Shadowplay: Midnight School by Sam Fonseca

Holy Moses, what a debut! Granted, this isn’t Sam Fonseca’s first book ever, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I was so impressed by an English-language horror comic debut. And with a kick-ass soundtrack to boot!

But I’m getting ahead of myself, partly because it’s a bit of challenge to describe the book itself without going into spoiler territory. An unnamed young man — oh, let’s just call him Lucas, as we eventually find out his name and it doesn’t really matter in the context of the story — sits in a dreary classroom, looking out the window at the weird, disquieting scenes outside. But there are weird, disquieting scenes inside the classroom, too, as another young man stands on the chair next to Lucas’ desk, piteously begging for his mother. The dark shape at the front of the room mocks him, and the begging boy is eventually punished further.

Lucas knows that this is wrong but everyone else seems intent on just keeping their heads down and getting through the day. Another classmate, in particular — and a friendly one at that — insists to Lucas that he needs to do well in school in order to win a scholarship so that he can make something of himself. As he lists the increasingly demanding list of qualifications he needs, Lucas realizes that his classmate isn’t meant to succeed, even as he is plagued by the disembodied memories of all the pain and humiliation he’s ever undergone himself.

When Lucas discovers a hole in the fence surrounding the school, he’s driven to escape, and finds that nothing is as it seems. The school is a school in shape only, and the immediate surroundings are a nightmare landscape. While he does find one safe harbor, he also knows that he can’t leave his classmates to suffer back at the Midnight School. What will he risk to fight the monsters who run the place and to free the people trapped inside?

Alright, that’s about all I think it’s safe to say. I actually went into this book without knowing what it was about, and let me tell you, I was unprepared for the hallucinatory and harrowing nature of the experience, which works horrifyingly well as an extended metaphor for the evils of late-stage capitalism. But it’s not all gloom and doom! While Shadowplay: Midnight School is a book about despair, depression and the death of dreams, it’s also a book about hope and friendship and making the world a better place. Best of all, it’s the first in a series! We learn quite a bit about Lucas and his friends and the school, but the ending promises much, much more about the fascinating, if terrifying world Mr Fonseca has built here.

Oh, and I need to say something about the art! Done mostly in pencil/graphite, with the most brilliant use of color, the art underscores the emotions in the perfect fusion of illustration with text. And it’s just all so smart! Lucas is a kid with challenges, and this graphic novel subtly weaves his background into his nightmare existence in such a way that I couldn’t be certain whether I was more horrified by the literal monsters he faces or by his very relatable existential dread.

This was such an intelligent, creative graphic novel, and the soundtrack is just the perfect finishing touch. The only reason you shouldn’t read this is if you’re not in a good headspace for dealing with fictional trauma. Otherwise, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Shadowplay: Midnight School by Sam Fonseca was published February 11 2025 by Top Shelf productions and is available from all good booksellers, including