Good news for fans of everyone’s favorite president of the Hellfire Club, Eddie Munson (Joe Quinn): His story isn’t over yet. In fact, it’s beginning anew. A prequel novel centered on the beloved Stranger Things character is set to hit bookstores this fall.
The new book, Flight of Icarus, is penned by Caitlin Schneiderhan, a writer for the TV series. For the author, writing a novel that tees up the Dungeon Master we meet in the Season 4 premiere was an opportunity to let fans go with Eddie on his journey toward becoming a hero and “to experience the messy and uncomfortable decisions that led him to become the brave misfit we all know and love.”
And it didn’t hurt that the character resonated so deeply with fans of the series. “Eddie is a person who is unfailingly, unapologetically himself, which is irresistible enough on its own. But add on the fact that he encourages the people around him to be the same? Who wouldn’t want to be friends with that guy?” says Schneiderhan.
But what we don’t know (yet) is how Eddie learned to be so consistently true to himself. Enter players from the days before things got out of hand in the Hellfire Club. “Meeting the characters from Eddie’s past who — for better or worse — had a part in shaping who he is was one of the most rewarding parts of exploring this story,” says the writer. “I can’t wait for the fans to meet them too! Eddie, this is for you!”
Although Eddie Munson became an instant fan favorite when Season 4 premiered, Joe Quinn, thankfully, wasn’t losing his mind on a daily basis. “I don’t really feel like I’m in whatever’s happening or I’m in the middle of it at all,” he tells Tudum. “I don’t know, it’s fucking weird, but it’s great.”
Read the synopsis below:
Two years before the events of Stranger Things Season 4, Eddie Munson — Hellfire Club leader, metalhead and Hawkins outcast — has one shot to make it big.
Hawkins, Indiana — for most, it’s simply another idyllic, manicured all-American town. But for Eddie Munson it’s like living in a perpetual Tomb of Horrors. Luckily, he only has a few more months to survive at Hawkins High. And what is senior year, really, but just killing time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions with the Hellfire Club and gigs with his band?
It’s at the worst dive bar in town that Eddie meets Paige, someone who has pulled off a freaking miracle. She escaped Hawkins and built a wickedly cool life for herself working for a record producer out in Los Angeles. Not only is she the definition of a badass — with a killer taste in music — she might be the only person that actually appreciates him as the bard he is instead of the devil incarnate. But the best thing? She’s offering a chance for him to make something of himself, and all he needs is to get her a demo tape of Corroded Coffin’s best songs.
Just one problem: Recording costs money. Money Eddie doesn’t have. But he’s willing to do whatever it takes: even if that means relying on his old man, Al Munson. His dad just stumbled back into his life, with another dubious scheme up his sleeve, and yet Eddie knows this is his only option to make enough dough in enough time. It’s a risk, but if it pays off he will finally have a one-way ticket out of Hawkins.
Eddie can feel it: 1984 is going to be his year.
Flight of Icarus will be published on October 31, 2023. Pre-order the book HERE.