What Inspired The Author To Write 'Dark White'?

I've been obsessed with 'Dark White' since its release, and digging into its inspiration feels like uncovering hidden lore. The author mentioned in an interview that the novel's core came from a childhood fascination with duality—how light and darkness coexist in everything. They grew up in a small town shrouded in fog, where eerie white nights blurred reality, hence the title. Personal trauma also played a role; losing a sibling young made them explore themes of grief and lingering spirits. The protagonist’s struggle mirrors their own journey—battling internal shadows while chasing redemption. The snowy setting? That’s a direct nod to their hometown’s endless winters, which felt both beautiful and isolating.

As someone who analyzed 'Dark White' for a book club, the inspirations are layered like the novel’s plot. The author’s academic background in psychology heavily influenced the mind-bending narrative. They wanted to dissect how guilt manifests, inspired by real-life cases of dissociative identity disorder. The supernatural elements stem from Nordic folklore—specifically tales of 'huldufólk,' hidden beings that mirror human flaws.

A lesser-known fact is that the author wrote the first draft during a solo trip to Iceland. The midnight sun there, where day and night merge, became the visual metaphor for the story’s moral ambiguity. Music also shaped the tone; the playlist they created while writing included haunting piano pieces by Ólafur Arnalds, which echo the book’s melancholic rhythm.

The antagonist’s design was pulled from a nightmare the author had after binge-reading Gothic horror classics. They admitted stealing quirks from their strict grandmother for the villain’s mannerisms—proof that real life bleeds into fiction in unexpected ways.

What sparked 'Dark White'? The author’s love for subverting tropes. They hated how supernatural stories often paint evil as purely monstrous, so they crafted a world where demons wear human faces and heroes make selfish choices. The initial idea came from a news story about a priest who committed fraud—hypocrisy as a form of 'darkness' fascinated them.

Their writing process was chaotic. Scribbling scenes on napkins during night shifts at a hospital (they worked as an orderly) gave the book its raw, urgent prose. The white color symbolism? That started as a joke about hospital sheets but evolved into a theme of sterility masking decay.

Fun detail: the protagonist’s name was randomly generated from a baby name website, but the author kept it because it ‘sounded like a ghost whispering.’ For deeper dives into similar themes, check out 'The Library at Mount Char'—it shares that same uncanny blend of cosmic horror and emotional brutality.