As the Sun Goes Down [Hardcover]

Tim Lebbon (Author), Alan M. Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2000

his landmark volume marked the first U.S. publication of British horror phenomenon, Tim Lebbon. As the Sun Goes Down collected 90,000 words of his best work, including several original pieces, like "The Unfortunate", which went on to win a Bram Stoker award, and was included in several "Year's Best" anthologies. As the Sun Goes Down also features an introduction by Ramsey Campbell. This collection presents a tableau of stories each very distinct in content and form, yet inextricably linked in disturbing the reader and challenging their accepted values. Not one tale is wasted in Lebbon's determination to subvert our perceptions of love, life, nature, beauty and the innocence of childhood. His use of language and narrative form is unrelenting, each vying to create images from words that incessantly chip away at our confidence in the so-called 'truths' of existence. In addition to winning the British Fantasy award, and the Bram Stoker Award, Lebbon managed, with this collection, to completely disgust a reviewer at Publishers Weekly, who went out of his or her way to trash As The Sun Goes Down... "Unpleasant people doing disgusting things is a theme that bludgeons its way through this collection of 16 horror stories... If only the nightmares and unpleasantries created by this collection would ... fade ... away." Other critics have had nicer things to say about Tim Lebbon, and As the Sun Goes down: "...the darker moments of life are central to Lebbon's work. Few writers can plumb the depths of these moments with his sensitivity and unflinching frankness." - SF Site "Lebbon is quite simply the most exciting new name in horror for years." - SFX Magazine "Lebbon is the real thing. He's going to be Major - Steve Rasnic Tem "..A firm and confident style, with elements of early Clive Barker." - Phil Rickman, author of The Chalice "Lebbon never disappoints. His consistently first-rate stories crackle with invention and surprises galore." - Simon Clark, author of Nailed by the Heart and Darkness Demands Contents: * Introduction by Ramsey Campbell * The Empty Room * Life Within * The Butterfly * Endangered Species in C Minor * Dust * Fell Swoop * Recent Wounds * The Repulsion * Unto Us * The Last Good Times * King of the Dead * Recipe for Disaster * The Beach * Reconstructing Amy * The Unfortunate * Bomber's Moon

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unpleasant people doing disgusting things is a theme that bludgeons its way through this collection of 16 horror stories (12 previously unpublished), by British Fantasy Award winner Lebbon. First up is "The Empty Room," an unsuspenseful gagger about one boy tormenting another then leaving him in the clutches of a monster, while he bargains with the dying kid for his stuff. Equally heinous is "The Butterfly," in which Mary's mother, who "must have shit me out, then carried on fucking the doctor," tries to get Mary eaten by lions to collect on insurance money. When the lions won't bite, Mummy Dearest runs over Mary's legs. Ultimately Mary has her revenge when wild creatures only she can see eat her neighbors, innocent and guilty alike. In Lebbon's science fictional exercise, "Dust," an overweight man in a downed spacecraft is tormented by his companions. Locking him away from the little food left, they delight in torturing him. Some "aliens" and an abusive father also appear, but they do nothing to illuminate these characters or make them more appetizing. There's also a fantasy, "King of the Dead," in which every living thing on an otherwise innocuous island dies horribly. In the closer, "Bomber's Moon," death is clearly the preferred outcome as Danny, who did a horrible deed in wartime, is "feeling the tides of life slowly drawing away from him. With them, went the nightmares." If only the nightmares and unpleasantries created by this collection would also fade so peacefully away.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; 1st edition (December 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892389088
• ISBN-13: 978-1892389084
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,619,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been published for ten years now, and you can find out loads about me at my website www.timlebbon.net. I'm the author of over thirty books, including the Noreela series of fantasy books (Dusk, Dawn, Fallen and The Island), the NY Times Bestselling novelisation of the movie 30 Days of Night, and several books with Christopher Golden, including The Map of Moments and the forthcoming Secret Journeys of Jack London for Harper. I've also written several screenplays and some TV proposals. I've won several prestigious awards, and some of my work has been optioned for the big screen.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A ridiculous Publishers Weekly review. Superb collection, December 8, 2004

By 

R. Benardes "www.maquinariodanoite.blogspot.com" (Bahia - Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: As the Sun Goes Down (Hardcover)

Don't bother with the utterly ridiculous,shallow and biased PW review. ATSGD is a superb collection written in a a clear yet literary style by brit author Tim Lebbon.Lebbon's moving,poignant and scary short stories sounds like a mix of Stephen King,Ray Bradbury and a dash of Clive Barker;he is a very skilled writer with a special talent for caracterization.
Simply one of the best collections of the last ten years. If you like well crafted dark stories with a mainstream sensibility you can't go wrong with this.

1 * Introduction
5 * The Empty Room ================= *****
17 * Life Within =================== ****1/2
31 * The Butterfly ================= ***1/2
45 * Endangered Species in C Minor = ****1/2
59 * Dust ========================== ****
71 * Fell Swoop ==================== ****
87 * Recent Wounds ================= *****
101 * The Repulsion ================ *****
113 * Unto Us ====================== **1/2
127 * The Last Good Times ========== ****
141 * King of the Dead ============= ****
159 * Recipe for Disaster ========== ***1/2
167 * The Beach ==================== ****1/2
170 * Reconstructing Amy =========== ****1/2
183 * The Unfortunate ============== ***1/2
239 * Bomber's Moon ================

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong collection from a thoughtful writer, January 4, 2006

By 

gothic cowgirl (NorCal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As the Sun Goes Down (Hardcover)

Tim Lebbon's works sometimes take time to appreciate. If you've read "White and Other Tales of Ruin," you probably know just what I mean. He has a knack for adopting an oblique style that keeps you guessing just a little too much, but continues to work on you long after you've finished the story. This approach can make for a frustrating read regardless of the potential future reward. However, "As the Sun Goes Down" is an unusually strong collection, carefully written and spare. Bookended by two excellent stories of childhood amorality and subsequent guilt, the stories contained within primarily deal with the innerspace of the human psyche, the dilemmas of life and how we choose to deal with them, and how our choices sometimes lead us to places we would rather not go.

These stories do not need monsters (except for the excellent "King of the Dead," whose monsters are of the most unsettling variety) to entertain. Instead, Lebbon turns the focus inward, seeking out the hidden shadows within ourselves. This is a much more effective type of horror, in my opinion. How much can you really trust yourself and your loved ones?

4 stars for more typos than should be acceptable, even from a small press, and for a couple of stories which foray into Lebbon's oblique mode. Otherwise, excellent collection.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As The Sun Goes Down - Assailing Assumptions, January 22, 2001

By 

kath deakin (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As the Sun Goes Down (Hardcover)

Having read most of Tim Lebbon's work to date, I have had the pleasure of witnessing his writing develop both in confidence and maturity. With this collection Lebbon clearly demonstrates how he has completely conquered the short story as a medium.

As The Sun Goes Down presents a tableau of stories each very distinct in content and form, yet inextricably linked in disturbing the reader and challenging their accepted values. Not one tale is wasted in Lebbon's determination to subvert our perceptions of love, life, nature, beauty and the innocence of childhood. His use of language and narrative form is unrelenting, each vying to create images from words that incessantly chip away at our confidence in the so-called `truths' of existence.

Lebbon is a horror writer we are told, but to consider the genre before the work would be to deny that which is most effective in these tales. The genre is used to explore wholly universal themes, a methodology that makes his stories impossible to pigeon-hole and an important reading experience for a much wider audience.

You will miss out if you think this collection is only for the horror reader. If you want to understand the narrative strength of the short story whatever its content, it is clearly exhibited here. Trust me, I rarely read horror myself.