30 Days of Night (franchise)

30 Days of Night
Official franchise logo
Based on	An original story by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
Release date	October 19, 2007 (2007-10-19)
Country	United States
Language	American English

The 30 Days of Night franchise consists of American horror installments including a theatrical film, a prequel miniseries, a sequel limited series, and a direct-to-home video sequel movie. Based on the comic series of the same name created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, the plot centers around an unsuspecting Alaskan town in the US that is overtaken by a swarm of vampires during a thirty-day polar night period of time. Throughout the franchise, townspeople fight through the events to defeat the mystical creatures with all their resources to survive.

The franchise has been met with an overall mixed critical reception.^[1][2] The first movie though initially poorly received,^[3][4] has since received praise in modern analysis and earned its status as a horror classic.^[5][6][7] In contrast, its sequel and the limited series expansions which included the involvement of franchise creator Steve Niles, had greater negative critical reviews.^[6][7] Financially, the franchise turned a profit for the studio at the box office.^[8][9]

The 2002 successful American miniseries, written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing, resulted in the 2007 feature film and its subsequent continuations. Originally developed as film pitch, the comic book series was a critical and financial success, followed by various spin-offs and expansions. The plot centers around a small community in Alaska, that is violently hunted by vampires, during a full month of darkness.^[10]

Once a year the remote small town of Barrow, Alaska experiences a month of darkness. Though many of its citizen travel southward during this month, Sherriff Eben Oleson and his estranged wife the deputy sheriff named Estella are among those charged with monitoring the town. A seemingly routine season turns into a living nightmare as its citizens begin getting killed one by one in with violently gory evidence. As the pair begin their investigation, they find that supernatural means may be the source of the town's terror. A group of hungry vampires who with their leader Marlow have begun a feeding spree. Forced to overcome their differences and work together, Eben and Estella band together with the remaining townspeople to fight back against the monstrous creatures with hours until dawn, and create a plan to escape with their lives.^{[3][4][11][12][5][6]}

Estella mourns the passing of her husband one year ago, when he sacrificed himself to save his neighbors from the vampiric massacre at Barrow, Alaska that nearly decimated the population during its annual month-long darkness. Through her grief, she travels the world attempting to convince others of the supernatural events that occurred in her town, resulting in her arrest and questioning of her sanity given the demonic nature of her story. After learning that the vampires who attacked Barrow were under the direction of their queen named Lilith, she assembles a small team to hunt down her location and end their monstrous reign of terror. Determined to exact revenge, Estella travels to the underworldly organizations of Los Angeles with a resolve to find a means of bringing back her husband.^{[13][7][14][6]}

A young drug addict named George is hired by a weary vampire hunter from New Orleans, to acquire covert information. Determined to remain sober and to leave town to change his life forever, George takes one final assignment. The job quickly escalates, when vampiric monster begin pursuing him and his contacts are murdered. George fights to stay alive while maintaining his sobriety, and attempts to warn humanity of an impending "feeding" frenzy in Barrow, Alaska.^{[15][16][17][6]}

One month after the horrific massacre in Alaska, George Fowler is ruled a convicted murderer and sentenced to prison. Though he tries to warn others about the reality of vampires, they question his sanity. In the process, a nurse at the facility named Sara and a number of security guards are ambushed by a vampire. During the attack Sara's throat is slashed, while George escapes the prison. Her brother Nick, who was previously a police officer, investigates the event believing that the escaped prisoner is responsible. When Nick confronts the escaped prisoner, the same vampire once again attacks. After Sara begins to turn into one of the monsters herself, she calls her brother for help. Together Nick and George race to find her, trying to save her from the nightmarish reality she faces.^{[18][19][20][6]}

To coincide with the film's release, a novelization by Tim Lebbon was published by Pocket Star on September 25, 2007.^[25] Alongside the novelization, a book series published in collaboration by IDW and Pocket Star publishing was released.

The series of novels include:

• 30 Days of Night (2007) by Tim Lebon
• 30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead (2006) by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte
• 30 Days of Night: Immortal Remains (2007) by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte
• 30 Days of Night: Eternal Damnation (2008) by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte
• 30 Days of Night: Light of Day (2009) by Jeff Mariotte
• 30 Days of Night: Fear the Dark (2010) by Tim Lebon