March 2013 saw the tragic news that horror novelist James Herbert had died in his Sussex home.
Here are some interesting facts about the horror author.
James Herbert was born April 8, 1943, and he died on March 20, 2013.
He hails from London, England.
He has two brothers; Peter and John.
His father, Herbert Herbert, was a stall-holder at Brick Lane Market in London.
His childhood home was at the back of Petticoat Lane in Whitechapel – a place where infamous killer Jack the Ripper roamed.
The area he grew up in was half gutted by WWII bombing raids.
At playtime at school, children would crowd around Herbert to listen to his stories.
He had a passion for drawing and painting, as well as writing.
At age 10, Herbert won a scholarship to attend St. Aloysius Grammar School, in Highgate.
He studied graphic design, print and photography at Hornsey College of Art.
He was involved with a band as a teenager, exploring his musical tastes.
Herbert became the Art Director and Group Head in an advertising agency.
He married his wife Eileen in 1967. They have three daughters together; Kerry, Emma and Casey.
He preferred to write a draft of a novel long hand in a “jumbo notepad”.
He began writing his first book The Rats at the age of 28. It took ten months to write.
The Rats is about mutant, flesh-eating rodents who roamed London.
It sold over 100,000 copies within two weeks of publication.
Herbert has published 23 novels. They have been translated into more than 30 languages.
In 2010, Herbert was granted an OBE by the Queen.
During the same year, he was honored with the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award by Stephen King.
The Rats was released as the film Deadly Eyes in 1982, by Canadian film maker Robert Clouse.
It was also a video game for Commodore 64 and Sinclair Spectrum.
Samuel L. Jackson starred in the adaptation of Herbert’s novel Fluke (1995).
Kate Beckinsale starred in the adaptation of Herbert’s novel Haunted (1995).
The Secret of Crickley Hall was a three-part television adaptation of the novel of the same name in 2012. It starred Suranne Jones and Tom Ellis.
