Nocturnals: The Dark Forever

(Oni, 2001–2002)
™ and ©2001 Dan Brereton

Strange things are happening around Peril City.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Even though Thanksgiving approaches, every night still feels like Halloween, as inordinate numbers of the undead begin to appear around town, while Doc Holliday disappears after locating a long-forgotten underground tomb.

In Dan Brereton’s new Nocturnals series, it’s just business as usual. In terms of the story, it’s a little too usual, since the idea of zombies turning up on the streets in a town inhabited by monsters and vampires just doesn’t seem all that … unusual. And in modern fiction, something bad always happens to the poor sap who discovers a hidden tomb. This isn’t to say that the story is bad; it just lacks the firepower needed to create the conflict within such a creative environment.

However, it’s this environment that also makes the series worthwhile. The story may not say anything new, but simply getting another look at Brereton’s ghoulish, trick-or-treat world gives the series merit. A normal city by day, it undergoes the kind of transformation at nightfall that every kid wishes his neighborhood would undergo on Halloween night.

Nocturnals is like watching a Saturday afternoon horror flick, but with a better budget. It’s old-fashioned, monster-under-the-bed horror. This is recommended reading, but only after dark next to a pillowcase full of Halloween candy.

— Jim Johnson

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Notes

Writer

Artist

#1 (Painted cover by Dan Brereton)

July, 2001
Cover Price: $2.95
1 copy available for $3.99

Dan Brereton

#1 Variation A

July, 2001
Cover Price: $2.95
4 copies available from $5.00

Dan Brereton