James Herbert R.I.P.

Still reeling from last week’s news of David B. Silva’s death, the genre learned yesterday of another unexpected passing. James Herbert died in his sleep at the age of 69.

One of the modern-day giants of the genre, Herbert wrote more than twenty novels, several of which were adapted for film, television, and radio. In total, his books have sold over 42 million copies. The impact his first novel, The Rats, had on my generation of horror writers cannot be overstated, as well as subsequent novels such as The Fog, The Dark, and Fluke. While known primarily as one of the pioneers of hardcore horror, Herbert’s later works, such as The Ghosts of Sleath and The Secret of Crickley Hall, showed that he was just as adept at quiet horror, as well. An Officer of the Order of the British Empire and a former Grand Master of the World Horror Convention, Herbert was also the winner of the World Fantasy Award and many others.