Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer teases new details about Vol. 2 episodes: 'Far darker and far scarier'

Brace yourself, Stranger Things fans, things are about to get even darker than they already have.

Series co-creator Ross Duffer shared that Volume 2 of the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series is officially done with production, and gave fans a taste of what to expect in the upcoming chapters 5-7.

Ross took to Instagram Thursday to preview the three new episodes arriving on Christmas Day, revealing the titles for each incoming chapter and their directors.

"'Shock Jock' picks up moments after the end of 'Sorcerer,'" Ross wrote of episode 5. "Frank Darabont is back, but he flexes very different muscles on this one than he did on 'Turnbow Trap' — it's far darker, and far scarier."

He went on to reveal that episode 6 is titled "Escape From Camazotz," from director Shawn Levy. "It's the biggest episode of the three — and the performances make us cry every time we watch it," he added.

The final episode of the trio is one co-directed by Ross, his brother and co-creator Matt Duffer, and Levy. "'The Bridge...' we co-directed this one with Shawn. Don't want to say too much, but aside from the finale, it's probably the most emotional chapter of the season," Ross revealed.

The showrunner promised that runtimes for each episode would come soon, adding, "It's gonna be a long six day wait for the finale..."

Ross' reveal comes a week after the brothers shared the official runtime for the series finale, episode 8. Netflix confirmed the duration while announcing the 500-plus locations across North America for the episode's theatrical release.

As previously announced, season 5, episode 8, "The Rightside Up" — directed by the Duffers — will get a simultaneous release on Netflix and in select theaters starting New Year's Eve. The streamer launched popup website ST5Finale.com as an easy way for fans to look up the specific theatrical locations across the U.S. and Canada.

Volume 1, consisting of the season's first four episodes, dropped on Netflix on Nov. 26. The new batch of episodes have a considerably more sinister tone than previous installments, particularly the show's biggest bad, Vecna.

Actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who portrays the mind-controlling villain, previously told Entertainment Weekly that he saw the antagonist as a "very considered, calm, powerful figure."

"I felt like I was a wrestler going into the ring, but also having those moments of release, like with the fire," Bower said, referring to the moment a hazmat suit-clad soldier shoots off a flamethrower at Vecna during his big entrance in the Stranger Things 5, Volume 1 finale. "Even that little moment when he pushes the flamethrower back, making sure that every single ounce of energy was going into that moment."

Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin on 'Stranger Things'.

Netflix

With the reveal that Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is able to channel Vecna's powers, things become more complex for the building showdown between the villain and the show's beloved group of fighting teens. "The relationship between Vecna and Eleven, he very much saw them as equals. She was his sister. He genuinely believed that they could build a better world together. Whereas with Will, he's just a toy, he's just a plaything," Bower shared.

Now "it's an irritating byproduct of the fact that he's just a means to an end," he added.

Stranger Things season 5, Volume 2 will bring episodes 5-7 to Netflix beginning Christmas Day at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.