My good friend John Mountain over at Written in Blood was kind enough to “inadvertently” inform me of author James Herbert‘s death. I’d been “out of sync” with real life matters and in so doing had missed the news of Herbert’s untimely death on Wednesday the 20th of March this year.
He will be greatly missed.
James Herbert was initially an art director for an advertising agency (courtesy of Wikipedia) before becoming a full-time writer. A writer who designed his own book covers and did all his own publicity. He was also a writer who used to “scare the pants” off me and his other faithful readers.
With his novel The Rats and the subsequent sequels to it, Lair and Domain, he gave me an almost pathological fear of English rats. His vermin villains were bigger and smarter than your average British rat and in 2008 when I visited my daughter in her first apartment at Uni and saw a rat as big as a small dog, it wasn’t ringing the council that first sprang to my mind, it was James Herbert and his über scary rats.
Stephen King once said of Herbert that he was the type author who “grabbed his reader’s lapels and screamed into their faces [sic]” and his early books did just that. Who can forget the images that his scenes of horror evoked?
The legless dog stumping towards the letterbox in The Dark; the harsh headmaster who has his genitals cut off in The Fog; and as mentioned above, the rats in The Rats.
But his horror story skills evolved over the years, just as his novels evolved. He could tell a damned fine fantasy horror story and stories that, although steeped in the horror verse, were more sophisticated and complex than his earlier works. He had made the transition from the “pulps” to the slick world of mainstream horror fiction. I have read every book published by James Herbert and loved them all.
But my favourite books of Herbert’s dealt with David Ash. The guilt-ridden paranormal investigator who fought an internal battle against his own psychic abilities. The man who was haunted by first his own sister and later by an entire family of ghosts in Haunted; then an entire village in The Ghosts of Sleath and finally with the ghosts (?) in an exclusive madhouse in Ash; his last book published just before his untimely death.
Years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing James Herbert on late-night telly. He has come on some program not to plug his latest book, but because he a was a rock fan who was actually touting his favourite bands next tour. He wore a heavy metal t-shirt and his hair was long and he seemed like one helluva nice guy.
I remember thinking, ‘That’s James Herbert??’ The guy who has managed to scare the hell out of me in almost all his books? I was shocked at just how nice the chap seemed. Herbert, who was awarded an OBE in 2010, was an author who never really quite believed his success and never really felt comfortable with the praise and adulation that his books brought about.
I am, rather sadly, reading the last book of Herbert’s (Ash) and while reading it I can’t help but ponder a world without James Herbert. His books sold over 42 million copies worldwide (Wikipedia) and he has been a personal favourite of mine ever since I first picked up one of his books (The Fog – 1975) in 1982 from a USAF base bookstore.
Apart from my heartfelt sympathy for his family (his wife and three daughters) and close friends I’d like to express my own fond farewell. “So long mate, I say mate because in my mind I feel that anyone who can so consistently entertain and scare the bejeezus out of me is a friend. You certainly brought more than your fair share of talent to the party. You will be missed by me and millions of other people around the world. Rest in peace mate.”
Related articles
- James Herbert – a prolific career in horror writing (itv.com)
- James Herbert, OBE: 1943-2013 (tor.com)
- British horror writer James Herbert dies (upi.com)
- James Herbert, master of horror writing, dies at age of 69 (standard.co.uk)
- James Herbert dies aged 69 (guardian.co.uk)
- James Herbert: Horror Author Dies Aged 69 (news.sky.com)
- Horror writer James Herbert dies aged 69 (thetimes.co.uk)
- Author James Herbert dies aged 69 (bbc.co.uk)
- The Ghosts of Sleath by James Herbert: David Ash Revisited (mikesfilmtalk.com)
No worries mate! It was mention worthy. 😀
Sad to hear about Herbert’s passing, Mike. It feels inappropriate to say, but thank you for the mention.
😀
I mock but I probably couldn’t write for my life 😀
As an old mate of mine use to say,”Them that’s got the talent do and them that ain’t don’t!” LOL
To think if he could make a good books year after year, why can’t some people write one good book haha 😀
Yep! He was a real “work-a-holic” and for quite few years did one new one a year!
He was a good writer. Didn’t he do one book a year for a while?