Rise of the Midnight Sons
After being killed by Blackout (Lilin), Danny Ketch’s soul, which has been separated from Ghost Rider, is in a unique incarnation of purgatory accessible by Lilith, mother of all demons who wishes to possess him
She has a vision of a group of people who will band together and combat her children. Two of the people appear to be Morbius and Blade along with Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze
At a mausoleum in Brooklyn, Blackout escapes, who was put underground by Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch). Ghost Rider has a vision of Lilith’s children, (The Lilin) and Lilith coming together. He lets Blackout go because he believes there is a way to save Dan
Ghost Rider and Blaze ride to Providence, Rhode Island to rendezvous with Blaze’s carnival
In the Greenlandic Arctic, Lilith emerges into the earthly plane from the carcass of a whale and begins calling her Lilin to her, the first being Pilgrim
She then gathers Creed and Blackout into her ranks
Blaze meets with Clara- a psychic who sees the vision that Ghost Rider shared with Blaze of the group of warriors vs the Lilin
Creed, Blackout, and Pilgrim attack the carnival and kidnap Blaze’s son Craig to coerce him into coming to them
They find the Lilin and in a scuffle, Creed is beheaded by a hellfire gun and take Craig back. Pilgrim and Blackout retreat to Lilith with Creed’s head who is still alive but is discarded by Lilith like nothing
Clara tells them to find a woman named Martine Bancroft at the Paramount Hotel in NYC. Martine is Morbius’ex-girlfriend who first appeared in the Six Arms Saga as his girlfriend
Once they find Martine, she tells them she’s looking for Morbius. Ghost Rider recognizes a photo of him as one of the members in his vision
Lilith recruits two more Lilin, Fang and Nakota, and has Nakota use her special ability of clairvoyance to show Lilith that Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and Martine are also on Morbius’ trail
Blaze, Rider, Martine, and a chemist named David Langford enter Morbius’ daytime hideout in uptown Manhattan
Through Nakota’s clairvoyance, Lilith had Fang taint Langford’s serum that he prepared for Morbius intending to poison Morbius with demon blood not knowing that Morbius is a vampire and Langford tainted it himself already intending to kill Morbius himself
After knocking Morbius out and taking him to Langford’s lab, Langford administers the serum and causes Morbius to react unpredictably and to Langford’s surprise, Morbius flees
The serum causes Morbius to revert to human form and back. He returns to Langford’s lab where he finds a bleeding, dying Martine. Not able to help himself, he drinks from her wound and condemns himself. Seeing that Langford was responsible (who shot Martine after she found out his motives), Morbius kills him and drinks his blood
Morbius takes a sample of Langford’s serum and just as he’s about to lose it in an explosion, Rider catches it before hitting the ground and asks Morbius who he is before giving it to him
Morbius relays his history and makes a deal to only drink the blood of the guilty. Rider accepts after using the Penance Stare to truly see that Morbius is repentant
Seeing that Morbius survived the assassination attempt, Lilith tells Nakota to locate Victoria Montesi next
Rider and Blaze return to the Quentin carnival in Providence
They head to NYC to find a professor named Louise Hastings- another member of the vision
In Rome, an assassination attempt on Montesi fails. Revealed that Lilith has allied with the Darkholders- a cult that worships the Darkhold (Book of Sins)- to bring Chthon onto the earthly plane. The Montesi family are the protectors of the Darkhold thus why she must be eliminated
Montesi flies to NYC and crosses paths with Hastings who knows her. They mutually confirm that Dr. Strange is currently in possession of the Darkhold
Prior to running into Montesi, Hastings was on a case that led her to the apartment of Dr. Donald J Walsh who gained immortality by becoming a mass of worms after reading a page from the Darkhold given to him by a midget
Rider, Blaze, Hastings, Montesi, and her bodyguard Sam Buchanan confront Walsh
That night Montesi is attacked by Walsh and Hastings tells everyone to head to Central Park. There they are surprised by Lilith who used Nakota’s clairvoyance. Walsh is consumed by birds and Lilith retreats after being shot by Blaze’s hellfire gun. Nakota is left behind
Lilith recruits her newest child Skinner in Chatham, NY, who intercepts and attacks Blaze in Dutchess County. Skinner then hunts him
Ghost Rider is chasing Nakota in Millbrook hoping she can lead him to Lilith but she is teleported away by Pilgrim to Boston
Rider and Blaze take on Skinner and incinerate his flesh away with the hellfire gun. Blaze shoots him numerous times after Skinner reveals a monstrous skeletal form. Thinking him dead, Blaze and Rider ride to Boston. Skinner yet lives
They find Nakota in Boston where Rider uses the Penance Stare on her
He sees a vision of Lilith seeking 3 men. These 3 men are the Nightstalkers- Frank Drake, descendant of Dracula; Hannibal King, human turned vampire; and Eric Brooks aka Blade who gained vampiric characteristics when he was born due to his mother being bitten by the same vampire who bit King- Deacon Frost
Lilith, posing as a normal woman, hires Borderline Investigations (Drake, King, Blade) to kill Rider and Blaze
The 5 fight and Drake, King, and Blade are almost successful were it not for Skinner’s foolish taunts for them to finish Blaze and Rider off. Blade decapitates him after which Doc Strange brings his head to Lilith and revealing he is the orchestrator of bringing this group together to combat her forces
Drake, Blade, and King give Rider and Blaze a warning, since they vow to eliminate any supernatural or occult threats
Doctor Strange teleports and gathers the Nightstalkers, Rider and Blaze, Montesi/Buchanan/Hastings, and Morbius to the Greenlandic Arctic. Lilith has gone with the Lilin
Lilith is thwarted in her plan to bring the Lilin to Earth. She even manages to turn Danny Ketch into a Lilin but GR sends him back inside the Rift that Lilith opened
Doc Strange sends everybody back to where they were before they were teleported. He saves Rider, Blade, and Morbius from being killed by King, Drake, and Blade. He tells the former 3 he will explain everything to them
Lilith is still alive who was defeated by Rider when he put her into her own rift which was a portal on her torso
The prelude encounter of Blaze and Rider vs Hag and Troll. Refer to the highlighted section of The Trial of Venom to follow what happens next.
The final story sees Blaze and Rider deal with an elderly woman who, through the power of one of the pages of the Darkhold, can see through the eyes of a monster and murders young people. As a young woman she used to murder children until she became physically handicapped and had the monster do it by proxy. After learning that she is responsible, Ghost Rider uses his Penance Stare on her