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Extremely Important Christmas Update: The Spinetingling Sequel

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!

Extremely Important Christmas Update

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.
   
   

• Q: What happened to the FAQ?
  A: It was a fun little experiment that I decided this site wouldn't need as much now that I'm deeper into the comic.


• Q: What happened to the Fanart page?
  A: I loved having it, but it got very bulky and hard to work with after a bit. But with this said, it may return, as I've got all of your pieces on my hard-drives and I hate the idea of not being able to feature all of your gifts. A lot of these pieces were drawn for ArtFight, so if you have an account on there, you can view my profile and all of the "attacks" I recieved on there.


• Q: Is the website getting any more visual updates?
  A: Potentially...Wimk womk.
• Q: Do you plan to open a Ko-Fi or Patreon for this comic?
  A: Hmmmmmm...I'm thinking more the latter. I'm still on the fence about it, but it's a possibility to say the least.

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