Webcomic / DeadEndia

DeadEndia is a horror-comedy webcomic by Hamish Steele based on his Cartoon Hangover short Dead End. It's about the adventures of Norma, Barney (and his dog Pugsley) who are two workers at the haunted house attraction in a failing amusement park, Winslow Wonderland, that also happens to be a portal to hell.

The comic has been published as graphic novels by Nobrow Press and will be reprinted by Union Square. The print version has some differences from the online version. The original version can be read here and the updated version here.

An Animated Adaptation, Dead End: Paranormal Park, premiered on Netflix on June 16, 2022.

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DeadEndia features examples of:

• 13 Is Unlucky: By the time of the first book, there are currently 13 planes in the Multi-Plane. At this point, things have started to go wrong for the Angelic Horde. The Demons are in full-on rebellion, they can't trust their own Ambassadors in the Demon Planes.
• Abstract Eater: The Tristivore and Beautivore feed on sorrow and happiness respectively.
• Adaptational Gender Identity: Barney was an Ambiguously Gay male in the original short, he's confirmed to be transgender here.
• Adaptational Name Change: In the Original Run, the theme park was called Winslow Wonderland, and Plane 8 was called Dudael. In the graphic novels, the theme park is called Pollywood and Plane 8 is called Bathmos.
• The Alcatraz: The Naraka Vault is this as its cells restrict prisoners and the prison itself sits above a long fall into Disarray with almost no way out.
• All There in the Manual: Most information about the universe of Deadendia comes from Hamish Steele's Patreon and Tumblr.
• Aliens in Cardiff: Courtney mentions that Temeluchus was close to picking a portal somewhere in Cardiff.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: The Demons and Fallen Angels have a variety of skin-tones.
• Ancient Egypt: During their fight through time, Barney and the Watcher Future Pugsley end up in Ancient Egypt.
• Ancient Rome: During the Watcher's Test, Barney and Pugsley are sent into the time of Ancient Rome.
• Angelic Transformation: Courtney becomes an angel again in the second book after being broken by Pael.
• Antagonist Title: The first book's title has the Big Bad's name in it.
• The Armies of Heaven: The Angelic Horde has a large army with foot soldiers and Angelic Punishers among its ranks. When Barney and the Watcher visit the bad future, large cloaked angels with gigantic halos floating behind them are seen fighting on Plane 7. In Deadendia 3, a lot of different types appear in the final battle against the Demon Rebellion.
• Art Evolution: Hamish Steele's style has improved a lot.
• Bad Future: It's revealed that the Watcher comes from the future where Coronator Tartarus (In the Original Run) the Demon Kings (In the graphic novels) rose up to invade Plane 7, causing a war between the Demons and the Angelic Horde with a resistance consisting of neutral-planers trying to survive and repel the demonic invaders. By the end of the war, Pugsley now turned into the Watcher was the sole survivor with Plane 7 destroyed and the demons pushed back but not defeated and the Angels dividing the planes more and more until most planes were wastelands.
• Bad Guy Bar: In Issue 4 and a deleted scene in Chapter 4 of the Watcher's Test, Courtney and Pugsley meet with Danny in a bar on Plane 8 which is a den of criminal activity.
• Bat People: The demonic subspecies the Chiropterans are this. They are highly-aware of non-visible frequencies and many of them are often employed in tracking down invisible criminals by the Agency of Truth which is the Lower Planes' version of the FBI. We also see other bat-like demons in the Original Run and graphic novels.
• Bazaar of the Bizarre: In the Original Run, Dudadel is called a demon marketplace and it shows.
• Beach Episode: Issue 3 centers around beach day at Winslow Wonderland in the Original Run. In the graphic novels, Chapter 3 revolves around the same events.
• Bedsheet Ghost: A bedsheet wearing demon is among the demons who watch Temeluchus' arrival on the Neutral Plane.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The Undertaker is mentioned to be a demon wrestler.
• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Downplayed as only the last appears. A Yeti Demon is among the demons who gather for Temeluchus' arrival on the Neutral Plane.
• Big Damn Kiss: Barney and Logs share one at the end of the first book.
• Bittersweet Ending. In Book 1: The Watcher's Test The Watcher is defeated with Barney confessing his feelings to Logs but Pugsley is dead, Norma is half-ghost and the Demon Kings have learned of Temeluchus' demise. In the second book, heavy on the bitter Courtney rejoins the Angelic Horde, forgetting who she used to be and the Divine plans on dividing the planes once more with Paimon dying but the humans have joined forces with the demons with Norma swearing to rescue Courtney, Barney reuniting with his family and repairing his relationship with Logs, and Danny has brought a clone of Pugsley to aid the rebellion.
• Blob Monster: A green blob-like demon is seen going down the stairs to the Dead End lobby to witness Temeluchus' arrival.
• Breath Weapon: In Issue 2 and Chapter 2, Courtney uses blue flame breath on a cowboy named Murdoch.
• Camelot: One of the zones in Pollywood and Winslow Wonderland is called Camelot Creek.
• Castof Snowflakes: Most of the characters in the comics have distinct designs. Subverted with the angels as there's hordes of them drawn the same way but the angelic species are visually distinct from each other.
• Cobweb of Disuse: Barney asks if Norma which spiderwebs in Dead End are real or fake.
• Cherubic Choir: Downplayed as the cherubs seen in this universe aren't shown singing. In this universe cherubs are round winged gold-armoured creatures with 3 eyes or one eye.
• City of the Damned: Plane 10: Necropolis is a plane-wide city that is part of the Lower Planes and inhabited by demons.
• Crack in the Sky: In Courtney's backstory, they see the sky cracking in Empyrean which they realise that the Division has already begun and they have failed.
• Cryo-Prison: Gord is imprisoned in a cell with ice pinning him in place.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Demons are not necessarily evil.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to both its progenitor and spawn DeadEndia covers pretty heavy topics. Besides introducing Barney as trans and showing in details his hardships it also deals with suicide and, in the original webcomic, HIV.
• Dead-Hand Shot: A giant hand with an eye appears in the cover of Issue 3 and Chapter 3.
• Demonic Possession: In Issue 1 and chapter 1, Pugsley is possessed by a demon named Temeluchus.
• Delayed Reaction: Barney doesn't realise until he is about to go to sleep that he left Pugsley outside.
• Demon Slaying: Barney, Norma, and Pugsley become this through killing demons ranging from half-demon cultists to a Demon King. In a flashback in the second book, we see Courtney and Norma face off against a tentacled demon.
• Dem Bones: Living skeletons are a species of demon in the Lower Planes.
• Dwindling Party: In a Drawlloween post on tumblr, its revealed that there used to be 6 demon kings who ruled during the golden age of demon dominion over the Lower Planes. Nowadays there's only 4 left with Temeluchus dying and Paimon following in the second book, leaving only 2 Demon Kings left.
• Emotion Eater: Dr Mckinley feeds off of people's anxieties.
• Evil Overlooker: The Watcher in the book cover of the Watcher's Test and the Demon Kings in the Broken Halo.
• Faunsand Satyrs: Downplayed as only the former appears. In this universe, fauns are a demon species who hail from Plane 8: Bathmos.
• Fighting for a Homeland: The Plane 7 Resistance was formed to fight back against the Demon Kings and save Earth. They failed.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: Plane 13: Tartarus is this.
• Fish People: The Gillaforms are this. They have permanently moved from their native plane Bathmos to Earth in search of more polluted waters. The movie called "The Fresh-Water Fiend" had a worryingly accurate Gillaform appear in.
• Foregone Conclusion: In the second book flashbacks, its revealed that Courtney back when they were an angel launched a rebellion with Daniel to stop the Divine from dividing the planes once more. It's clear that the rebellion failed as Courtney and Danny are shown as fallen angels with the Divine still in charge.
• Floating Continent: Plane 2: Empyrean has several floating islands.
• Fluffy Cloud Heaven: Plane 1: Divine is this as it has mountains of golden angelic masks sitting above a ocean of clouds.
• Forced Transformation: In Issue 4 and Chapter 4, Pugsley accidentally turns Barney into a dog and Norma into a cat.
• Frankenstein's Monster: The movie "The Modern Prometheus" starred Winslow as Victor Frankenstein with it being implied that his monster was actually the real one.
• George Lucas Altered Version: In the original webcomic, the theme park was called Winslow Wonderland and is run by the reclusive film director Franklin Winslow. By the time it was released as a graphic novel, the theme park was changed to Pollyland, dedicated to the actress Pauline Phoenix (who was briefly mentioned in the original version of issue 5).
• Gladiator Games: Barney faces off against an Ancient Roman gladiator and ends up dying.
• Glamour: Asmodeus uses this to disguise himself as a normal human when he visits Earth. Barney does the same when he and Norma infiltrate Naraka
• Gold and White Are Divine: Gold and white are associated heavily with the angels but they're just as morally diverse as the humans and demons.
• Gorgeous Gorgon: A gorgon is among those who visit the Dead End Hotel.
• Great Escape: The demons stage a massive breakout of Naraka and escape using the middle finger of Fingers.
• Gunboat Diplomacy: The threat of the Divine dividing the planes has kept the demons mostly in check and prevented them from invading Earth or the Upper Planes. It takes Temeluchus being murdered and Paimon thinking it was the angels to cause a rebellion to occur.
• Haunted House: The main location Dead End is this as its home to ghosts and demons and also a portal to the other 12 Planes. According to Hamish Steele's Tumblr, ectoplasma levels are always high when near portals.
• Heaven Above: The 6 Angelic Planes sit above Earth and the Demon Planes.
• Heavenly Blue: Angelic Horde scholars wear blue robes.
• Heaven's Devils: Some demons and fallen angels work for the various organisations founded by the Angelic Horde to manage the Multi-Plane such as the Bureau of Paradoxes which deals with time-travellers.
• Hellevator: The elevator at Dead End functions as this as it's a elevator that links the Multi-Plane together.
• Hellhound: A demon hound appears in Issue 1 of the Original Run. Another one appears among the demon rebellion members at the end of the Broken Halo.
• Hell Invades Heaven: In the Original Run Season 2, Paimon mentions that the demons are demanding the Demon Kings to invade the Upper Planes. In the second book, Paimon tries to convince Courtney to allow the demons to use the elevators to travel up into the Upper Planes.
• Hell Hotel: Norma and Courtney reopen Dead End as a hotel to allow both angelic and demonic beings to relax and have some fun courtesy of the Neutral Plane.
• Helping Hands: A demon who is just a disembodied hand appears in Issue 1.
• Holy Halo: Every angel except for Pael have a halo sitting above their head or part of them.
• Holier Than Thou: Norma encourages Barney to act like this when sneaking into Naraka to rescue Badyah and Courtney.
• Hopeless War: The Dividing War was this to the resistance as they failed to stop the Demon Kings from ravaging Earth and all of them died in the war with only the Watcher surviving. In the Original Run Season 2, Paimon acknowledges that winning against the Angelic Horde would be impossible so the Demon Kings plan on invading Earth to sate the demons' desire for conquest.
• Human Sacrifice: Pauline Phoenix mentions that the elevator is powered by human sacrifices at each end of a pentangle but she later learned that it was the screams that fueled the elevator.
• Inciting Incident: Temeluchus' death sets off a chain of events that leaves the fate of the Multi-Plane hanging in the balance.
• Infinity: The Angels have this as their symbol.
• Insectoid Aliens: A fly-like demon wrestler is one of the many lining up to fight Barney.
• Jack the Ripoff: When Barney, Norma, and the ghost of Pugsley are sent into the past, they face off against a Jack the Ripper-style woman who kills Norma.
• Kaleidoscope Hair: Barney dyes his hair a different color every issue.
• Kicked Out of Heaven: Following their failed rebellion, Courtney along with Danny and every other rebel angel were banished to the Neutral or Lower Planes.
• Killed Off for Real: So far, 3D in the Original Run,the pinky of Fingers and Pugsley have been killed off. In the second book, Kushiel and Paimon both die with the latter taking him with her
• Light Is Not Good: Angels are not necessarily good. In the second book, the angels become the main antagonists with Mindraping Courtney into becoming an angel again and trying to kill Barney and Badyah for getting in their way.
  Courtney: The higher planes might seem more heavenly in their aesthetic, but they're just as ethically diverse as yours!
• Leave No Survivors: The Plane 7 Resistance all ended up dying with the exception of the Watcher.
• Living Lava: A demon made out of fire is seen relaxing at the Dead End Hotel pool.
• Losing Your Head: A demon head with no body is among those who watch Barney's fight and glare angrily at the humans
• The Maze: Plane 12: Dudadel is a plane-wide version of this.
• Mocky Mouse: An evil looking Mickey can be seen in one of the guest comics.
• Monster Arena: The Necropolis Stadium is this as its one of the locations that DWF matches take place.
• The Mothman: The Mothman is among those who visit the Dead End hotel.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: One of the demon wrestlers seen fighting when Barney and Hox enter the King's Crown Stadium has four arms and is fighting a smaller green demon.
• Mushroom Man: A demonic version of this is seen among those in the Dead End lobby.
• Never Suicide: In Issue 6 of the Original Run Swan states that he never actually hung himself, and that his brother Winslow strangled him to death.
• The Neutral Zone: Earth (Plane 7) is supposed to be this as the Angelic Horde and Demons have signed a treaty that states Earth is to remain demon and angel-free and knowledge of demons and angels are to be hidden from the human population.
• The Night That Never Ends: Bathmos seems to be subjected to this.
• The Nicknamer: Norma has nicknames for everyone in Winslow Wonderland. It's stated by her sister that she used to call Barney "The Wrestler".
• Noodle Incident: In the first book, Courtney mentions Grace Jones as a case of never meet your heroes.
• Not What It Looks Like: Swati and Ana Khan find Norma and Badyah in a compromising position.
• Ocean Punk: Plane 9: Doress is this as it's a plane-wide ocean home to gigantic sea monsters with civilisation living on City on the Water.
• Oculothorax: The demon species the Opticlops are this. In the Original Run, Plane 8 is heavily monitored by the Bael Authority since its the last of the Lower Planes before Plane 7. Despite being heavily monitored, it still is a den of criminal activity.
• Our Angels Are Different: Many species inhabit the Upper Planes and vary in appearance ranging from gold-armoured cyclopic birds to water elementals.
• Our Demons Are Different: Demons vary in appearance and size across the Lower Planes.
• Our Goblins Are Different: In Deadendia, goblins are an umbrella term for a number of magically mutated species of human and demons who abused their powers for selfish reasons leading to them mutating.
• Our Vampires Are Different: In Deadendia, vampirism is a disease that most demons are immune to.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Being turned into a werewolf is caused from contracting a disease called lycanthroposis.
• Pictorial Letter Substitution: The "D" in the logo is a D-shaped ghost, with its gaping mouth making up the hollow part.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: In a moment of spite The Watcher calls Barney (who is a trans man) a girl. This hurts even more given who he actually is.
• Potty Failure: In the Watcher's Test, at the Log Plume, Logs is helping kids get off when he realises that the water's warm. A young girl apologises in response, implying that she peed while on the log.
• Pretext for War: Paimon's plan involves revealing that the humans killed Temeluchus in order to convince the demon hordes into invading Plane 7 and the Upper Planes.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Plane 7 was subjected to this during the Dividing War with the Demon Kings and their armies burning it to the ground.
• Scary Jack-in-the-Box: A minor example. When Barney sleeps in his new bedroom, he gets spooked by one of these.
• Scenery Gorn: In the Original Run and graphic novels, we see a lot of the Bad Future where Plane 7 has been turned into a wasteland. In the final issue of the Watchers Test and the Original Run Season 1, we see Pollywood in ruins with a large gaping hole in it and the rest of the park in flames.
• Scenery Porn: Plane 3: Paradiso seems to be this with lush vegetation and big lakes.
• Snakes Are Sinister: A snake-looking demon is among those who gather for Temeluchus arriving on the Neutral Plane. Downplayed as demons aren't necessarily evil.
• Spikes of Villainy: The demonic species the Madobite from Plane 10: Necropolis wear spiked armour. Downplayed as demons are not necessarily evil.
• The Stinger: In Deadendia: The Watcher's Test, after the ending, we see Courtney meeting with the Demon Kings on Plane 13: Tartarus and informing them of who killed Temeluchus.
• Sunken City: In Norma's fear world, Winslow Wonderland (In the Original Run) Pollywood (In the graphic novels) get flooded.
• Tag Team: The Demon Kings do this during their match with Barney.
• This Means War!!: Paimon declares war on the Neutral Plane when she learns that Barney and Norma killed Temeluchus.
• Tragic Villain: The Watcher, who is Pugsley long twisted by demonic possession and war.
• Trash the Set: Dead End is destroyed in both the Original Run season 1 and the Watcher's Test by Pugsley unleashing his magic after his friends die.
• The Undead: Vampires, skeletons, and zombies exist in this universe. The former two are demon species.
• Überwald: Plane 8: Bathmos is this.
• Vestigial Empire: The Empire of Tartarus. It used to be a mighty empire with the demons united as one. Nowadays, its emperor sits petrified with his top commanders the Demon Kings reduced in number and large swathes of demons have moved to Earth or are working for the Angelic Horde.
• Vicious Vac: In Pugsley's fear vision, he, Ana, and Norma hang on for dear life as a giant vacuum tries to suck them in.
• War Arc: The Divine Order is this as it's the final book where the Demon rebellion and their allies make their final stand against the Angelic Horde
• War Is Hell: The Dividing War was the most devastating war that occured on Plane 7. We only see little bits of it but judging from how Earth is a wasteland, and how powerful are the demons and angels, it goes without saying that it was pretty destructive.
• The War Room: The Dead End lobby seems to be this for the demon rebellion.
• World Sundering: The 13 Planes used to be one world until the First Division.
• Wretched Hive: In the Original Run, Plane 8 is this as its home to all kinds of criminals.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: For Norma and Barney, it's been a hour since the angels took Courtney, Badyah, the Demon Kings, and the other demons but for the prisoners, it's been a week or two.
• Yuokai: During his meeting with Hox discussing his next fight, he names a duo of demon wrestlers "The Yokai Brothers" as one of his potential enemies in his next fight.

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