News Archive

2025

Post-Mabon Update

We'reee baaaaack! I'm typing this next to a big helping of Count Chocula (because of course I am) and our trip was a roaring success! We met on the first night and I got myself so worked up I literally lost sleep over it. There's few experiences more surreal than touring Chicago in a state of sleep deprivation, all the while your online friend of almost three years stomps about in the flesh! We traded our gifts, had plenty of cuddles and "I love yous" and it's given us a much-needed confidence boost. We're both home now, I had to go through a red-eye today while Alex got back yesterday on the Dan Ryan; turns out the infamous Chicago traffic has a bedtime. With this said, expect updates galore on our websites and many silly things to come! We're set to meet again after a year or so, so you'll be hearing all about that...when you do!

With Episode 15 out, 16 will begin shortly. However, I won't go back into the pit just yet! I've got a grab-bag of side projects I’ve been tinkering with all summer, and it has your name on it! Expect things this halloween! I'm also much less concerned about hosting the comic now that the trip's given me room to breathe it off.


A Pre-Lammas Update

As everyone's discussing Laws And Stuff, I'm going to see about making a few changes to this site. These are of a user-access nature, as in, sealing up some loose ends.

If I can de-index DWTD from search-engines, I will. I'm already off mainstream websites (YERCH!), but if I can further shroud myself, I'll give it a whirl.

I'll try to get a pop-up warning on these pages, you know, those ones that you click through before carrying on. So at least everyone can know right away that this is Not-Safe-For-Wakes.

I will never install any kind of comments section here, both for ease-of-use but also for safety reasons. Besides this, things shall resume as normal beneath the soil. My fellow underground creatives are feeling the pain, but we will do our best to keep out of sight...away from prying eyes and most importantly of all...

Together!


Another Litha Update

Drat! Just when I get one idea, I suddenly get a better one! Here's what we have!

A dark theme has finally happened. It's not like my personal site, but I got a bit tired of scorching my retinas while editing on this thing. I'm also using it as a chance to refit some side pages, fix up some formatting and generally clean this place up.

Check out that background! Now the comic's six-feet under! I wanted something earthy while still keeping the vampire motif, which I found a worthy challenge. I then settled on roots to conjure images of pulsing veins. Whether those are from trees or fungal networks is up to you, but I needed it to ooze. The dirt lines, if you look closer, look like little vampire mouths screeching at you. I also made that "edge" coffin shaped, something I'll do until I end up in one myself. The whole thing's horrifically punny but it adds some extra character without being overwhelming. I did want to get some bones in but I want to figure out how to best suit the composition. You may see some more versions of this or you may not, but it feels good to have some more solid "branding" for this silly hobby of mine.

Say hello to the new cast page, it's a lot closer to this comic's themes of bureaucratic tedium and based off real victorian death certificates to boot. As if it wasn't funerary enough, I've added some death-masks of our main five. The rest will follow once Episode 14 crawls out.

We're not hosting on Sheezyart anymore. It's far too quiet and I don't fit in with its userbase; most appearing to be teenagers and young twenty-somethings. I was hoping for more deviantART veterans, but alas they dwell elsewhere. Then, a month after I departed, I learned that my decision came with an extra plus. Unfortunately for Sheezy, the poor thing's having its arm twisted by some new internet laws and specifically to do with er...content just like mine. Basically, it goes like this: if you want to look at adult content, you have to give the site some kind of ID. This is no fault of the site itself, but showing them anything past a funny gargoyle icon and some lovingly-drawn vampire anuses is not my thing at all. I refuse to call this the apocalypse, especially when NSFW artists have been self-hosting since the 1990s, but I won't be so haughty as to pretend it isn't a nuisance. At least self-hosting helps me absorb most of the disappointment.

It's good to blog again after my last two entries, serious things they were. I feel great, and I have great things planned, assuming no shenanigans happen. Summer has been torment as per usual but we're in prime pre-ween months and damn it I will rock it.


Litha Update

To briefly touch on my last entry, it seems one ex could not be enough... I have to dump who I have to dump, even if it takes me a while. Ah, this creature has finally learned some self-love...Anywho, I'm not glum. On the contrary, I am simply relieved of my burden. Much like jabbing a sort of pustule and...marvelling at the sheer amount of slime that pours out from it. This aside, I have some quality-of-life updates coming up, and Episode 14 is coming along nicely. Expect lots of neat visual changes and an increase in undeathly style. My hyperfocus on the comic has led me to neglect some things, but reanimating Lutzbug's website has given me the motivation to finally host some more pictures on here. You, yes you, can watch in awe as August's eyes continue to get increasingly far-apart until he looks like a sort of hammerhead shark! You, can finally see some more reference material! You, can also just have a look, if you like...For now, we have a remastered plaque-style cast render. Its floral oak-leaf borders were inspired by a recent trip to York Minster, lovely place, really.


Beltane Update

It's been five whole years since I dumped my ex, and I'm here to celebrate it, and talk about some other things. I call these humble 13ths of May "Stinky Liberation Day", and I celebrate them by being myself.

These few years have been rewarding as they have been challenging. Finding some good company has been the main issue. To find company, I have to use online communities. So far, the ones I've entered have been bizarre and unfriendly places. Sometimes they're competitive, where everyone's talking over everyone. Other times, they're paranoid free-for-alls with a penchant for keeping up "appearances", even when all the users clearly resent eachother. Their "everyone knows everyone" effect, while twee at first, can quickly nosedive into an "everyone-voyeurisming-on-everyone" effect. The friendships in them weren't comforting, but transactional, something especially frustrating for me, given how I've seen my fellow artists speak as if they're bastions of sincerity, and thus above the vices of human selfishness. I have met people that for some absurd reason, think it's acceptable behaviour to ignore someone mid-conversation. I've met people that think Expressing One's Sympathy is a substitute for good, decent action. Then there's the community moderator, a long-time subject of derision online. The ones I met spent their time half-oversharing, half-gossiping about their own users, and entirely unprofessional. That’s not even to mention how paradoxical these people are about mental illness. They’ll post constantly about mental illness, but then when someone experiences Symptoms outside of their nauseatingly oversimplified “Anxiety and Depression” narrative, they immediately backpedal and ostracise them. I learned this firsthand after one of my psychotic episodes, as if someone chooses to have the fear of god coursing through their veins! But, my presence was deemed too loathsome and repulsive for their idealised internet sanctuary. I was not their idea of an unwell person. They did not want to believe how ungodly embarrassing it is to lose control of yourself like that. They really did have so little trust in other people, as to jump to such conclusions about me. Despite me apologising profusely for the upset caused by this lapse in lucidity, I was repeatedly ignored, dehumanised and treated like some rabid beast to be locked away. I won’t deny that witnessing me during my episodes can be scary, and I’m more than happy to be nice and show people I want to be nice. I like being nice. But, they cast me aside and when they remembered how bad it all looked, they tried to wash their hands of responsibility, and in turn, cleanse themselves of me. I was too much, people like me are “too much”, and thus, we are easier to remove.

Apparently Mental health Awareness is not for people like me. It’s supposed to be relatable anecdotes about huddling the corner at a house party or sitting inside with your cat named Mittens. Not being so rapt with the all-consuming fear of being abused again, that you come alive with terror and spit liquid hellfire. That's not even getting into the sorts of people that capitalise on mental illness as a free-pass to harm others; whether they have such ailments or not. The idea of being seen as one of these is especially upsetting to me, I've been harmed by many of these people and I retch at the idea of being like them. To summarise my complaints, I describe a lack of courage, and a hunger for external validation that overrides personal ethics. The people I speak of identified as progressive, but they only bothered with bandwagons or what was convenient for them. They were more interested in absolving themselves of personal responsibility and thus, ignoring their capacity for harm. These people treated me with reckless, ableist abandon. They declared I was lesser for my capacity to scare them, instead of asking themselves whether or not I could love like them. This kind of moral hypocrisy has alienated me deeply, and forced me to focus on my craft. Here, I work on my projects without the near-constant racket of everyone doomscrolling and subsequently doomposting.

But despite my troubles, I have company that understands me. They send me gifts, and I send them back. We "stream" while we all draw and get up to all kinds of silly things. We have the beloved group in-jokes. So, I am understood, I am loved and I am loved dearly. I am not infantilised or cast aside as some poor, pitable "thing". I am a friend, with friends, an equal with equals. I doubt my ex will ever find this post, and I care not about addresssing them. I spoke all the words I did those fateful years ago, back when I still didn't know a thing about myself. When I forced myself into uncomfortable siituations under the pretense of me being able to "handle" them. Back when I masked my emotions in an attempt to be palatable and inoffensive to people that like the idea of friendship more than actually maintaining it. Back when I really did not know better for myself. I don't hate other artists, I long for more company, but I feel weathered from years of witnessing these displays. Setting boundaries with some of these people is no longer a suggestion, but a necessity. Boundaries in general are a necessity, and anyone against that idea is simply part of the issue. Without boundaries, I cannot protect myself the way I deserve to be protected. To have boundaries, good, informed boundaries, is a badge of personal pride. I feel pride curating my time online and deciding who personally respects me, because I know myself best. I’ve lived my whole life with myself, and learned to define myself, as much as I’ve struggled to do that. I distrust community “leaders” and moderators, I distrust their users and I spit on their geek social fallacies. I hate being disillusioned, but then in a way that frees me from the obligations of people who never cared to begin with. Growth isn't easy or linear, but it's worth it.

A final note, do read Geek Social Fallacies. I wasn't saying that to be needlessly inflammatory, it's a fantastic article on bad social spaces.


Valentines Update

Boo, my beloveds, it's the first update of the year! I wish you all a "Happy third anniversary of this webcomic", and an upcoming Happy Valen-TOMBS! Anyways, episode archives are underway on Itch.io and we're now up to Episode 5. In the meantime I'm starting to host downloads on the on-site archive page. As of now, four episodes are ready to download in ZIP format. Hopefully this doesn't eat up too much space on Neocities in the long term, but I'll do everything I can in the name of media preservation. While this is going on, I've got some lovely romantic renders over on Sheezy for you to peek at.


2024

Extremely Important Christmas Update: The Spinetingling Sequel

I promise it's not a silly video this time...

Creepmas Greetings once more, you festering festives! I've just spewed Episode 12 onto your screens and I'm about to start work on interludes. All around, I'm happy to be twelve whole episodes in, but that's not even all! Changes are slithering about...Lots of them, so let's go over them!

See that new logo, it'll be just about everywhere soon. Now each word encapsulates the various stages of decomposition, from putrefaction, to worms, to bones and the redistribution of rot into the soil. You can also see I'm moving away from the free Comic Book font and I now have my very own. For any interested parties, it's quite primitive as a font and lacks some features, but if you want to use it you're free to do so. Yes, even commercially, because I love freeware! Comic pages also have their own numbers, just so I can make archiving the thing a bit easier on my end. I do plan to go back and edit old pages, which I'll do gradually...chapter by little chapter. I still have my work files on me so I'll take it nice and slowly. Then when they're all done I'll update the Itch.io listings.

I'm thrilled with all the changes and my creative vision's really growing into itself, like a fungus on soggy wood. Have yourselves a digusting, horrible christmas and an even nastier New Years Eve. I've got a lot planned for the upcoming year, and I want it to be a real scream, I'll tell you all that! Goodnight!


Page Display Update - 10/09/24

Page display has now been completely overhauled for everyone's quality of unlife. Now they're more scroll-heavy than click-heavy. This makes it easier to sort the database but it makes it easier for you to traverse the whole comic, plus it makes the scenes feel a lot punchier. There may be some errors here and there, but we've mostly ironed things out. Happy reading, and we hope you enjoyed Episode 11. Interludes will start in a hot second, and while you're here, say hello to the new warning page.


Summer Update

Hello again, everyvone. It's been a good bit since that silly Christmas update, so what's going on as of late? Well, I now have an Itch.io! Almost all the episodes are up there and remastered with hand-drawn text sound effects, alongside some very minor tweaks. Archive.org doesn't allow content of the...DWTD variety, so we had to shake things up a bit. Feel free to download and archive the comic at your own leisure, it's for you! This site will also recieve updates to reflect these changes, one episode at a time. In the meantime, enjoy the new Cast bios on the Characters page!


2023

Extremely Important Christmas Update

Have a good one.

New Hiatuses after Episode Releases

I’ll be enacting weeklong hiatuses after episode releases from here on out, as my friends have all suggested! Interludes will start dropping after next week.


Welcome to DWTD 4.0!

From now on we’re using Rarebit, which I highly recommend even if the Javascript seems intimidating! Things may be a little unusual for a bit (Ah, my beloved notched corners…) but hopefully things can stabilise! Enjoy!


Birthday

I am sadly not an undead ghoul, but actually, a mortal being…with a birthday. I got some pretty gifts too. That is all.


Dedicated to Jmluvsbob.

One of DWTD’s first consistent readers is no longer with us, and agonisingly so, by his own choice. Jm has taken his own life, and now I publish this entry to commemorate this incredibly kind, nurturing, and eloquent individual.

Jm, you were a major part of why I grew to be so confident with my comic. Back when I was a younger author, and all I had was my own swallowed dread still brewing in the pits of my body. When I was in that state, when I was only starting out, you were there for me Jm. You, Jm, you and your delightful examinations of this comic, you and your drawings, you and your…all of you.

Rest easy in the stardust realm that has welcomed you so. When I join it myself and hopefully through natural, painless means, I promise to find you first. I’m not upset with you Jm, I too seek the confines of this stardust abyss at the worst of times, but I grieve heavily for you, Jm.

To all of this website’s visitors, please seek help if you are feeling suicidally inclined. You are not, and will never be, burdens. You all deserve to live, and to see the beauties of this mortal plane.

So please stay safe, DWTD friends. Stay safe, and check on your friends. Check on the friends who you know have a history of the urge to die, and the friends that so seemingly don’t. The friends like Jm, that seem so unmoved by it all…

Until they vanish into the night, and all that’s left is stardust.


Coming out of Hiatus + Podcast Appearance!

First, a quick “sorry” for me completely forgetting to announce the month-long hiatus on here. This Dreamwidth entry explains why I initially had to do it, and surprisingly enough, this was my first ever hiatus! Don’t expect these too frequently, but when they happen I’ll be sure not to forget from here on out!

Second of all…

Delightful news, everyone! Dancing with the Dead has had its first ever podcast appearance on The Webcomic Corner! It stars its host, AJ, and my friend Lutzbug discussing the comic! Click HERE to give it a listen, preferably during a nice, rainy day...or at 6am like I did just this morning! Now I must go and....roll on the floor so hard I burrow into the earth and cause 73 earthworm casualties. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much AJ, I recieved all your love and I wanna let you know I got plenty for you in return! Alex, you absolutely smashed it. I love you guys.

So yes! Here we are back in action! Have this silly thing I made.


Velcome to Neocities...

Hello Dancing with the Dead friends. How’s the new scenery? Is pitch-black darkness your style? Are you curling up all cosy in your caskets there?

While the announcement gave you all a month’s grace period, mental health reasons caused us to give up the ghost after a week. I feel much more happy here and I hope to have a nicer time than I did back on the previous site. The blogs below this entry were from the previous site, and will be kept for archival reasons.

Now…what to expect?

  1. The typical upload rate. I disappear for a bit, bring forth an episode, then post interludes until I run out. Rinse and repeat until I die. Oh, and I have a message primed for the event of my premature death. No, really, I do!
  2. No comments…I know, what a pain in the neck! [LAUGH TRACK] Really, it was a delight having you all back on the previous host, so much of a delight that I’ve got all the original comments archived. Sadly, chat-boxes and guestbooks are invitations to stuffy trolls who don’t know what fun is. Not very compatible with me and my menagerie of mental illnesses.
  3. Random website tweaks here and there…ooooo! Art Evolution! The most frightening monster of them all!

Have a fiendish little time browsing this new website. I’m glad to be here with all of you tonight, and thanks for all the hits. I’m not usually one for counting views, but I was pleasantly surprised by your collective interest.


UI Overhaul

Hither, my ghouls, changes have have been made...

The old layout was fun, but the custom assets were tedious to wrangle and there was also the pressing issue of...Mobile Accessibility. So, I decided this pit needed some spring-cleaning, and here we are with a whole new theme! Give your regards to the spirits of the now-deceased old assets, and leave some flowers at their graves. This new theme is less "intentionally crude" and more "sleek"...as well as having a more overtly monochrome appearance. Ah, the magic of art evolution...it extends to web-design too! For all you mobile readers, hopefully now you'll have a more comfortable experience. The Neocities may follow suit, as we're currently in the progress of testing out responsive design. For time being, it shall remain a lovely little janksterpiece...but do expect one or two ideas from it to...cross over.

Things will shift every now and then, but the heavy lifting has been done. Enjoy the new theme, and hang tight for Episode 7!


First Anniversary Update

Hello and Happy New Year to all my Dancing with the Dead friends!

It's been a whole year since the release of Episode 1 - So, You're a Vampire? and I'm so happy that it's come so far. I came online to post a self-indulgent passion project, and I got all of you lovely, supportive readers. Thank you all very much for subscribing, reading along, and commenting. This goes to the registered users, the guests, and the lurkers. Posting this comic wouldn't be the same without you.

Now with my thank you's aside...what have I got for you all today?

  1. Meet Dancing with the Dead's first ever mirror, the official Neocities! This comic is far too horny for most comic platforms (And I didn't quite fancy The Duck either), so we had to get creative. Naturally it updates slightly slower, so do come here first for Episode and Interlude releases. As of now, it's functional with some minor deviations and a few missing features (Namely this very blog).

  2. Some general news with releases and how frequently I can release. I may be going on a trip to Belgium this year, so when that happens, I'll let you know. Other than this, releases should go without too many obstacles and there will hopefully only be a few delays. I'm also learning how to not get overexcited and accidentally injure myself via copious amounts of drawing. This next interlude will be slightly late, as it's a bit larger than the others and is rather detailed.

  3. Some questions you might have had are going to be answered in a little "lightning round", but if you have any others, feel free to ask them in the comments. This can be anything you please; the characters, the worldbuilding, anything you can think of. I try to be tight-lipped about things and let the comic speak for itself, but I'm feeling fun today and I know I've got people aching to learn more.


2022

Episode 4 has been released

Episode 4 is out, and only a month after the last interlude comix! This was mainly due to my determination to bounce back from Episode 3's difficult development. To say the least, I went much faster than I expected to...which is a habit of mine.

Interludes will start a week or two from this release, as I want to give myself some time to rest. The recent heatwave was hard on my body, and caused me a lot of stress. I don't do well in hot weather as is, but what makes these heatwaves worse is that british households don't have air conditioning or any other cooling measures. Finishing Episode 4 in these conditions was a challenge to say the least.

Stay tuned for these next few interludes, as you're about to meet a handful of new faces...

Thank you all for reading this blog, and reading Dancing with the Dead.


Episode 3 has been released | A Confession | What's Next?

After a long, troubled, development...Episode 3 has arrived. Besides Friday the 13th being a great date to release a vampire comic, this particular day also has an emotional significance to me.

It was two years ago on this exact date, that I left my ex-partner, who was emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive to me.

It was an incredibly destructive relationship that sapped me of my energy, my patience and my hope. During this relationship, we were creative partners on a project. It never made it past the development phase, and it also involved vampires. They dreamed about it becoming a webcomic someday. I contributed heavily to the project, and found myself infatuated with its potential. But to realise it to the best extent, I'd have to escape first. The breakup process was frightening, but with the help of my dearest Candy, I took what I could and made it out in one piece. As I ran away with the ideas in my hands, I recobbled them into what would become...

Dancing with the Dead.

This comic is all of these past ideas, realising themselves before your very eyes. This comic is a reclamation of power, and a symbol of my freedom. This comic is the phoenix rising from the creative ashes. This comic spits in the face of an abuser with its mere existence. This comic is my passion, my love, and my tether to a world that I struggle to attach myself to. I was hesitant to tell this story at first, but Candy encouraged me to come out. Releasing this information, I hope that other domestic-abuse survivors feel motivated to speak out as I have in this blog. Tonight I'll celebrate this release, my freedom, and my endurance through difficult times.

Now...what of those interlude comix? There's a lot of things happening behind the scenes, but let's just say...you have a fair amount of hijinks to be looking forward to! I'm slightly slowing the pace on Episode releases from here on out, but now we're getting deeper into the plot, you'll be seeing a lot more interlude comix than before.

Thank you all for reading this blog, and reading Dancing with the Dead.


Episode 2 has been released | What's Next?

Episode 2 launches, and with it, comes the second blog for Dancing with the Dead. The production for this episode was rapid, but chaotic. It was fuelled by the momentum of Episode 1, and the sheer euphoria I felt from its completion. So, this second episode went far smoother than its predecessor.

What's Next?

First of all, you'll see a promotional DWTD thread go live on ComicFury. This is where I'll be posting about new episode releases.

Then, you'll see several more information pages come out. Episode 2 delayed these quite a bit, but I hope now I can release more informative pages about the world that Dancing with the Dead takes place in. This world is called Catacombs.

Third, and finally, I am announcing the launch of minature comic strips in-between episodes. These will appear on Fridays, most likely at random. These are simple gag comics and exerpts from In-Universe texts, many of these in the possession of our main cast. The frequency at which these will be posted is yet to be known, as I do not wish to interfere with the creation of episodes. You're likely to see a corresponding comic that announces this, and it's meant to serve as a transition from solely episodes to episodes and gag-strips.

Now...what of Episode 3?

It pains me to announce that Episode 3's release is going to be delayed.

Production will start as swiftly as that of Episode 2, but the release date will be pushed back. This is because of an upcoming holiday arranged out of my control. It is supposed to last roughly a week, but while I'm abroad, I'll be planning in whatever notebooks I can take with me. After this weekend, Episode 3 will commence production. For now, I will rest and celebrate.

Thank you all for reading this blog, and reading Dancing with the Dead.


First Entry | Episode 1 discussion - What's next

Hello everyone, welcome to the very first blog entry! I hope you've all been enjoying the first episode of Dancing with the Dead! These blog entries will be the primary hub for Dancing with the Dead updates from here on out; so, if you want to keep tabs...get bookmarking! These blog posts will only appear when very important things happen.

Episode 1 was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. It was an endeavour of love, rage, and sheer determination. I learned a lot about making comix, making compromises, and above those, fighting through the suffocating miasma of my own perfectionism. The creation of Episode 1 not only changed me as an artist, but it changed me as a person. My fingers trembling as I posted the pages, and the unforgettable joy of it all coming to life before my very eyes.

The first episode of anything is always quite an interesting beast. It's always the odd one out, the strange one. Yet despite the "funk", there's an undeniable charm. Like a tiny acorn that grows to become a sprawling oak, it is simplistic and unassuming. While we marvel at the grand oak, we recall back to when it was just a tiny acorn. Then that acorn truly earns our fondness, our sentimental appreciation, and our respect for what it can start.

Episode 1 is that humble acorn, that I hope with my continued devotion, can sprout into that mighty oak tree. I hope that this is the beginning of something beautiful