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As the Sun Goes Down: Stories by Tim Lebbon
This landmark volume marked the first U.S. publication of British horror phenomenon, Tim Lebbon. As the Sun Goes Down collects 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.
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.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Tim Lebbon
298 books1,582 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 6, 2011
I read As the Sun Goes Down during the last week in August. It’s pretty good. Between this and The Thief of Broken Toys (2010) I think I’m a Lebbon fan. I went out a bought a couple more of his books The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Movie Novelization (2012) and Echo City 2010) and Bar None (2001) is sitting on my unread shelf as well. I’m looking forward to reading them (eventually). As good as I think Lebbon is I’m a little concerned that I don’t have any recollection of the stories in White and Other Tales of Ruin (2003) which I read some time ago. I’m tempted to go up into the attic and drag out the box it should be in and see if scanning the stories brings back any memories.
Anyway about As the Sun Goes Down: it’s a collection of fifteen short stories and one novella. I enjoyed all of them, but a few stood out.
The first story, “The Empty Room” (2000), is as about as creepy a quiet story as I can imagine. It is the story of a broken family, a nameless surviving son, and his friend, Nathan. The boy's trip to the haunted woods outside town turns out badly.
Unlike the other stories in the collection, “Dust” (2000), is a straight up SF story about three survivors in spaceship that’s crashed in a hostile environment. Strange things can happen when you’re waiting to die.
“The Last Good Times” (2000) is another quiet story, this time a ghost story. It’s about how people handle the return of the dead, not as zombies, but as ghosts, haunting (?) the ones that loved them.
The following story, “King of the Dead” (2000) is a fantasy story that I believe takes place in the universe of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth (and if it doesn’t it certainly has that feel). I’m by no means a Dying Earth fan, but this story, about unstoppable invaders and magic gone awry, was fascinating.
“Reconstructing Amy” (2000) won the 2001 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. It was good, but not one of my favorites.
The longest work in the book, “The Unfortunate” (2000), was interesting. It captured my attention and kept my interest. For the most part I had little idea where the story was going (which is saying something, since it begins with the ending). In the introduction, Ramsey Campbell says it “is worth the price all by itself.” I’m not sure I’d go that far, but it surely made for an interesting read.
Anyway about As the Sun Goes Down: it’s a collection of fifteen short stories and one novella. I enjoyed all of them, but a few stood out.
The first story, “The Empty Room” (2000), is as about as creepy a quiet story as I can imagine. It is the story of a broken family, a nameless surviving son, and his friend, Nathan. The boy's trip to the haunted woods outside town turns out badly.
Unlike the other stories in the collection, “Dust” (2000), is a straight up SF story about three survivors in spaceship that’s crashed in a hostile environment. Strange things can happen when you’re waiting to die.
“The Last Good Times” (2000) is another quiet story, this time a ghost story. It’s about how people handle the return of the dead, not as zombies, but as ghosts, haunting (?) the ones that loved them.
The following story, “King of the Dead” (2000) is a fantasy story that I believe takes place in the universe of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth (and if it doesn’t it certainly has that feel). I’m by no means a Dying Earth fan, but this story, about unstoppable invaders and magic gone awry, was fascinating.
“Reconstructing Amy” (2000) won the 2001 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. It was good, but not one of my favorites.
The longest work in the book, “The Unfortunate” (2000), was interesting. It captured my attention and kept my interest. For the most part I had little idea where the story was going (which is saying something, since it begins with the ending). In the introduction, Ramsey Campbell says it “is worth the price all by itself.” I’m not sure I’d go that far, but it surely made for an interesting read.
July 20, 2015
A striking and imaginative novelette, "The Unfortunate", redeems a sometimes soporific collection of stories. "The Empty Room" and "Dust" are also good, if less ambitious. All too many of the rest are slice-of-life dramas (or melodramas) with at best a vaguely weird overlay; on reading these I would get sufficiently irritated to wonder if Lebbon thinks an irrelevant touch of the outre is just the thing to lend spurious profundity to an otherwise drab and uninteresting story.
Elsewhere he experiments with various tropes or styles: "King of the Dead" is passable Zothiquiana, there are a couple of zombie stories cheek-by-jowl with some Aickmanesque pieces, and so on. Since this was Lebbon's first collection, perhaps he was still feeling his way. A disappointment, but there's a scattering of good things amid the trivia.
Elsewhere he experiments with various tropes or styles: "King of the Dead" is passable Zothiquiana, there are a couple of zombie stories cheek-by-jowl with some Aickmanesque pieces, and so on. Since this was Lebbon's first collection, perhaps he was still feeling his way. A disappointment, but there's a scattering of good things amid the trivia.
November 12, 2010
Amazing short story collection that showcases the talent of Lebbon.
October 27, 2025
Mmm…maybe more like 4.5 stars as there was one story that just didn’t really work for me. All the others were enjoyable to varying degrees. I love Tim Lebbon’s writing. He uses a great mix of more complex prose and shorter punchier statements, great analogies, plenty of creepy imagery. His dialogue is good too. A varied mix of settings and ideas. Will definitely read more of his work. Recommended.
December 31, 2014
Excellent story collection.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews