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30 Days of Night novels #movie
30 Days of Night: Official Novelization of The Film
The Official Novelization of The Terrifying Film
In the sleepy and secluded town of Barrow, Alaska -- the northernmost settlement in North America -- its citizens are preparing for the annual coming of the Dark, when the sun will set for more than thirty consecutive days and nights.But this year, the Dark will bring something else.
From across the frozen wasteland, a horrifying evil descends upon Barrow, mercilessly besieging its residents with unrelenting terror and swift death. And as the darkness continues and the thirty days of night seemingly have no end in sight, Barrow's only remaining hope lies with Sheriff Eben Oleson and Deputy Stella Oleson, a husband and wife who are torn between saving the town they love and their own survival...
In the sleepy and secluded town of Barrow, Alaska -- the northernmost settlement in North America -- its citizens are preparing for the annual coming of the Dark, when the sun will set for more than thirty consecutive days and nights.But this year, the Dark will bring something else.
From across the frozen wasteland, a horrifying evil descends upon Barrow, mercilessly besieging its residents with unrelenting terror and swift death. And as the darkness continues and the thirty days of night seemingly have no end in sight, Barrow's only remaining hope lies with Sheriff Eben Oleson and Deputy Stella Oleson, a husband and wife who are torn between saving the town they love and their own survival...
325 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 13, 2007
11 people are currently reading
967 people want to read
About the author
Tim Lebbon
290 books1,519 followersI 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!
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!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
October 31, 2018
3.5 Stars
Blood, gore, no sparkles, no love; just hunger... and all the blood. I love vampires; especially when the romance is taken away. How can you love with no life? how can you make babies if you're dead? how can you emote any emotion besides the base of humanity, which is the beast?? well....
you can't; you're dead. you are a vamp. humans are but cattle, flesh, blood...meat!
These are real vamps, just read and see why...
Blood, gore, no sparkles, no love; just hunger... and all the blood. I love vampires; especially when the romance is taken away. How can you love with no life? how can you make babies if you're dead? how can you emote any emotion besides the base of humanity, which is the beast?? well....
you can't; you're dead. you are a vamp. humans are but cattle, flesh, blood...meat!
These are real vamps, just read and see why...
November 1, 2013
30 Days of Night is a rather quick read, even though it's a little over 300 pages. It's an especially quick to read if you've seen the movie. I saw the movie first, and it is one of my favorite horror movies. The book and movie are pretty much the same exact set of events.
The storyline is unique and original, especially in the overdone vampire genre. These are not kind, loving, sparkly vampires. These are some of the most evil, heartless, blood-thirsty vampires ever created. This is what I yearn for in a vampire.
Barrow, Alaska is a real place, and it is the northern most city in Alaska. I think making this story take place in a real place, which really does experience 30 days of night a year, made this more of a believable story.
What thing I like about this story is, there is another story going on along with the main story of the vampires and their invasion of Barrow. It made these people a bit more real to me, and made the story more than the surface story.
This is one instance where I think the movie was better than the book. I think because you could really see what the vampires looked like and how evil they really could be.
I'd give this story 3.5 stars. I know this isn't a site to rate movies, but I'd give the movie 4 stars. I just want to show I think the movie is actually better than the novelization.
The storyline is unique and original, especially in the overdone vampire genre. These are not kind, loving, sparkly vampires. These are some of the most evil, heartless, blood-thirsty vampires ever created. This is what I yearn for in a vampire.
Barrow, Alaska is a real place, and it is the northern most city in Alaska. I think making this story take place in a real place, which really does experience 30 days of night a year, made this more of a believable story.
What thing I like about this story is, there is another story going on along with the main story of the vampires and their invasion of Barrow. It made these people a bit more real to me, and made the story more than the surface story.
This is one instance where I think the movie was better than the book. I think because you could really see what the vampires looked like and how evil they really could be.
I'd give this story 3.5 stars. I know this isn't a site to rate movies, but I'd give the movie 4 stars. I just want to show I think the movie is actually better than the novelization.
November 10, 2008
I read this first before seeing the movie, and enjoyed it immensely. Horror writer Tim Lebbon novelizes the film 30 Days of Night (which itself is based on the graphic novel series of the same name). Many novelizations fail because they are only cheap knock-offs of the movie written quickly -- and too often, poorly -- by hack writers in order to capitalize on the popularity of a film. In this case, the result is appropriately creepy and terrifying.
Lebbon is a talented writer and it shows here. He understands what is so frightening about the vampires of Barrow Alaska. For far too long vampires have been distinguished aristocrats, Byronic heroes, or sexy "bad boys" to make the hearts of women everywhere go pitter-patter. The vampires that descend on Barrow are ruthless, and everything vampires should be if you want to scare the heck out of someone -- they are merciless, bloodthirsty villains with no conscience.
Steve Niles (creator of the graphic novel on which the film is based) should be congratulated for his contribution to both the literary and vampire film canon. For far too long the debonair, smooth-talking vampire has ruled. Niles has stolen the vampire back from the clutches of the paranormal bodice rippers.
Lebbon is a talented writer and it shows here. He understands what is so frightening about the vampires of Barrow Alaska. For far too long vampires have been distinguished aristocrats, Byronic heroes, or sexy "bad boys" to make the hearts of women everywhere go pitter-patter. The vampires that descend on Barrow are ruthless, and everything vampires should be if you want to scare the heck out of someone -- they are merciless, bloodthirsty villains with no conscience.
Steve Niles (creator of the graphic novel on which the film is based) should be congratulated for his contribution to both the literary and vampire film canon. For far too long the debonair, smooth-talking vampire has ruled. Niles has stolen the vampire back from the clutches of the paranormal bodice rippers.
July 10, 2023
One of those books, for me, that was SO DAMN GOOD that I was miserable when I was finished with it because it was all gone, and everything else on my bookshelves just looked unappealing.
March 1, 2011
30 Days of Night (Movie Novelization) / 978-1-4165-4497-5
As a disclaimer, I have neither read the original graphic novel series on which this movie is based, nor have I seen the actual movie in question. But I love vampire stories and this book caught my eye with the interesting premise of an isolated arctic town besieged by vampires during an entire 30-day blackout period.
In many ways, this book does not disappoint. The suspense starts immediately, with a mysterious stranger drifting into town and wreaking minor acts of vandalism and property destruction that slowly escalate as the town becomes increasingly cut off from the outside world. And when the vampires finally do show up in mass numbers, they are everything a reader could hope for - palpably frightening, even to readers thoroughly glutted with vampire literature, as I no doubt am.
The author does a superb job of highlighting the vampire's natural strengths, as they creep silently over rooftops and lay in wait for their prey, oblivious to the cold - and the terror is heightened when the hunters frequently (and without warning) abandon silence and stealth and instead ransack random houses through to the very roof shingles, looking for survivors. Though the vampires are intelligent, there is no discernible pattern to their searches, which frightens the hiding humans further - they never know when they will be next. Can the vampires hear them? Smell them? Sense them? It's clear that at least one house contains "known" survivors, which the vampires are saving as a snack for later... are our own main characters similarly known and simply living on borrowed time? The result is truly quite terrifying and claustrophobic.
If I did have to criticize this book, it'd be that characters shouldn't be made stupid in order to advance the plot. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone was able to knuckle down and come to grips with vampires as a reality early on, only to be disappointed when one of the characters decides to decamp from their hiding place in order to try to rescue a young woman being used by bait by the vampires. They're watching her every move, so there is literally no chance to rescue her, and if her 'rescuer' is caught, he'll be tortured into revealing the location of the survivors, but no one has any objection to his leaving the hideout and possibly exposing them all. Maybe it's a small complaint, but that sort of thing just irks me. Add to that the astonishing number of people who are willing to shout, argue, and fight whilst 'hiding' and I start wishing, perhaps unfairly, that the sensible people would strike out on their own and leave the rest to their well-deserved fate.
The vampires, too, are rather poorly characterized here, and while this seems like a failing, it's hard to say whether the solution would have been *more* characterization or *less*. The lack of obvious characterization heightens the horror and terror - like the humans in the novel, we do not understand why the vampire behavior is so arbitrary and cruel. Their unpredictability and capriciousness makes them more alien, and more frightening, because they cannot be reasoned with, and their next move cannot be easily predicted. On the other hand, however, more characterization would be nice to explain why so much of their killing seems to be so inefficient - they seem, mostly, to be killing for fun, not for food. One suspects that the author split the difference and went for a little characterization covered with a lot of mystery, but the end result feels slightly unsatisfying.
There's a lot of Fridge Logic that accompanies pretty much any vampire book - notably here as "Do all the residents who left town for the 30 days *really* not call their friends and loved ones for the entire month, not even to check to see if the dog has been fed? Really??" - but that goes with the genre, and the important thing is to just not dwell on those logic flashes. All in all, I enjoyed the book immensely and it definitely got me through a long plane ride.
~ Ana Mardoll
As a disclaimer, I have neither read the original graphic novel series on which this movie is based, nor have I seen the actual movie in question. But I love vampire stories and this book caught my eye with the interesting premise of an isolated arctic town besieged by vampires during an entire 30-day blackout period.
In many ways, this book does not disappoint. The suspense starts immediately, with a mysterious stranger drifting into town and wreaking minor acts of vandalism and property destruction that slowly escalate as the town becomes increasingly cut off from the outside world. And when the vampires finally do show up in mass numbers, they are everything a reader could hope for - palpably frightening, even to readers thoroughly glutted with vampire literature, as I no doubt am.
The author does a superb job of highlighting the vampire's natural strengths, as they creep silently over rooftops and lay in wait for their prey, oblivious to the cold - and the terror is heightened when the hunters frequently (and without warning) abandon silence and stealth and instead ransack random houses through to the very roof shingles, looking for survivors. Though the vampires are intelligent, there is no discernible pattern to their searches, which frightens the hiding humans further - they never know when they will be next. Can the vampires hear them? Smell them? Sense them? It's clear that at least one house contains "known" survivors, which the vampires are saving as a snack for later... are our own main characters similarly known and simply living on borrowed time? The result is truly quite terrifying and claustrophobic.
If I did have to criticize this book, it'd be that characters shouldn't be made stupid in order to advance the plot. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone was able to knuckle down and come to grips with vampires as a reality early on, only to be disappointed when one of the characters decides to decamp from their hiding place in order to try to rescue a young woman being used by bait by the vampires. They're watching her every move, so there is literally no chance to rescue her, and if her 'rescuer' is caught, he'll be tortured into revealing the location of the survivors, but no one has any objection to his leaving the hideout and possibly exposing them all. Maybe it's a small complaint, but that sort of thing just irks me. Add to that the astonishing number of people who are willing to shout, argue, and fight whilst 'hiding' and I start wishing, perhaps unfairly, that the sensible people would strike out on their own and leave the rest to their well-deserved fate.
The vampires, too, are rather poorly characterized here, and while this seems like a failing, it's hard to say whether the solution would have been *more* characterization or *less*. The lack of obvious characterization heightens the horror and terror - like the humans in the novel, we do not understand why the vampire behavior is so arbitrary and cruel. Their unpredictability and capriciousness makes them more alien, and more frightening, because they cannot be reasoned with, and their next move cannot be easily predicted. On the other hand, however, more characterization would be nice to explain why so much of their killing seems to be so inefficient - they seem, mostly, to be killing for fun, not for food. One suspects that the author split the difference and went for a little characterization covered with a lot of mystery, but the end result feels slightly unsatisfying.
There's a lot of Fridge Logic that accompanies pretty much any vampire book - notably here as "Do all the residents who left town for the 30 days *really* not call their friends and loved ones for the entire month, not even to check to see if the dog has been fed? Really??" - but that goes with the genre, and the important thing is to just not dwell on those logic flashes. All in all, I enjoyed the book immensely and it definitely got me through a long plane ride.
~ Ana Mardoll
November 15, 2012
Now THIS is what I'm talking about! I don't know how the movie will be, but this book was great. If you love vampire and/or zombie novels, you'll truly enjoy this. This is the first book I've read by author Tim Lebbon, but if he writes this well in all of his books, it won't be my last!
September 21, 2011
amazing amazing amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 21, 2025
(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)
I'm finally going through my tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.
I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)
First time read the author's work?: Yes
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
I'm finally going through my tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.
I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)
First time read the author's work?: Yes
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
December 23, 2007
this is a really awesome book.
very sad at the end, but excellent.
i recommend that when u read this that u read it at night so that u can get the full effect of the book, i did and it was awesome!!!
very sad at the end, but excellent.
i recommend that when u read this that u read it at night so that u can get the full effect of the book, i did and it was awesome!!!
April 26, 2010
This will teach me that not all vampires are like Edward Cullen lol. There is nothing sexy or romantic about these vamps, they are pure evil with a capital E. Setting heads rolling and delivering terror and mayhem.
June 5, 2011
this book scared the mess out of me. i never felt so much adrenaline come froma book. it was soooo eerie and creepy. the author had a very vivid and descrptive imaginationa and based the town on a real place. the series was amazing read this.
July 18, 2012
At points when the story built to a climax, if just fell flat. It was like reading a textbook of the events; there was no sense of real emotion in the writing. I gave it three stars because it is a great story. I just felt it may have been better told by someone else.
April 20, 2014
This adventure, based off of the comic and film, I found to be unique in the fact that it not like other vampire books you might find.
I would recommend this, it is a very quick read for being the size of book that it is, I didn't lose my interest in the book.
I would recommend this, it is a very quick read for being the size of book that it is, I didn't lose my interest in the book.
January 25, 2016
Amazing. So glad I picked this up. Huge fan of the trade paperbacks and the film and this novelisation didn't disappoint! Vampires as they're meant to be. Ferocious, terrifying and utterly ruthless! A gory horror story that will stay with me for some time to come.
February 28, 2008
if i could give it 2.5 stars i would.
the novelization just isn't that good.
but then again the story itself isn't great either and the script chopped that down some so...
the novelization just isn't that good.
but then again the story itself isn't great either and the script chopped that down some so...
December 9, 2007
I could not put this book down. Wonderful horror about flesh eating vampires in Barrow, Alaska.
Currently reading
June 17, 2008Yikes! Scarier than the movie!
June 25, 2008
A kick-ass novel for a kick-ass movie.
July 29, 2008
Really good book a lot better than the movie. Actually creeped me out a few times while I was reading at night...ha ha
July 3, 2009
Better than the movie, (But good adaptation.)
February 4, 2013
Pretty good considering the overdone subject.
November 28, 2010
Nasty vampires! Not your romantic kind but your blood thirsty, out only to feed on human blood kind!
March 3, 2011
I had seen the movie but as always loved the book more. Now these are vampires. No more nambypamby sparkling wimps. These are ferocious, evil, scary vamps and I loved being scared. :)
July 31, 2012
Pretty good; I know it can't be exactly like the movie, but it'd be better if it were...
November 18, 2012
Read after I watched the movie.
Read
March 4, 2018Holy. Fucking. Shit. Amazing!
February 14, 2017
30 Days of Night, is a novel adaptation of the movie of the same name. It has the atmosphere of John Carpenter's "The Thing." The location is a town that is at the northernmost point of Alaska, and they are being haunted by a supernatural killer. Or in this case a bunch of vampires who came north, to be able to live in the dark for 30 days. This is more a fun story, than scary, in my opinion, just because of the atmosphere. The Alaskan setting is a lot of fun. The book just runs along like an adventure story, fast and fun. And, the book, ended up with a little twist, that I wasn't expecting. So, Lebbon gives us a pretty good piece here, I enjoyed it.
Of note: the novelization is not much different from the movie.
Of note: the novelization is not much different from the movie.
September 14, 2024
Although a novelisation of the film, this was everything that a horror and vampire novel should be. It was engaging and gripping from the get go, so many times I gasped and was cringing and wincing because it was so graphic and gory. I got attached to so many of the characters, it really was a fight or flight story. Absolutely brilliant but I don’t know if I could stomach the film 😂 horror at its finest!
September 27, 2024
Based on the graphic novels of the same name and a novelization of the film made from them this book doesn’t disappoint. It captures the same despair and fear of the characters as they live through the worst time in their lives. Pulling no punches this book really shows what would really happen if the creatures of the night came alive and came after you. Vampire stories can get very stale but this concept made it very fresh. Anne Rice will always be my favorite but this rates very close.
April 24, 2018
One of the best vampire novels I've read. What better premise for a vampire story to take place where they could have 30 days of night in the far northern city of Barrow, AK.
How could one survive that long in the dark in general, let alone avoiding blood thirsty vampires.
No sparkles from these vampires. They are here for 30 days of Vampire Mardi Gras!
How could one survive that long in the dark in general, let alone avoiding blood thirsty vampires.
No sparkles from these vampires. They are here for 30 days of Vampire Mardi Gras!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews