White
Published: MOT Press, 1999
Availability:
- Pb, ISBN 0953700003
A novella; winner of the British Fantasy Award 2000 for Best Short Fiction, shortlisted for an International Horror Guild Award, SOON TO BE A MAJOR HOLLYWOOD MOVIE. The original chapbook is pretty hard to find, but the novella was reprinted in Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror: Volume 13 and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 11.
White came into being because Andy Fairclough asked me for a novella. Andy ran the Masters of Terror website, and when he decided to dip his hand into publishing he approached me to write his launch title. Again, this is a novella that seemed to come out of nowhere. I’d always wanted to write a siege story, but not just a simple one where the monsters are recognisable, the landscape familiar, the victims simply unfortunates thrown together be circumstance. And so White grew out of this idea, a siege novella where the ‘monsters’ are very unclear, where the conflicts inside the house are potentially as harmful as the things outside, and where the landscape is a desolate, deadly snowfield. A cross between The Thing and Assault on Precinct 13.
Reviews:
“… a terrific, very scary novella.” – Ellen Datlow
“White is a great little vignette containing some intriguing ideas and brutal imagery.” – Shivers
“For those who have not yet sampled Lebbon’s doom-laden tales of cosmic consequence, this is a fine place to start.” – Peter Crowther
“A masterpiece of traditional horror, graced with nuggets of sex and splatter. I really can’t praise it enough. It shot me to pieces.” – D.F. Lewis
“… striking and innovative” – Nick Gevers, SF Site
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Comments
November 4th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Hi Tim,
I got into your books after reading your Hellboy novel and I’ve been churning my way through them since. To my amazement, I was up in the loft sifting through the boxes of books I have stashed away, when I realised I already owned Fears Unamed and had never read it.
First off – apologies for that. Secondly, White has to be one of my favourite novella’s of all time. I classic horror story with the perfect mix of disorientation, creeping terror and all out violence. This really impressed me and when I read your quote about The Thing and Assault on Precinct 13 it makes perfect sense (I loved those movies by the way).
So when’s the movie of White coming out?
Cheers
Rich
November 4th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Thanks Rich, that’s high praise indeed. As for the movie version of WHITE, it’s still ticking over. It’s no longer with Rogue Pictures, but I still have high hopes that it’ll hit the biog screen one day.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Tim,
Firstly thank you for renewing my faith in stories and writing of this type. White is amazing. Sorry I did not read it sooner (late 08). But though it might be bad news for you I am glad to hear that White will not be made into a movie yet, as I am hopeful that I can break into movies soon enough so that I can be the one to make that movie! Again, thanks and take care.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Lenny, thank you, that’s veyr nice of you to say. Stephen Susco has the option on WHITE, but I’ve got a million others stories where that one came from!
June 4th, 2010 at 6:51 am
[…] White is still under option to screenwriter Stephen Susco. Things are still moving. Can’t say any more right now, but Stephen’s vision for the film is thrilling. […]
August 11th, 2010 at 1:16 am
I picked up The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror a couple of weeks ago because I haven’t found a good novel or at least didn’t know where to venture to find one. I have to say that your story was by far the best I have read in quite a while. Great story! I’ll be looking to pick up more of your stuff soon. Thanks for the excellent read.
August 16th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Thanks Jason! Hope you enjoy other stuff of mine you might pick up. Do let me know.