For thirty days the small town of Barrow, Alaska will be consumed by darkness. For thirty days the sun will not break through the dark skies. For thirty days Barrow will be a vampire heaven. The town and it’s people are in for an unimaginable nightmare, Barrow is in for Thirty Days of Night!

This is the nightmarish story of vampire paradise on earth. Written by Steve Niles, this comic miniseries is a great read for any horror fan and is available in handy graphic novel size for your reading pleasure. Released in 2002, the story quickly became the breakout “must read” of the year.

The story is simple and brutal. As the darkness descends over Barrow, a group of young vampires descend upon the city and it’s citizens. With the sun not to be seen for a month the vampires begin to hunt the townspeople and live out their wildest dreams. In the process as they truly become the kings of the small town.

The best part about this whole story is the sheer delight that the vampires take in hunting down and terrorizing the people of Barrow. At first it’s a bloodfest but as the days of feasting go on, the vampires begin to enjoy the taunting of the remaining survivors who have moved to living underground and are just trying to survive until the next sunrise.

This element of the story pushes the emotional aspect of the story to the nines, as the different types of people of Barrow must now come to grips with what is truly happening above them and their personal differences below, which makes for some truly tense moments. But things change for the younger vampires when an elder arrives and tries to put a stop to the party.

As the vampires begin to squabble above a local sheriff and his deputy wife will try to come up with a way to use this to their advantage and get the remaining survivors out of town and to safety, but is it possible? And what will cost them to do so?

Up until the ending, 30 Days of Night was an incredible read, but I think it went just a little flat, I bought the entire story and loved the first three arcs of the story, but the ending just seemed to unbelievable for me. But with the great isolation and desperation in the story, I can’t flaw it to much. The artwork is also another reason to keep turning the page as artist Ben Templesmith does an incredible job with his pencils and brushes. The mood and tone of the story is truly conveyed through his colors and shades. Pick this one up when ever you get the chance, or if you’re not a huge fan of comics or graphic novels wait until next year for the movie.

8 of 10