White

by Tim Lebbon

You can run, but you can’t hide... “… striking and innovative” – Nick Gevers, SF Site First comes the Ruin. Society crumbles. Then comes the snow. A handful of survivors flee to a Cornish mansion, seeking peace and safety. Instead, they find themselves under siege from the things now inhabiting the snowscape outside … fleeting, terrifying things seen only on the periphery. And as the danger and horror builds, they come to learn that there are also enemies inside... White is a gripping horror novella sure to delight fans of Stephen King and Simon Clark. Praise for Tim Lebbon’s “Beautifully written and mysterious.” – Richard Laymon “Tim Lebbon displays the sort of cool irony and uncanny mood-making that drive the best ‘Twilight Zone’ stories.” – New York Times Book Review “At the end, you are left with … an impression of a nightmare from which you have awakened and cannot totally shake.” – Dark Echo “One of the most powerful new voices to come along in the genre … Lebbon’s work is infused with the contemporary realism of Stephen King and … the lyricism of Ray Bradbury.” –– Fangoria “Lebbon is a genuinely masterful writer … fresh ideas, shimmering prose, and often terrifying scenarios.” – Rue Morgue “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 “a terrific, very scary novella.” – Ellen Datlow “With The Reach of Children, Lebbon has exceeded even his former astounding works.” – Horror World “Lebbon has written one of the best and most emotionally convincing stories about death that I have ever read.” – Michael Marshall Smith “Even if you haven’t lost a parent, or anyone truly close to you, REACH will give you a true sense of the kind of deep, unyielding sadness such an event brings. It’s a powerful book, and one that deserves to be read.” – Bookgasm “For those who have not yet sampled Lebbon’s doom-laden tales of cosmic consequence, this is a fine place to start.” – Peter Crowther “… striking and innovative” – Nick Gevers, SF Site TIM LEBBON is a New York Times-bestselling writer from South Wales. He’s had over thirty novels published to date, as well as hundreds of novellas and short stories. His latest novel is the thriller The Hunt, and other recent releases include The Silence and Out of the Shadows. He has won four British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Scribe Award, and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, International Horror Guild and Shirley Jackson Awards. Future books include The Rage War (an Alien/Predator trilogy), and the Relics trilogy from Titan. The movie of his story Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage, was released September 2015, and other projects in development include Playtime (an original script with Stephen Volk), My Haunted House with Gravy Media, The Hunt, Exorcising Angels (based on a novella with Simon Clark), and a TV Series proposal of The Silence.

Genres: Horror, Novella, Fiction, Short Stories, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Apocalyptic

62 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

I love writing, reading, triathlon, real ale, chocolate, good movies, occasional bad movies, and cake.

I was born in London in 1969, lived in Devon until I was eight, and the next twenty years were spent in Newport. My wife Tracey and I then did a Good Thing and moved back to the country, and we now live in the little village of Goytre in Monmouthshire with our kids Ellie and Daniel. And our dog, Blu, who is the size of a donkey.

I love the countryside ... I do a lot of running and cycling, and live in the best part of the world for that.

I've had loads of books published in the UK, USA, and around the world, including novels, novellas, and collections. I write horror, fantasy, and now thrillers, and I've been writing as a living for over 8 years. I've won quite a few awards for my original fiction, and I've also written tie-in projects for Star Wars, Alien, Hellboy, The Cabin in the Woods, and 30 Days of Night.

A movie's just been made of my short story Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Wayne Callies. There are other projects in development, too.

I'd love to hear from you!

Reviews

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to believe that this story only comes in at 62 pages.
White was quite epic for me. This tale gave me nightmares. I had read it in an anthology, and for years after I still kept thinking of it. I wanted to read it again, but I had too many anthologies on my bookshelves and was not going to drive myself crazy looking for a story from someone I couldn't remember about a story with snow in England! Nuts! Eventually, I came across this and knew! I bought it and downloaded it to my Kindle fire. I've read this tale at least 4 times. I think it's bleak, and it out me into the mindset of these character's.
One of my favorite short stories of all time.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

White by Tim Lebbon is a really quick horror novella at only a little over sixty pages. In a snowy dystopian setting a few survivors are in fear for their lives as they are being stalked by the unknown in the frozen tundra.

This novella is one that there wasn't a lot of depth to the story but instead jumps right into a fearful situation. The problem with this is that none of the characters really stand out or the setting make much sense when tossed into the story.

At one point during this read I was kind of wondering if a group of college kids maybe just went skiing and started partaking in some illegal narcotics if you get my drift. With a little blood tossed in and some phantom like happenings and I suppose this little horror story would be a great read for some but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

Overall, 2.5 stars. Quickie horror novella that just didn't have enough depth to it for my taste.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....

[Kaisersoze · Rating 4 out of 5]

White is a fantastic novella depicting a refreshingly different type of apocalypse referred to by the characters as The Ruin. Told from the first-person POV of the main protagonist, White throws the reader right into the mix of the horror as six surviving individuals holed up in a country manor wait out the worst of what has befallen the main population centres, only to learn that they have isolated themselves, amongst the seemingly endless snow falls, with something incredibly deadly that is intent on devouring them all.

I have an affinity for snow. Not that I get to see it very often, but when I do, I am regularly amazed by just about everything to do with it. I guess it's like someone who lives landlocked and gets blown away whenever they see a crystal clear beach (whereas I live near a whole coastline of those). So stories set in or around snow already have an advantage for me. And White runs with that advantage, carving out something truly special along the way. Lebbon's writing has a way of insidiously weaving its way into your psyche to leave you shivering - both in fear and in anticipation of more...

The bonus short story at the end, KISSING AT SHADOWS, is nowhere near as powerful, but from what I can tell, serves to depict another area of the world after The Ruin has taken place.

All in all, White is highly recommended and goes straight into my top 10 reads of the year.

4.5 (4 here; 5 on Amazon) Barely Glimpsed Figures for White.

[Bjørn Skjæveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

"White" is an incredibly tense and atmospheric short story about a small group of apocalypse survivors, who find themselves stranded in an old manor somewhere in a snowcovered English countryside. Outside, mysterious and terrifying beings are lurking. And the snowfall seems like it will never end...

It's been almost 25 years since I first read this exceptional short story (it was included in the anthology "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" volume 11 - which I still own), and the story was so haunting that it has stuck with me ever since. I was a little wary of reading it again, in case it wasn't as good as I remembered it, but nope... it was just as amazing this time around! It might actually be one of the greatest horror short stories I've ever read.

A bleak and harrowing tale of grief, despair and unimaginable terrors. Highly recommended!

[Warren Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite my final assessment that this novella is a mediocre apocalyptic "base-under-seige" horror, I certainly can understand its wide appeal. It possesses so many familiar elements to great horror stories and films that fans of the genre will feel suitably immersed in its familiar but cold embrace, like watching your favorite bit from your favoritist show for the 80th time. Novices to horror will also love the fast action and air of mystery behind the whole thing, and probably will enjoy guessing and discussing what it all means with their reading buddies.

But for me, all of these strengths were just precisely the problem. None of this felt original to me.

But what do I know? Well, I'll say that I knew and anticipated every element of this plot ahead of time. And if you are even a casual fan of horror, you know the rules, and this novella breaks none of them. I'll explain below. Therefore, if you still think you really want to read this story, stop here because:

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Somewhat unlikable character? Check. Not there was any reason for him to be very unlikable. He smoked weed. You're not supposed to do that in horror stories. Sure sign he'd be the first to go. He was.

Strong female lead? Check. Sure to be wielding a shotgun at the end and kicking some butt. She does. But is she the final girl? You know she won't be, because someone else is narrating. In stories like these, only one survives long enough to tell the tale. How they are telling the tale and to who makes no difference, because it's all about the "unexplained."

And speaking of the unexplained--you guessed it. Check. Weird stuff happens. You never know why. It's cosmic horror, yo. To explain it would be to ruin the mystery. No, it's not an excuse to cash in on meaningless and plot-less genre fiction! Not at all! Unknown beings emerge from a snowstorm that has put the world in chaos. Do they wait for the cold and snow to wipe out humanity? No, they grow impatient and attack a bunch of nobodies trapped in an old mansion, picking them off one by one. This is something that we've never seen before! Except maybe like in every John Carpenter movie. Or in George Romero's original Living Dead films. Or in Josh Malerman's "Bird Box." Or...

But somehow despite the surface-level mystery behind the beings attacking the humans and their relationship to a worldwide snow storm, every trope was covered. The creatures blending in to the background. Flitting out the corner of the eye. Killing people off frame until the end of the story. Creatures that defy description. Creatures that kill for no identifiable reason. Creatures that do other things for no identifiable reason, like having sex with one guy instead of eating him like they do with all the rest. I guess the author felt obliged to throw in a scene of monster sex because vivid descriptions of penises and semen are supposed to be "shocking" and "disturbing" and sure to please the Ed Lee and Richard Laymon crowd.

And what horror story marketed toward the 18 to 48 crowd would be foolish enough to not feature prominently some Lovecraftian cosmic horror? Big CHECK! In fact, to make sure the audience feels that particular brand of existential terror, the author has characters ramble on about how God doesn't care about us wrinkled pink things, or is punishing us for things we don't fully understand, or is simply playing tricks for fun, or is just looking down on us with no sense of compassion, or doesn't exist. Just in case the prose otherwise failed to convey that you are worthless and alone in the universe. Incidentally, Happy New Year!

Seriously, I know this story came out some years ago, but it never was ahead of its time, and it certainly didn't feel fresh to me reading this at the dawn of 2021. Lebbon himself would later write a similar novel, "The Silence," that was done much better and made into a Netflix original.

But again, on the surface, it's got all the makings of a great horror, and as a tribute to the "base-under-seige" subgenre, it is quite effective. And despite my joshing the author in this review, I must admit he is quite talented. His prose truly flows with a cadence that does almost feel like poetry.

So perhaps this short piece is a good place to begin to know the work of this popular author, and I know that many folks have enjoyed this particular dark fantasy. You just might too, especially on a cold day when you have had it up to your eyeballs with snow, gray skies, and lockdowns.

If this were a more vintage publication from at least 40 years ago, I'd probably have enjoyed this much more myself, nestled under my blanket like a kid watching Saturday morning "creature features." But this is a contemporary piece that just felt like the bare formula for dozens of stories we've all experienced already. There was no attempt to bring anything new or fresh. And somehow that insulted me.

[Steve Stred · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! *

I’ve read 3 or 4 of Tim’s works now and he’s quickly grown into a must-read author for me. From ‘The Silence‘ and ‘Eden‘ it seems like Tim spends a fair amount of time pondering the end of humanity and what the survivors must deal with.

I snagged ‘White‘ when the COVID-19 Pandemic broke and Tim offered a number of his works for free.

What I liked: I typically don’t mention my own works in reviews, but if you’ve followed my writing side you know how much I love isolation stories and snow stories. ‘White‘ is both. The world has been struck by a mysterious infliction and at the same time scattered reports have surfaced suggesting Nuclear weapons were deployed. Shortly after, it began to snow.

We are introduced to a group of survivors, stuck in a manor with no means to escape.

I loved the tension that played out between the characters, and while this is a fast read, it feels like a full-length novel. We get backstories and revelations about characters and then, of course, some of the group spot movement outside.

What I didn’t like: While this did feel like a longer read, I so desperately wanted to know more about what was going on, what the movements were and when an overturned boat is mentioned, I mentally begged Tim for a follow-up!

Why you should buy this: I was actually startled by the similarities between what Tim described almost a decade ago and today’s world. So, if you’re looking for an unlikely topical read, this fits the bill. Otherwise, if you’re like me, and love a survival story about people trapped and snowbound, this one is perfect!

[Wayne Fenlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this novella. It has everything going on. All the elements of horror and suspense, and it has such a deep emotional punch to it too.
The writing was superb as well.
Top tier stuff.

Easy 5 stars.

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything is white. That's the backdrop for Tim Lebbon's appropriately named novella, White. Snow as far as the eye can see and it never lets up. What causes this apocolyptic setting? We don't know. We only know that a small group of survivors are holed up in a remote coastal Victorian mansion surrounded by tons of the white stuff. The characters are an eclectic group that you reall don't get to know before they are picked off one by one by unseen creatures that blend in with the snowy landscape. Lebbon does a nice job painting the bleak landscape and the claustrophobic feel of the walls closing in. Unfortunately, we really don't care all that much because we're not vested in the characters and there is no real explanation on why they are all in the mansion, what the creatures are or where they come from, or what caused the shit to hit the fan in the first place. Too many unanswered questions make for a lackluster story.

3 Shotgun Blasts to the Head out of 5

*This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


You can also read my other reviews and author interviews at:

https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com

http://intothemacabre.booklikes.com

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

A decent horror novella by one of my very favorite authors. This book has plenty of cold, even more snow, and an antagonist that may or may not be what it seems.

I am tough on novellas as they often seem to be lacking due to their size alone. This one is no different. I am giving it 4 stars which is one more than it deserves because Lebbon is such a fabulous writer.

"When Jayne died there was no sense of release. My grief was as great as if she’d been killed at the height of health, her slow decline doing nothing to prepare me for the dread that enveloped me at the moment of her last strangled sigh. Still I was under siege, this time by death. The certainty of its black fingers rested on my shoulders day and night, long past the hour of Jayne’s hurried burial in a local football ground alongside a thousand others. I would turn around sometimes and try to see past it, make out some ray of hope in a stranger’s gaze. But there was always the blackness bearing down on me, clouding my vision and the gaze of others, promising doom soon. "

This is an enjoyable fast read that gives me another opportunity to tell my friends to read TIm Lebbon.

[Leah Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

Winter-themed horror is something I always want to love, but am constantly disappointed by. Snow, The Shuddering... it's usually just bad. I mean, we also have stuff like At The Mountains of Madness, but modern "snow horror" tends to leave me feeling very un-spooked. I had middling success with Tim Lebbon's The Silence and thought, "hey, that guy's okay, let's read some creepy snow stuff for Spooktober!"

This was an okay book. The bad guys (bad... entities? bad ghosts?) were inventive and certainly original. The snowy setting was quite effective: our main characters are snowbound in a remote mansion while they watch the world end on tv. They're only 5 miles from town, but with the snow several feet deep getting there is an impossible task. Eventually, the tv and radio go out. What happened to the world outside? And what are the strange white creatures they've been seeing out of the corner of their eyes?

However, the length really hurts the mood and storytelling. It's quite short, barely novella length. It's easier to categorize this as a lengthy short story. And while the cast is small, I felt like we never really got to know anyone. A lot of time is spent setting up events: what's happening now, what happened before. There's little time for any character development or discoveries, and we find out literally nothing about the white things OR what happened outside. Which, in a longer book where we got more hints and ominous background information, would be fine. But I found this overall a frustrating read: it had a lot of potential, and I think there was way too much crammed into about 60 pages. It wasn't a bad book, and it was an easy read, but it's nothing I will look back fondly on.

[arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review]

[Kelly B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small group of people have been seeking sanctuary in an isolated manor, trying to escape society and it's wars, riots, rampant terminal diseases. People are calling the last days the "ruin", and it seems fitting. What could be worse than society falling to pieces?

Well, it turns out there is something worse. A never-ending snowstorm has trapped the group in the manor, and one of them has been found in the snow, ripped to shreds. What or who killed him? Why was he talking about seeing "angels" in the snow before he died?

This story was a timely read for me, as I read it on a freezing cold day waiting for a snowstorm to hit the next day. The story moves along quickly, with a nice level of creepiness. There is some gore, but I didn't think it was too extreme.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one long time ago and had fond recollections of it as I do with most of early Lebbon's horror. It held up to rereading, but what a depressing read. Not that one expects happy or uplifting from post apocalyptic fiction, but this is just overwhelmingly bleak rendered all the more so by Lebbon's excellent writing. This edition consists of a novella and a short story set in the same dying world. White in particular is a claustrophobic nightmare of a read for a snow day. Good strong read, but very heavy in a way that's easy to appreciate and tough to love.

[Hunter Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant novella by Tim Lebbon. This is one that will stay with me for a long time. Poetic and terrifying.

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some aspects of the horror in this that I really enjoyed, but overall, the lack of any explanation and the ending left me really disappointed.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Suspenseful, a little gory and very entertaining. Great pacing on this one. I still don’t know what the bad guys are.? What happened to the world?

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of people are holed up in an old manse in SW England, caught in a PA world where snow covers everything, white is everywhere. Society was already on the brink then it all started. And now, one by one, these refugees are being picked off and may be seeing something in the snow, but it's white so they can't be quite sure is tearing them to pieces. This story was suspenseful, full of a sense of dread, bloody and brutal and bleak. Another excellent story from Tim Lebbon.

[Lisa Baillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Would be very fitting in a movie. Will be looking out for it on our screens. Brilliant setting for a horror. Trapped in by the snow, waiting.... All very different and interesting characters. Would recommend this to others

Ty to Author Tim Lebbon and Endeavour Press for a copy of this book in return for a review

[Scott Goudsward · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my initial read into Tim Lebbon's work, all I have to say is... Holy Shit! What a great story, I don't think I've ever felt so "chilled" reading a story/book in this type of wintery apocalypse. I can't wait until my next venture into his fiction. Cannot rec this story, enough.

[Leigh Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing as usual from Tim Lebbon. He weaves a tale of lives shattered with wonderfully visceral visuals.

The world is broken and a small group of people have holed up in an old manor by the sea. As the snow piles up, so too do the bodies, torn and mutilated. All is white but for the crimson stain of a life brutally taken upon the snow.
One by one, the band of survivors begin to see and hear strange things outside, culminating in a climax that's both brutal and heartbreaking.

A short read, ideal for the winter season. And if you should see shapes twisting outside your window in the snow, it's already too late...

[Clariece · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely an interesting read, the snow monsters left me asking a lot of questions on what they were. The ending is very bleak and it was a well written novella that felt a little longer than the 69 pages it was but not in a bad way. I do feel like it was missing something though so I left it with a 3 star rating.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

White is Tim Lebbon's brilliant post apocalyptic novella. This isn't a zombie apocalypse, or one of destruction after a nuclear war. Instead, Lebbon brings us undefined monsters in an eerie landscape of unending snow. He introduces us to an assorted cast of characters each with their own neurosis; they are all trapped together in a house where they were originally charged with doing research on what was going wrong with the environment.
Lebbon uses his superb writing skills to slowly draw the reader into an increasingly terrifying situation with no means of escape. This is a book I would recommend to anyone, no matter the genre they normally read, just so they could experience the surreal and terrifying world that Lebbon has created.

As a bonus there is a short story included with this novella. It perfectly compliments the bleak tone that is in White. Lebbon gives his readers a little something extra with this emotional story of a family that has been torn apart and a husbands undying loyalty

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is just something about snow that adds to a horrible situation making is seem so much worse. Imagine, snowed in, waiting, knowing there is something out there and it is coming.......what would you do?

This is called a Novella, I call it a short story and I am not a lover of them. I find that there is not enough time to really establish the characters enough for me to really care about them. This book was different, the characters were very unique and I quickly started to hold my breath wondering who would survive and how.

White is a quick, enjoyable read by a great author.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read White in exchange for an honest review.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short read and spooky enough to keep it entertaining, but not strong enough to NOT put down. In fact, as short as it was, it took me a few days to finish just because I was not fully invested in the story. The characters seemed "unfinished", as if the author had not fully developed them in his own head. I didn't like any of them enough to sit on the edge of my seat and hope that he somehow made it out of this mysterious situation. And the UNanswered questions! This does not always bother me if the author has set up a story so believable that I can make up a variety of my own answers, but unfortunately this story not only left me confused, I did not even care enough to try.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a strange short horror novella but I rather enjoyed this book I liked how it was set out a group of survivors in an mansion isolated from the rest of the fallen world with no help coming their situation becomes dire when bodies start turning up all torn apart and some thing is lurking out in the snow. It was a interesting short horror story

[Fiona Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really quite impressive, what Tim Lebbon can achieve in terms of world building, when writing his novellas. This one did feel slightly more rushed than usual, but I suspect that's just because there was real potential to expand this out into a novel. Regardless, it was a good, short, read.

[Elaine White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book – White
Author – Tim Lebbon
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 62
Cover – Creepy!
POV – 1st person, past tense
Would I read it again – No
Genre – Horror, Novella, Fiction


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


Maybe I'm insane or maybe what I just read was rubbish, I can't decide. What I do know is that I just read a story about apocalypse, death, victims snowed in, and murder and I wasn't once a) frightened b) scared c) concerned or d) all that bothered about who lived or died.

Let me keep it simple:
It had a brilliant opening line - “We found the first body two days before Christmas.” but that was the best thing about it. Chapter 1 was a whole 21% of the story. The ENTIRE story fit into 49% of the book I read! I don't just feel disappointed, I feel cheated. Why the heck would anyone waste 51% of a book with an excerpt of another book?????? Please explain this to me, because I DON'T. GET. IT!

I'm not a fan of 1st person POV in the first place and this one really reminds me why. We see nothing about the main character that isn't thought by himself. We don't even know his name. Ever. In the whole story it was “I” and no name. And there are so much flashbacks as thinking back to things that have happened before.
There were serious editing issues and I see nothing here that tells me it's an unedited/unformatted document. Either way, if this has even been LOOKED at by the author, after writing it, then it shouldn't have these mistakes, unless it's a formatting issue. I'm talking about words running into each other, gaps between paragraphs that are not scene breaks, and a whole lot of other grammar issues.
Honestly, I was bored. It didn't have that 'horror' impact I was hoping for. There wasn't much going on that scared me or that was psychologically frightening. In a way, it reminded me more of Agatha Christie's “Ten Little Indians” film adaptation, that anything that might represent horror. And that ending? Seriously? That's how you end a psychological horror story? It was abrupt, bordered on lazy and I really don't appreciate that there wasn't a single attempt at explanation or resolution to the “why” or the “how”.

[❤ArtfullySinful❤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I saw God looking down on us," Rosalie said quietly, "with blood in his eyes."

As a group struggles to survive with the snow billowing against the aged manor, creatures within the shadows are lurking and waiting for a slip up. As they tugged on their hearts, posing as loved ones lost and missing, oncoming first Boris, who was the opening death, as he was the boyfriend of Charley, who also met her end. Next came Brand, and Ellie took her life through a suicide, after killing Hayden who was caught in intercourse with the white creatures from outside.

'Prove him wrong if you have to. Prove him wrong. Help me to survive, and prove him wrong.'

He started seeing his late wife Jayne, her voice calling to him at the odd hours of the night, as he struggled against the temptation to see her again. After she fell ill to the mystery illness that plagued the world around them, few were left spared, and those that did pray they wouldn't have once they stare death in the face. Oh fuck, don't tell her. Loneliness was praying on their fragile and isolated minds, causing several to come to the callings on the monsters lurking outside. I don't want to find out just yet. You never wanted to see them, because of who you saw, was never standing in the snow...

She ran back screaming. She'd only recognized her boyfriend by what was left of his shoes.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Tim Lebbon’s novella White, a bunch of people are stuck in a manor house during a wintry apocalypse. They know little about what’s going on out in the world, but enough to know they might be better off where they are. Until, that is, people start dying in terribly violent ways. There’s something white out there moving against the snow. But what will happen if it manages to come inside the manor?

We know very little about this apocalypse except for glimpses. There’s a disease ravaging the population. The earth itself seems to be rising up against people. The climate has gone crazy. Perhaps the earth has simply decided that man’s time is over. But we see this vast set of circumstances only through the lens of a small, fragile group of people suffering from arguments, different ideas of what should be done, and a dwindling supply of everything necessary. There’s a lot we won’t have learned by the end of the book, because the larger problems aren’t what it’s all about. It’s just this one story that happens to be set within that context.

As long as you’re fine reading a story that doesn’t particularly address the over-arching world issues, I think you’ll enjoy this. I certainly did.


Original review posted on my blog: https://www.errantdreams.com/2021/04/...

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in South Florida is wonderful for much of the year. However, now, towards the end of October, I would like to experience some brisk weather - unfortunately, we have rain and humidity. So, with that being said, I was looking for something that would immerse me in wintery coldness. Biting winds, snowy drifts, freezing temps, chilling plotline - 'White' by Tim Lebbon fit that bill to a T.
This is a very short, quick moving novella. What I very much enjoyed was the way Lebbon set up the story to quickly ramp up tension and to engulf the reader in feelings of claustrophobia and paranoia. I was immediately sucked into the story, and there was no stopping until it was complete.
My only complaint was that the story was not long enough to let me connect to any of the characters. We don't get much backstory - a little bit, but not much. There is so much happening so quickly that I felt like I was struggling to ground myself in any of the characters. I would like to read a much longer story that explained more about this world, The Ruin, the characters' backstories, etc.
But this is a small complaint, as the story does work for me, and well. Once the story was ended, I did need to step outside into the heat and humidity to warm up - both my body and my spirit.

[Shunny Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

“White” by Tim Lebbon is a creepy and immersive horror novella that really knows how to build tension. Set in a remote, snow-covered landscape, it follows a group of people trying to survive against a strange, malevolent force that seems to be haunting their every move. The atmosphere is where this book really shines—Lebbon does an amazing job of making the setting feel just as terrifying as the supernatural elements. It’s like the snow and isolation are characters in their own right, adding to the sense of dread.

The characters are easy to care about, and their struggles feel real, which makes it all the more intense when things start to go wrong. The story’s pacing is appropriate for a novella and the tension never really lets up, keeping you hooked from start to finish. That said, the ending might not satisfy everyone. However, the ride itself is definitely worth it.

If you’re a fan of atmospheric horror or survival thrillers, “White” will keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s a well-crafted, intense read that mixes mystery and terror in all the right ways.