Photo by Tina Rowden, courtesy Netflix
—

Sorry, Stranger Things fans, but it appears next season is going to be shorter than the most recent second season.

According to TVLine, the third installment of the Netflix hit will only consist of eight episodes. While that may be one less than season 2's nine episodes, it's actually on par with the first season, which premiered back in 2016 and also included eight.

As we previously mentioned, while it's unclear how many seasons Stranger Things will ultimately produce, the core cast is signed to a six-year contract, although co-creators the Duffer Brothers have suggested it may have a shorter run.

Stranger Things' second season arrived back in October and has received mixed reviews since its launch. But it's worth noting, although Netflix doesn't share full viewership and ratings like traditional television networks, Nielsen estimated a massive 15.8 million viewers watched the first episode of season 2 within the first three days of its release.

Season 2 is expected to go into production in April, with the new episodes likely to arrive in 2019, although Netflix has yet to announce a premiere date.