Nosferatu is a comic book based on Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,
Plot[]
Issue #1[]
The story begins by telling of "Nosferatu", an evil thing that brought great pestilence to Bremen in 1838 and was directly connected to the young newlywed Johann Hutter and Ellen Hutter. As he leaves for work one morning, Ellen makes Thomas promise her that he will not let his employer, Knock, keep him past closing again. On his way to work, he meets Cavallius, who urges him to make something of himself, but Johann is uninterested, content to enjoy his life of leisure.
As he works, Johann is called by Knock, who tells him that he has received a letter from Count Orlac of Transylvania, who wishes to buy a house in Bremen. He gives Johann the task of travelling to the Count's home and selling him a house. Johann is reluctant to leave Ellen, but Knock promises that it will be a great opportunity for him. Thomas returns home and tells Ellen of his impending journey, which Knock has warned she cannot accompany him on, as it is too dangerous. Ellen is sad that he is leaving, but he promises to return to her as soon as he can and to write to her every day.
Johann shows Ellen the house he plans to sell to Orlac, which is a run-down hovel. Ellen wonder whys anyone would want to live in such a place and Johann replies that he does not know, but it is the Count's wish. As he departs, he suggests that she stay with her friend Annie during his absense. As she watches him leave, Ellen has a distinct and unnatural fear that she will never see him alive again.
Johann rides travels for several days until he reaches Transylvania, where he stops at an inn. The innkeeper is friendly, but when Johann requests a quickly so that he may travel on to the chateau of Count Orlac, the inn falls silent and all eyes fall upon him. The innkeeper warns him that he must not go on, for evil spirits grow all powerful at that house. Johann stays the night in the inn, deciding to set out for Orlac's chateau in the morning. As Johann prepares for bed, he finds The Book of Vampires on his bedside table. He reads it, learning that the first Nosferatu was born in 1443. He hears a howling coming from outside and looks out of the window, seeing several horses and a dog running around in fear. He reads that animals may become aware of a danger that humans are not.
Johann awakes the next morning, pays the innkeeper and rouses a coachman, wishing to distance himself from the inn and the previous night's terror. The coach travels up the mountain, but once they reach a certain point and the sun begins to set, the coachmen refuse to take him any further. He finds their superstition ridiculous, but the set off back down the mountain and leave him behind. With no other choice, he crosses the bridge on foot. As night falls, he sits on a rock and falls asleep. When he wakes, he discovers a coach driven by a sinister coachman. He climbs into the coach and is taken to Orlac's chateau, where he hurries to the entrance to escape the coach and its driver.
Johann prepares what he will say when suddenly the doors open as if guided by unseen hands. Venturing inside, he meets the demonic Count, who tells him that he is late, it is almost midnight and the servants have already retired. Despite his fear, Johann follows Orlac to the dining room, where he eats while his host reads the contract. As the clock strikes midnight, Johann accidentally cuts his thumb with a bread knife. Orlac offers to examine the wound, but Johann insists that it is just a scratch. Orlac invites to sit and chat with him and as the count drones onl, Johann finds himself falling asleep.
Johann wakes the next morning to find Orlac nowhere in sight. He explores the castle and finds many doors locked, but settles in a gazebo in the grounds to write a letter for Ellen. He writes of his disturbing dreams and mysterious bites he has found on his neck, which he speculates to be caused by mosquitoes. He gives the letter to a passing horseman, who refuses to approach the castle and wishes Johann that God may help him.
Later that night, Johann meets with Orlac again, who explains that he sleeps during the day. He is pleased with the house that Johann has suggested for him. Johann reaches towards his suitcase for more documents and accidentally drops his locket. Orlac takes it and sees the image of Ellen within and comments that not seen so glorious a creature in over a hundred years. Johann takes the locket back, bewildered by the Count's comment. Later in the night, Johann sits in his room and reads The Book of Vampires when the doors suddenly opens and Orlac enters.
Issue #2[]
In Bremen, Ellen wakes screaming. She cries for Johann and Annie fetches Doctor Abraham van Helsing. He examines Ellen and concludes that she has suffered a sudden fever, for which he gives her a mild sedative. In Transylvania, Johann awakes the next morning and enter's the castle's crypt, where he finds Orlac sleeping in a coffin. Later that night, Orlac departs from the castle on a carriage carrying several coffins, which are taken to a harbour and brought onboard a ship called the Empusa. Locked in his room and knowing that Ellen is in danger, Johann ties some bedsheets together and climbs out of the window.
In Bremen, Knock is committed to an asylum, where he eats insects. Johann rides furiously to reach Bremen before Orlac. Van Helsing lectures his students by showing them carnivorous plants, but is unable to determine the cause of Knock's madness. Consumed by loneliness, Ellen spends her days sitting by the beach, staring at the horizon and awaiting Johann's return. One day, Annie gives her a letter from Johann that has arrived, but rather than lifting her spirits, it only makes her more sad. Knock steals a newspaper from a man who is sweeping his cell and learns of a plague that is baffling scientists, which he knows to be a sign of Orlac's imminent arrival.
Johann rides until his horse dies from exhaution. He hails a passing rider and demands that he give him his horse. The rider refuses, but Johann overpowers him and steals his horse. Annie finds Ellen sleepwalking on a balcony late at night, telling her to get back into bed. Ellen replies that he is coming, leading Annie to ask who "he" is. Ellen makes her way down to the harbour as the Empusa arrives and is reunited with Johann.
Knock delights at Orlac's arrival as the count unleashes a horde of rats and hides his coffins around the town. Johann tells Ellen that they must stop the evil and she asks what they can do, as she feels Orlac's presence. Van Helsing and Cavallius join several town officials as the body of the captain is taken from the Empusa. The absense of the crew, the rats onboard and the captain's log lead them to conclude that the plague has come to Bremen. A quarantine is placed ion the town and the streets are deserted within the hour as the citizens retreat into their homes.
Knock escapes from the asylum, but is captured by a mob and returned to captivity. As Johann sleeps at night, Ellen stays awake reading The Book of Vampires, where she learns that a woman pure of heart can destroy the vampire. Johann wakes and tells her not to read the book, but Ellen replies that nobody will believe their story about the cause of the plague and that they must take action themselves. She stares out of the window, knowing the Orlac is watching her from the opposite house.
An announcement comes from the mayor that because of the rapid spread of the plague, no more of the sick can be brought to the hospital. Coffins are carried through the streets and crosses are drawn in chalk on doors throughout the town. Johann vows that while he lives, Orlac will not have Ellen. He tell her that he will set out the next day with Van Helsing and Cavallius to find Orlac's layer and discover a way to destroy him. Cavallius is sceptical of Johann's story, but Van Helsing deems it worth looking into and they make a plan for the following day.
Knowing the only way to destroy Orlac, Ellen feigns a headache that night and Johann sets off to fetch Van Helsing. Once he has gone, she climbs out of bed and which Orlac sees, prompting his to leave his dwelling and enter the Hutter residence. Johann finds Van Helsing and Cavallius and alerts them that Ellen has taken ill. Van Helsing, who has recently examined her, is confused before realising what she is doing. Having read the book, they all come to the same conclusion and rush back to the Hutter residence.
Orlac feeds on Ellen's blood until daybreak, when he hears a rooster crowing. He tries to escape, but is exposed to sunlight and destroyed. Johann, Van Helsing and Cavallius arrive too late as Ellen dies, having given her life to rid the world of a terrible evil.