30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property.

The series takes place in Barrow, Alaska, so far north that during the winter the sun does not rise for 30 days. In the series, vampires, being vulnerable to sunlight, take advantage of the prolonged darkness to openly kill the townspeople and feed at will.

Initially an unsuccessful film pitch, the series became a breakout success story for Steve Niles, whose previous works had received relatively little attention. It was also the first full-length work by co-creator Ben Templesmith. The series has been followed by numerous sequel series and, in 2007, was adapted into a film of the same name.

Story
30 Days of Night was a three-issue miniseries that jump-started the careers of writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith. Vampires flock to Barrow, Alaska, where the sun sets for about 30 days, allowing them to feed without the burden of sleep to avoid lethal sunlight. When the vampire elder Vicente learns of this plan, he travels to Barrow to end the feeding, in order to preserve the secrecy of vampires. Because of the cold, the vampires' senses are weakened and a few of the town's residents are able to hide. One such resident is Sheriff Eben Olemaun, who saves the town by injecting vampire blood into his veins. He uses his enhanced strength to fight Vicente, saving the lives of the few remaining townspeople, including his wife Stella. Suffering the same weakness as all vampires, Eben allows himself to die and turns to ash when the sun rises.

Humans

 * Eben Olemaun
 * Stella Olemaun
 * Jason Clifton
 * Agent Andy Gray
 * Jose Alex Diaz
 * Chirs Johnson

Vampires
The Nosferatu were once ruled by a "Council of Elders" led by Vicente. When the Council decided to make themselves known to the human race, humanity rebelled and persecuted most of their race. After a millennium, only a handful survived, led by Vicente.

In the series, vampirism is portrayed as a virus, one that can be spread through scratches, bites, and contact with vampire blood. The disease turns humans who contract it undead, gives them a mouthful of shark-like fangs and black eyes, as well as superhuman strength and speed, an aversion to sunlight, and superhumanly acute senses of sight, smell, and hearing. However, these senses can be weakened by extreme cold. Also, some vampires possess additional powers, such as teleportation, telepathy and the ability to disguise oneself. Vampires in the series differ in many ways from their mythological counterparts: impaling them with a wooden stake will not, on its own, kill them; neither will exposing them to garlic or even fire. They are extremely resilient, capable of withstanding grenades going off on their bodies, or surviving after losing half of their faces to explosions. The only way to kill them is to behead them, or expose them to the vitamins generated in direct sunlight, which sets them on fire, and burns them to ash rapidly. Also, large amounts of ultraviolet light burns them and probably can kill them. But they can never stay dead for long; if blood hits their ashes they will regenerate.


 * Vicente
 * Marlow
 * Lilith
 * Agent Norris
 * Santana
 * Dane
 * Billy
 * Zurial
 * Thomas Ramandt
 * Eben Olemaun
 * Stella Olemaun

Collected editions
30 Days of Night was originally published as several mini-series of 22-page comic books from IDW Publishing. These single issues are now collected in several trade paperbacks, as well as hardcover collections.


 * 30 Days of Night (paperback, collects 30 Days of Night #1-3, June 2004, ISBN 0-9719775-5-0). The first printing featured the autographs of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.
 * 30 Days of Night (hardcover, collects 30 Days of Night #1-3, December 2004, ISBN 1-4352-3506-1)
 * The Complete 30 Days of Night (hardcover, collects 30 Days of Night #1-3, January 2004, ISBN 1-932382-17-8)
 * Dark Days (paperback, collects Dark Days #1-6, April 2004, ISBN 1-932382-16-X)
 * The Complete Dark Days (hardcover, collects Dark Days #1-6, December 2004, ISBN 1-932382-61-5)
 * 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow (paperback, collects Return to Barrow #1-6, October 2004, ISBN 1-932382-36-4)
 * 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow (hardcover, collects Return to Barrow #1-6, October 2004, ISBN 1-4352-3614-9)
 * 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales (paperback, collects Bloodsucker Tales #1-8, September 2005, ISBN 1-932382-78-X)
 * 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales (hardcover, collects Bloodsucker Tales #1-8, August 2005, ISBN 1-933239-11-5)
 * 30 Days of Night: Three Tales (paperback, collects 30 Days of Night Annual #2, 30 Days of Night: Dead Space #1-3, 30 Days of Night: Picking up the Pieces, July 2006, ISBN 1-933239-92-1)
 * 30 Days of Night Annual #2: "The Journal of John Ikos" - Written by Steve Niles, art by Nat Jones.
 * 30 Days of Night: Dead Space - Written by Steve Niles and Dan Wickline, art by Milx.
 * "30 Days of Night: Picking Up the Pieces" - Written by Steve Niles, art by Ben Templesmith.
 * 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease (paperback, collects Spreading the Disease #1-5, July 2007, ISBN 1-60010-085-6). Written by Dan Wickline, art by Alex Sanchez.
 * 30 Days of Night: Eben and Stella (paperback, collects Eben and Stella #1-4, November 2007, ISBN 1-60010-107-0). Written by Steve Niles and Kelly DeConnick, art by Justin Randall.
 * 30 Days of Night: Red Snow (paperback, collects Red Snow #1-3, January 2008, ISBN 1-60010-149-6). Written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith.
 * 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow (paperback, collects Beyond Barrow #1-3, March 2008, ISBN 1-60010-155-0). Written by Steve Niles.
 * 30 Days of Night: 30 Days 'Til Death (paperback, collects 30 Days 'Til Death #1-4, June 2009, ISBN 1-60010-441-X). Written and illustrated by David Lapham.

There was an announcement on April 1, 2008, for another addition to the series that turned out to be Ben Templesmith's April fool's joke for that year:
 * 30 Days of Night: Blood of Christ (paperback, collects Blood of Christ #1-3). Written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. Templesmith later stated that this was an April Fools joke on his official forum "The Conclave".

Awards
30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow garnered Steve Niles's and Ben Templesmith's first Eisner Award nominations in 2005. These included:
 * Nomination, Best Limited Series
 * Nomination, Best Writer (Steve Niles)
 * Nomination, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Ben Templesmith)

Films
A film adaptation of the original 30 Days of Night mini-series was produced by Columbia Pictures and Ghost House Pictures. The screenplay went through several versions and writers, among them Steve Niles and Stuart Beattie. The film was directed by David Slade and stars Hollywood actors Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. It was released on October 19, 2007, and was filmed at Henderson Valley Studios in Auckland, New Zealand.

A sequel to the film has been confirmed as being in the works. Steve Niles and Ben Ketai will be the writers. In an interview with ReelzChannel, writer Brian Nelson stated, "I'll just tantalizingly say it is possible you might see more of the Stranger in the future." The sequel Dark Days stars Rhys Coiro, Mia Kirshner, Harold Perrineau, Kiele Sanchez, Diora Baird, Katharine Isabelle, Marc Sorian, and Monique Ganderton.

Novels
An ongoing series of 30 Days of Night novels are being published by IDW Publishing and Pocket Books. They include a novelization of the film.
 * 30 Days of Night (film novelization) by Tim Lebbon ISBN 978-1-4165-4497-5
 * 30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte ISBN 0-7434-9651-5
 * 30 Days of Night: Immortal Remains by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte ISBN 978-0-7434-9652-0
 * 30 Days of Night: Eternal Damnation by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte ISBN 978-0-7434-9653-7
 * 30 Days of Night: Light of Day by Jeff Mariotte and Steve Niles ISBN 978-1-4391-2227-3
 * 30 Days of Night: Fear of the Dark by Tim Lebbon ISBN 978-1-4391-2228-0