Clive Barker’s 1990 horror fantasy film Nightbreed served as his directorial follow-up to 1987’s Hellraiser while also adapting his 1988 novella Cabal. Although the film was a flop in every sense of the word, Nightbreed has grown into a cult sensation, one that includes several beloved comic book runs. While studios have been struggling to revive the brand for both film and television, the comics have kept interest in Nightbreed alive, with most runs of the Nightbreed comics operating as direct continuations of Barker’s film.
Nightbreed is an interesting beast that is quite unlike anything else out there. While there have been other stories portraying monsters as misunderstood outcasts, some of which have started their own societies, Nightbreed offers a rich mythos that never quite received the exploration it deserved. Unlike Hellraiser, which spawned a long-running (albeit divisive) franchise, Nightbreed has been rather neglected. The core story of the film revolves around Aaron Boone who stumbles across an abandoned cemetery by the name of Midian. It just so happens that Midian is also an underground community of monsters and outcasts and, to make matters worse, Boone is being stalked by his homicidal doctor played in the film by Canadian horror director David Cronenberg.
Obviously that’s a lot of story to fit into the film’s theatrical runtime of 102 minutes. In fact, Nightbreed was famously cut to shreds in the editing room, with a Director’s Cut now existing at 120 minutes and an even longer “Cabal Cut” at 145 minutes. What’s interesting about the first few issues of the original Nightbreed comics is that they adapt Barker’s original script much closer than the live-action film. After these initial four issues, publisher Epic Comics continued the run with a whopping twenty-five issues in total. These issues were often broken into arcs – including a crossover with another Clive Barker creation: Rawhead Rex. Additionally, Epic Comics published a separate crossover miniseries with the Hellraiser franchise as well as a Nightbreed vignette for their anthology volume Epic Book Two. Below is the full list of the run of Nightbreed comics from Epic Comics which ran from 1990 to 1992:
Nightbreed Comics in Order (Epic Comics)
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed
- Issue #1 – …Where the Monsters Go
- Issue #2 – …Down Among the Dead Men
- Issue #3 – Masks
- Issue #4 – See Midian Fall
- Issue #5 – The Blasphemers: Prelude – Scattering Seeds of Damnation
- Issue #6 – The Blasphemers, Part 1 – The Body and Blood
- Issue #7 – The Blasphemers, Part 2 – The Sacrament of Meat
- Issue #8 – The Blasphemers, Part 3 – Light Me, a Candle, Said Flesh to the Flame
- Issue #9 – The Blasphemers, Part 4 – The Chicken Coop of the Soul
- Issue #10 – The Blasphemers, Part 5 – A Sale on Salvation in Aisle 4
- Issue #11 – The Birthing of That Which Was
- Issue #12 – The Masks of God
- Issue #13 – Rawhead Rex: Return of the King, Part 1 – The Wickedest Man in the World
- Issue #14 – Rawhead Rex: Return of the King, Part 2 – All the King’s Men
- Issue #15 – Rawhead Rex: Return of the King, Part 3 – The King of Depravity
- Issue #16 – Rawhead Rex: Return of the King, Part 4 – Hymn to Rawhead
- Issue #17 – Midnight Snack
- Issue #18 – Hunters and Trophies, Part 1 – The Call of the Wild
- Issue #19 – Hunters and Trophies, Part 2 – Skeletons Loosed from the Closet
- Issue #20 – Hunters and Trophies, Part 3 – Circle of Vengeance
- Issue #21 – The Mad God Baphomet, Part 1
- Issue #22 – The Mad God Baphomet, Part 2 – Meat for the Beast
- Issue #23 – The One That Got Away
- Issue #24 – A New Midian, Part One: A Lonesome Road!
- Issue #25 – A New Midian, Part 2 – Here Be Monsters
Hellraiser Nightbreed Jihad
- Issue #1 – As Above
- Issue #2 – …So Below
Epic Book Two
- Put a Nightbreed in Your Tank
As Nightbreed found new popularity in the 2000s, the release of the Nightbreed Director’s Cut brought interest to an all-time high, and a new series of Nightbreed comics was licensed by BOOM! Studios from 2014 to 2015. The publisher released a miniseries follow-up to the Nightbreed Director’s Cut which ran for twelve issues and ignored the previous series to act as a more faithful continuation of Barker’s film. These were later collected in a total of three volumes.
Nightbreed Comics in Order (BOOM! Studios)
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed
- Issue #1 – Histories in Blood: The Flesh is Weak
- Issue #2 – Histories in Blood: All Roads …
- Issue #3 – Histories in Blood: Divine Interventions
- Issue #4 – Histories in Blood: Agony and Ecstasy
- Issue #5 – Histories in Blood: Darkness and Klieg Lights
- Issue #6 – Histories in Blood: Grains of Sand
- Issue #7 – Histories in Blood: Singularity and Duality
- Issue #8 – Histories in Blood: Bloodlines
- Issue #9 – No Place Like Home
- Issue #10 – Berzerk
- Issue #11 – Grand Guignol
- Issue #12 – Gods and Monsters
Of course, even with as many stories as these, the Nightbreed comics only scratch the surface of the franchise’s true potential. Fortunately, for those who are craving more stories from the world of Midian, these comics are here to satisfy. The stories of Boone, Dr. Decker, and many other beloved characters from the movie are all continued to some degree. And with the occasional crossovers from the Epic Comics run, it proves just how cohesive and large Clive Barker’s literary world really can be, especially with Rawhead Rex and Hellraiser fitting nicely within the lore of Nightbreed.
As we wait for whatever iteration the franchise takes on next, these Nightbreed comics are sure to hold fans over. And hopefully there will still be plenty of other Nightbreed comics in the future to further tell the story of Midian and the monsters living just beneath the surface. If you enjoyed this guide, be sure to check out other comic book guides from Brain Mutant including our look at the Fright Night franchise.
