They have roughly the same jobs, but it is hard to say who is more damaged, Stetson, or Kyoichi Kagenuma, from the Japanese Nightmare Detective films. When he Kagenuma journeys into nightmares, it is solely to save a tormented client, whereas Stetson is also looking for someone. It turns out the police are also looking for the same someone, they just don’t know it yet.
Valkira is a dream demon, who takes possession of sleeping host bodies to murder people in the waking world. Finch and his colleagues have been investigating a half dozen of her murders, but despite the occult markings she leaves behind, they assume it is the work of a mortal serial killer. Finch should be prepared to accept this fanciful notion, because he is Valkira’s latest host, so Stetson will go into his dreams looking for her, whether he likes it or not.
The premise of Slumber sounds a lot like Nightmare Detective, but Stetson is a completely different kind of protagonist. She also has a colorful support staff, including Jiang, her companion in nightmare exploration, who has a ghoulish appetite for human flesh.
Cardinali’s figures have a lot of appropriately neurotic character and the nightmare visuals are definitely sinister looking. There will clearly be plenty more nightmares for Stetson to exorcise, but the six collected issues tell a full and reasonably self-contained narrative. Easily recommended for fans of nightmare-based horror, Slumber is now on-sale wherever books and comics are sold.
