I Still Think Knight Terrors Is One of DC’s Weakest Events (And Major Missed Horror Opportunity)

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DC Comics is known for its large-scale events, happening several times a year, that aim to dramatically change things for its heroes. While some of these events are successful, both in storytelling and their lasting impact, others don’t quite work. These unsuccessful events often try to do too much, involve too many characters, or simply misexecute a good concept. Knight Terrors was one such event – even now, almost three years later, I consider it one of DC’s weakest crossover events and a lost chance to create a compelling horror story.

DC’s summer 2023 event, Knight Terrors, was a large-scale story that brought together almost every hero and villain in the DC Universe. The main story, a four-issue series by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter, along with numerous tie-in comics, centered around the villain Insomnia, who put the world into a collective nightmare. His goal was to merge the Dream Stone and Nightmare Stone, unleashing the heroes’ deepest fears upon the world and destroying their public image. While the heroes struggled against Insomnia’s deeply personal attack, Damian Wayne and Deadman unexpectedly teamed up to fight back. Though the heroes ultimately won the battle, Insomnia achieved his larger plan. Despite an intriguing premise and strong tie-in stories, the core miniseries itself wasn’t as impactful, and the event arguably would have worked better as a smaller, more focused story.

Knight Terrors Is a String Tying Together Multiple Crossover Events Just to Launch Absolute Power

The comic event Knight Terrors is unique in that it builds on previous storylines, unlike many self-contained events. It connects to both Dark Knights: Metal and Lazarus Planet through the villain Insomnia. Insomnia was once Christopher Lukas, a man whose family was killed by the Dark Knights during Dark Knights: Metal. This tragedy drove him insane, and he was institutionalized at Arkham Tower. While there, he was exposed to a substance from the Lazarus Planet event, which gave him the power to invade and harm people’s dreams. He now seeks revenge on the heroes, blaming them for failing to protect him and his family during the events of Dark Knights: Metal.

It’s appealing when comics delve into the consequences of big events, but they often rush past them, only referencing what’s useful later on. While Knight Terrors initially seems like a natural follow-up to past storylines, it ends up feeling like a fix for the fallout of Absolute Power, the event that was supposed to be a major turning point for DC. The story awkwardly connects to Amanda Waller and builds on the events of the 2022 crossover Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. This makes Knight Terrors feel less like a standalone story—even though it had interesting ideas, like heroes facing their inner demons in a shared nightmare—and more like a temporary solution to tie together unrelated storylines. Ultimately, this diminishes the impact of Knight Terrors and makes some plot points feel unnatural.

The Tie-Ins Are Great. The Core Story Is Less So.

One of the biggest problems with the Knight Terrors event is the uneven quality between the main series and the tie-in books. While I read everything, the side stories were consistently strong, really delving into the emotional struggles and past traumas of the heroes in a relatable and moving way. Unfortunately, the core Knight Terrors miniseries didn’t live up to that standard. It felt like a surface-level exploration of grief and trauma, similar to a Deadman story, but without the depth. The main series felt crowded with characters who didn’t really need to be there – like a zombified Sandman – and revolved around a confusing plot device. The tie-ins felt genuinely heartfelt, but the emotional payoff in the main Knight Terrors story was missing. It ultimately felt like a strange story about Deadman in Batman’s body pursuing a pointless object, and even the victory felt empty.

The biggest problem with Knight Terrors is that despite some strong individual stories, the overall plot felt aimless and strangely both rushed and incomplete. Sandman’s involvement wasn’t necessary, the fourth issue largely retread ground from the third before abruptly jumping to the conclusion, and the villain, Insomnia, despite being incredibly powerful, came across as a generic and uninspired character – visually similar to a low-budget Joker. The whole experience is underwhelming, and becomes frustrating when you realize it’s just setting up another event to further challenge the heroes. Ultimately, it feels chaotic and disappointing.

Knight Terrors Would Have Been a Very Cool DC Horror Story All On Its Own — No Event Necessary

Despite its problems, the core idea behind Knight Terrors wasn’t flawed. In fact, that’s what’s most frustrating about the event. The concept itself is good, but it didn’t work as a large-scale crossover. DC has the potential to excel at horror, and Knight Terrors would have been much stronger as a standalone limited series, perhaps under the Black Label imprint. The story also could have benefited from focusing on Deadman, a character DC hasn’t fully utilized. Developing Knight Terrors as a true Deadman story, instead of a broad event tying into other storylines, would have allowed for deeper character exploration and given him a real opportunity to act as a hero. Other heroes and characters could still have been involved, but the story would have felt less rushed and more substantial if it had prioritized character development over a grand outcome. Ultimately, Knight Terrors needed to focus more on the journey than the destination.

Overall, Knight Terrors succeeded as a crossover event, linking together previous storylines and setting the stage for the changes that brought the DC universe to where it is today. However, it felt disorganized and didn’t quite deliver on its promise. It had the potential to be a truly compelling and memorable horror story, but ultimately felt like just another quickly forgotten event, which is disappointing.

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2025-10-29 20:12