Hi to Bernard, Fans, and Fellow Readers,
Please forgive me, but I feel obliged to make an obituary statement: many of you know that on Wednesday, 20th March 2013, author James Herbert died at the age of 69. As a leading British horror novelist, his books sold worldwide, with ‘The Rats’ and ‘The Fog’ being amongst his most famous titles. Screen adaptations were made from other titles such as ‘Haunted’, ‘Fluke’, ‘Survivor’, while ‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’ was recently dramatized as a BBC three-part serial.
One particular horror story came with an imaginative twist: ’48’ (being the year 1948) was an alternate history set three years after a defeated but vengeful Hitler unleashed the Blood Death upon Great Britain – which soon spread around the world – resulting in an apocalyptic legacy the main characters must survive. For me, ‘The Magic Cottage’ also stood out, partly because it was mostly about a young couple getting on with their lives; despite the story’s supernatural undertone, their delightful dialogue and flirtatious behaviour endeared me to them and their plight. James Herbert possessed a marvellous imagination, yet his horror stories were often deeply rooted within the realms of our realistic world.
Although I never knew him on a personal basis, my sincere condolences to his wife and three daughters in their time of grief.
I spent some time earlier tonight watching a couple of James Herbert interviews on Youtube. And, tomorrow, I’m going to play my audio cassette version of ’48’ in memory of a great novelist.
Robert Douglas