I'm in the middle of reading his book 'The Fog' and I'm saddened to read this when I woke up to watch the news. The best-selling horror author James Herbert, described as ‘one of the giants of popular fiction’, died yesterday aged 69. Mr Herbert, who wrote horror classic The Rats, died only a week after his 23rd novel, Ash, was published. He was prolific, releasing a new novel almost every year between 1974 and 1988, but said he remained ‘very insecure’ about his skills as a writer. His fans disagreed and he sold more than 54million books and was translated into 34 languages. A spokesman for his publisher Pan Macmillan said Mr Herbert died peacefully in bed at his home in Sussex yesterday morning, no cause of death was given but the spokesman said he had not been ill. He is survived by Eileen, his wife of 46 years, and their three daughters Kerry, Emma and Casey. It’s a true testament to his writing and his enduring creativity that his books continued to be huge bestsellers right up until his death. He has the rare distinction that his novels were considered classics of the genre within his lifetime. His death marks the passing of one of the giants of popular fiction in the 20th century. 'The Fog has dispersed, the lights in the Magic Cottage have dimmed, Crickley Hall stands silent.' Author William Hussey A great loss to the writing world, a man regarded as the British Stephen King. Never forget when I was a young lad when my uncle gave me a dog eared copy of 'The Rats'. He's been one of my favourites since. RIP.
I went through a bit of a James Herbert craze in my mid teens - his novels were real page turners, and I always found him far more compelling than Stephen King. It was Herbert who first got me into horror literature, and eventually found my way into loving the likes of Poe, Lovecraft, Machen and M. R. James.
Great writer - I too liked him better than King, the Rats and especially the sequel Domain gave goosebumps!
