Tons of great horror comics and movies tackle big themes like race, class, commercialism, and whether we’re ever truly alone in the universe. But what about a title that explores the most terrifying prospect of them all: turning 30? If you haven’t been scared away by it yet, you might want to find out more about The Night Never Ends.
Written and illustrated by Steve Tewson, The Night Never Ends follows a group of friends as they celebrate their beloved friend Kate’s 30th birthday. But instead of choosing a nice evening at a local seafood restaurant, the group organizes a séance as a way to relive their punky youth before embracing the burdens of adulthood, which quickly turns into a night on the run from bloodthirsty cultists. At once heartwarming and brutal, and rather meditative, The Night Never Ends tackles the common fears of growing old, feeling irrelevant, and the slow march to the grave in a way that is both delightful and unsettling. This is horror whose true purpose is to scare, shock, and lead the reader to new perspectives and understanding.
The Night Never Ends is out now from Silver Sprocket. To get a deeper look into the story, we asked Thueson some of our biggest questions via email, including how he navigated the “crisis” of aging, blending horror and comedy, connections to his past work, and even a special cameo.
Provided by Silver Sprocket.
AIPT: In The Night Never Ends you explore your own fears of aging: What happened when you hit 30 or a similar milestone?
Steve Tewson: Yes, 100%. I never cared about my age until I was 29, and then for a year I dreaded turning 30 every day. When I was a teenager, I was reading about the Cure album Disintegration, and Robert Smith wrote it at 29 because he thought all great artists made their masterpiece before they turned 30, and he hadn’t made his masterpiece yet. Now I think that’s bullshit (and I have no idea what he was talking about, because The Head on the Door is better than Disintegration). But it really stuck with me when I read it.
So when I turned 29, I was like, “Fuck, this is my last chance to make something worthwhile,” and I felt that pressure that everything I tried to do that year had to be important. Of course, that pressure made it nearly impossible to actually finish anything, much less anything good. I make a little joke in the book that when I turned 30, literally nothing changed except that I was 30 instead of 29. So the self-imposed pressure was gone, and instead of forcing myself to make “important” art, I started making art. Now I’m 35, and everything I’ve done creatively in the last five years has been more artistically fulfilling and interesting than anything I’d done in my 20s.
That being said, I now have to wear special shoes to work to prevent back pain, and I just bought a book on Civil War history, so, as you know, aging is not without its downsides.
AIPT: Similarly, is there a character among the five that you identify with and why?
ST: I started writing the book with Kate as my 100% agent. I drew a lot of her background from my life growing up in Utah and the silly things I did with my friends in high school. I also work as a barista, and like I said before, I was really worried about getting older and not being able to do anything cool. But honestly, I just want to get off early wherever I am, spend time with my wife, watch a movie, and get a good night’s sleep. So, I’m Brett.
Provided by Silver Sprocket.
AIPT: Can or should we talk about a special cameo from one artist?
ST: Yeah, that’s true, I didn’t design the character at all, so for a long time it was just a stand-in character, but I thought, what the hell am I drawing comics for if I can’t draw myself getting killed in my own book?
AIPT: The book talks a lot about not only losing your youth but also the moment you embrace that change and embrace new ideas of being happy. Is there any truth in those ideas?
ST: Oh yeah, absolutely. The characters are all about the same age, but I wanted them to come to terms with where they are and where they’re going. I don’t think Kate has a specific goal that she’s not achieving. I think she’s just aware that she’s unfulfilled and that she feels stuck, and she sees her friends moving forward. So, yeah, I think it’s as much about her trying not to get killed as it is about her and her friends trying to find peace with where they are now.
AIPT: Did you reference or draw from any stories in particular, and why did you choose those?
ST: I want to thank Brian De Palma. He’s my favorite filmmaker and he’s so good at creating and maintaining suspense. This is a comedy, but even though I’m telling a lot of jokes, I wanted there to be a sense of dread throughout the book, so I tried to take some of the stylistic traits of De Palma and translate them into a comic. For example, the killer’s point of view scene is a direct reference to the opening scene of Blow Out.
AIPT: This is one of the most effective horror-comedy mash-ups I’ve ever seen. Do you have a secret or some kind of formula for maintaining that balance?
ST: Thank you so much! I just want everything I create to be funny as much as possible. In this book, I wanted the comedy and horror to work on their own terms as much as possible. So the comedy is mostly character-driven and about how the friends relate to each other and how they react to a given situation. I didn’t want to ruin the horror atmosphere or poke holes in it with humor. I didn’t want Allison to tell the reader, “So that’s what happened.” Similarly, I wanted the danger to feel real and I really wanted it to be a horror comic. There’s a fine line between horror comedy and horror parody and I hope this is closer to An American Werewolf In London than Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th.
Provided by Silver Sprocket.
AIPT: How can violence and death be entertaining or even deeply enjoyable? I think the luster and exaggeration of the blood being shed is key here.
ST: Yeah, I mean, it’s all about atmosphere, right? Slasher movies are super violent, but when you watch them with an audience, the murder scenes get everyone going. I think that’s because everything around the murder scene is fun and trying to entertain the audience, and the murder scene itself fits that same fun atmosphere. And, yeah, like you say, I think exaggeration helps keep it fun in this book. I wanted the blood to be bright red like in a ’70s giallo movie, and splattered everywhere in an exaggerated way. For example, once you’ve seen a very solemn depiction of an accurate depiction of a throat being slit and blood being drawn, it’s hard to go back to penis jokes.
AIPT: I’m a big fan of Quest Mania, does the book feature that storyline?
ST: Thank you, I really appreciate it! Yes, I think QuestMania and NNE are kind of works in the sense that they’re both genre comics about lazy punk kids growing up. QuestMania was my first attempt at writing a full-length novel, and my first foray into genre fiction. I think with that story, I found a way to translate my character and my life into genre fiction. So there’s no way I could have made The Night Never Ends without making QuestMania first.
AIPT: I was obsessed with the Satanism panic of the 80s for a while. Do you think this book captures those emotions well, and why do you think they’re so compelling?
ST: Yeah, I totally get that. I was raised as a Mormon in a Mormon community, so as a kid I heard stories about demons getting into people’s houses through Ouija boards and Dungeons and Dragons, and I was really scared of all that stuff as a kid. Looking back now, all of that Satanic panic shit from the ’80s was really overblown, and I don’t think anyone would take Chick’s pamphlet seriously.
I wanted to address that a little bit in the book. I think the characters’ understandings and ideas about ghosts and demons all come from pop culture, so the idea that this is some kind of scary new teen trend is consistent with those same fears. I just wanted to be a little careful, because I think we’re in the middle of a new satanic panic right now that’s less cutesy and less over the top.
AIPT: Do you consider The Night Never Ends a queer horror-comedy or a horror-comedy with queer characters, and is that distinction important?
ST: Horror comedy with queer characters. I don’t know if I’d say that distinction isn’t important, because I think there are obviously great works where being queer is essential to the work. I’m not sure if The Night Never Ends is one of those works, though. In this book, I really tried to write characters that act like me and my friends and are true to life. I’m a 35-year-old barista from West Philadelphia, and basically everyone I know is punk and queer. So I think it was a conscious choice to make all the characters straight, honestly.
Provided by Silver Sprocket.
AIPT: What do you think ultimately happens with a friend group like this? Do you think you can have a proper happy ending as a friend group when you reach this level/stage in life?
ST: I think so! I think part of it is recognizing and accepting that you and your friends are different people than you were before, and maybe the happy ending is that you move away amicably rather than forcing some kind of stagnation. But clearly, this particular group of friends is bonded by lifelong trauma.
AIPT: Is there anything else you would like to add about The Night Never Ends, your work, life, or art in general?
ST: I’m very proud of this book, it’s a story I’ve been trying to get out for years and I hope everyone enjoys reading it.
