Graphic Novel Review: Somna: A Bedtime Story by Beckly Cloon and Tula Lotay

Somna: A Bedtime Story by Beckly Cloon and Tula Lotay. DSTLRY, 2024. 9781962265010. 168pp. Contains #1 – #3. Publisher’s Rating: Mature

Roland is the town bailiff in a small English village where he has developed a reputation as a witch hunter. His relationship with his wife, Ingrid, is distant, and he’s often away from her because of his duties. Ingrid has started to have erotic dreams, visions that seem supernatural and that feature a handsome man who is clearly not human. He offers her the sexual pleasure she craves. Is he a demon? Does this make her a witch? As she invites him into her dreams (and her life) she finds out a friend is having an affair. With everyone ready to blame witches for their misfortune, it feels like something disastrous is likely to befall her friend and perhaps Ingrid, too. And then there’s a murder, which raises tensions and suspicions as Ingrid’s husband returns home.

Cloonan and Lotay both illustrate the graphic novel; their artistic styles create amazing contrasts between the dreamlike scenes involving Ingrid and her supernatural lover (illustrated by Lotay) and everyday life in the English village (illustrated by Cloonan). This is one of the best historical graphic novels I’ve ever read, it’s easily my favorite graphic paranormal romance, and it’s an example of how amazing comics can be. Pick up a copy even if paranormal romance isn’t your thing — I don’t read much of it, either, but this book is fantastic.

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