A pixelated video game, a mysterious fantasy adventure book, VHS tapes, '80s music and a whole lot of surreal horror make the upcoming Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on Netflix look like a retro treat.

The trailer landed Thursday for the new 90-minute Black Mirror special debuting Friday, Dec. 28. 

The special could be the highly anticipated choose-your-own-adventure experience hinted at earlier this year.

It's set in 1984. In the trailer, a computer programmer turns an adventure fantasy novel called Bandersnatch into a video game. But in true dark Black Mirror fashion his task turns into a warped nightmare where the lines between reality and fiction blur.

The Bandersnatch special is named after a creature in author Lewis Carroll's sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland called Through the Looking-Glass, which also uses nonsensical language and surreal plot points to tell a story.

Black Mirror is a modern and darker version of the original Twilight Zone TV series. Creator Charlie Brooker often adds social commentary to compelling science fiction storytelling.

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