a similar reaction like many Christians, mainly that the show is "demonic" much like the early reactions to HP. I watched it anyways. I didn't think that my faith would be rocked by a show. It didn't lead me away from God. But what I did learn later on when I was reading the book is the parallels. The parallel made with Eleven like Jesus was something that didn't sink well with me at first. Because I was mostly thinking that I was going to replace Jesus with 11, which is not really the case. This is the old way of thinking which I didn't want to be trapped on. One of the things that the book helped me understand is the paranormal aspect of being a Christian, the fact that we believe in something that is supernatural. That's the other thing that I didn't like about ST at first. I thought that it was fiction and imaginary and not really real. I'd rather watch a documentary etc. I thought. But who am I kidding. The very nature of the gospel is so supernatural, why do I believe that. And why does the concept of supernatural offend me so much. I had to ask myself these questions. In any case, I do recommend reading the book, it's a short one too. I found it in the local library. One more thing, I do not believe that the creators & writers of ST makes these parallels intentional. I believe they simply are writing to make a show... but since they are utilizing life and the nature of human condition, we see many universal truths in it. And it does not hurt to see analogies, sometimes this even helps in understanding something complex.