Doc Horror, his daughter Halloween Girl and their team of genetically-engineered ‘monsters’ – the Nocturnals – defend Pacific City, Califrnia from the nefarious activities of the Narn K Corporation – the very people who created them! In addition, Pacific City draws its fair share of paranormal activity to keep the Nocturnals occupied. But it seems Doc Horror’s life started on a Black Planet that he’s keeping secret from those around him…
Dan Brereton‘s creator-owned characters mix strange creatures, pulp storytelling and a genuine love of the Halloween season – all rendered with Brereton’s signature painted art style.
Chronology: All appearances of the Nocturnals are included in chronological order, laying out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
Must Reads: Story arcs in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a look.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
Debut: ‘Advanced Comics: Bravura Preview’ is considered by some to be the Nocturnals’ first appearance, though this ashcan edition solely previews pages from The Nocturnals #1, along with other Malibu/Bravura titles.
Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
Did we miss something? Let us know!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the core reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns – just the stories:
- The Nocturnals #1-6 (Malibu/Bravura)
- UltraForce/Avengers #1 (1995, Malibu/Marvel)
- Nocturnals: Witching Hour (1998, Dark Horse)
- Nocturnals: Troll Bridge (Oni Press)
- Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts [1/3] (Image)
- Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts [3/3] (Image)
- Oni Press Color Special 2001 [1/8] (Oni)
- Nocturnals: The Dark Forever #1-3 (Oni Press)
- Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts [2/3] (Image)
- The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom #1-3 (Oni)
- Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion [Spectres] (Green Ronin)
- Nocturnals: The Sinister Path #1-4 (Dark Horse)
- Nocturnals: Darkly vol.1 (Dan Brereton/Kickstarter)
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | The Nocturnals 1-6 (1995, Malibu Comics/Bravura) Komodo the Dragon Boy is rescued by an organised band of fellow-escapees from the Narn K Corporation; Doc Horror and his Nocturnals investigation into the death of Antonio Zampa turns up strange red octopus creatures, talking corpses, gangsters and bio-engineered werewolves; Doc Horror discovers Mr Fane has followed him to Earth from their home dimension’s black planet! 1st appearance: Procyon Cleanhands/Raccoon/‘Bandit’, Crim, Mr Fane, King, Mss Lica, Lucille, Narn K Corporation, the Nocturnals (unnamed as a team – Doc Horror, Firelion/Phestus, Gunwitch, Halloween Girl/Evening ‘Eve’ Horror, Komodo the Dragon Boy, Polychrome, Starfish), Peril City Police Department (Detective Jeff Goodis, Detective George Willeford), Rummy, Lupo Zampa/Don Lupo/‘Papa Wolf’, Antonio Zampa, Zampa Inc, Grimwood Cemetery, Narn K Laboratories/‘Monster Shop’, Peril City, Taco Hell, Zampa Family Home, the Passage | |
| UltraForce/Avengers 1 (1995, Malibu Comics/Marvel Comics) The Nocturnals fight alongside the Avengers and UltraForce in the final conflict with the cosmic being Nemesis. 1st appearance: Earth-32659 (Avengers, Loki, Proctor) | COUNTDOWN TO BLACK SEPTEMBER | |
| ✔ | Dark Horse Presents #125 [1/3] (pp.1-2) (1997) / Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.1-2) (1998) (Dark Horse Comics) Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.3-4) (1998, Dark Horse Comics) Dark Horse Presents #125 [1/3] (pp.3-7) (1997) / Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.5-9) (1998) (Dark Horse Comics) Dark Horse Presents #126 [1/8] (p.1) (1997) / Nocturnals: Witching Hour (p.10) (1998) (Dark Horse Comics) Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.11-14) (1998, Dark Horse Comics) Dark Horse Presents #126 [1/8] (pp.2-8) (1997) / Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.15-21) (1998) (Dark Horse Comics) Dark Horse Presents #127 [1/4] (1997) / Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.22-30) (1998) (Dark Horse Comics) Nocturnals: Witching Hour (pp.31-32) (1998, Dark Horse Comics) ‘Punkinheads’ – Halloween Girls’s night of trick or treating leads to a misunderstanding with supernatural Punkinheads; the Gunwitch is besieged by fairies. 1st appearance: Punkinheads, Queen Keera, Pan’s Pizza Note: ‘Witching Hour’ collects the Nocturnals stories from Dark Horse Presents #125-127, with extra pages in full colour. | |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: Troll Bridge (2000, Oni Press) Halloween Girl breaks a promise to a Bridge Troll, steals a wish from his Devil Lantern and vanishes; Eve is transported to Usagi Yojimbo’s world; Doc Horror and his crew jump to other dimensions to find Eve. 1st appearance: The Nocturnals (team named) |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts [1/3] (2008, Image Comics) ‘Beasts’ – Komodo and Starfish take some time away from the group, as they start to find their own space; Doc Horror runs out of serum; an old connection of Doc’s resurfaces in the form of a deadly hybrid who’s been advancing other Narn K escapees as well as herself; Doc’s other form is revealed. 1st appearance: Buddha, Dr Lamia Fletcher, Abyss Horror (mention), Halloween Girl/Eve Horror (last name confirmed), Miss Nightshade, Paranthropus Gigantus/Sasquatch, Dr Sprenger, Nebula City (mention), Nightshade School, Mark V Inhibitor Item revealed: The Passage/Lorentzian Wormhole |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts #1 [3/3] (2008, Image Comics) ‘Candy Butchers’ – Gunwitch, Halloween Girl and Polychrome visit a Halloween Fair that’s riddled with actual monsters! |
| Oni Press Color Special 2001 [1/8] (2001, Oni Press) Gunwitch, Halloween Girl cameo; Two members of the Nocturnals are interviewed by Officer Deena Pilgrim and Officer Christian Walker as part of the investigation into Madman‘s murder. | |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: The Dark Forever #1-3 (2001-2002, Oni Press) Halloween Girl comes back from boarding school; Starfish returns to the Nocturnals after her year of travelling; gun-toting zombies have infested Pacific City; the Nocturnals are divided by a new threat as Doc Horror gets trapped behind a doorway to the Dark Forever. 1st appearance: Skerrl, Skye, Demon Star New identity: Procyon Cleanhands/Raccoon/‘Bandit’ as Mr Cleanhands |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts #1 [2/3] (2008, Image Comics) ‘The Scrimshaw Crown’ – Starfish returns to the ocean to reunite with the Great Sea Star – a leviathan god; Eve sends Starfish to retrieve Fenn’s Harpoon from the belly of Scuttl’r Jack. 1st appearance: Great Sea Star/Scuttl’r Jack, Mummified Sea Monkey King |
| The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom #1-3 (2001, Oni Press) Gunwitch takes Halloween Girl back to school, stopping off in the vampire town Heliopolis on the way; Eve heads off when trouble starts, leaving Gunny caught in a dispute between rival bloodsucking gangs; Lady Goodnight tries to resurrect the Egyptian vampire queen Nitocris. 1st appearance: Clarissa, Fang, Lady Goodnight, Harrow, Moonlit, Nightshade, Nitocris, Tallow | |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion (2004, Green Ronin Publishing) ‘Spectres’ – The villainous Rictus leads the Murder arrive in Pacific City and only the Nocturnals can oppose their supernatural killing spree. 1st appearance: The Murder, Rictus |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: The Sinister Path #1-4 (2025-2026, Dark Horse Comics) A war for the soul of Pacific City begins with the death of Judge Hemlock, pitting the Nocturnals against the city’s eldritch criminal underworld; an investigation into Hemlock House sends them down a sinister path. |
| ✔ | Nocturnals: Darkly vol.1 (2026, Dan Brereton/Kickstarter) Days after the war for Pacific City, Halloween Girl’s return leads to the opening of a portal to the perpetual Autumn Realm on a Halloween Night that could even terrify the Nocturnals. 1st appearance: Autumn Realm |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| The Nocturnals Omnibus vol.1 (Dark Horse) | The Nocturnals #1-6 Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts Nocturnals: Troll Bridge Nocturnals: Witching Hour |
| The Nocturnals Omnibus vol.2 (Dark Horse) | The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom #1-3 Nocturnal Alphabet Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion Nocturnals: The Dark Forever #1-3 |
| Nocturnals Archives One (Image) | The Nocturnals #1-6 Nocturnals: Witching Hour |
| Nocturnals Archives Two (Image) | The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom #1-3 Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts Nocturnals: The Dark Forever #1-3 Nocturnals: Troll Bridge |
| Nocturnals vol.1: Black Planet (Oni) | The Nocturnals #1-6 |
| Nocturnals vol.2: The Dark Forever (Oni) | Nocturnals: The Dark Forever #1-3 |
| Nocturnals vol.3: Unhallowed Eve (Oni) | Nocturnals: Troll Bridge Nocturnals: Witching Hour |
| The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom | The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom #1-3 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Powers vol.3: Little Deaths | Oni Press Color Special 2001 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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