James herbert daughters

1. Biography of James Herbert
2. Early Life and Education
3. Career and Literary Works
4. Personal Life and Legacy

Biography of James Herbert

James Herbert was an English writer who worked in the horror genre and was the author of numerous bestsellers. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010.

Early Life and Education

Herbert was born on April 8, 1943, in London, to a family of market traders. He had two brothers, Peter, a retired trader, and John, an insurance agent. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption, a Catholic school in Bethnal Green, until the age of 11 when he won a scholarship to St Aloysius Grammar School for Boys in Highgate. After completing his education at the age of 15, James studied at Hornsey College of Art before joining the art department of the small advertising agency, John Collings.

Career and Literary Works

Herbert's first two books, "The Rats" and "The Fog," were disaster novels, featuring giant man-eating rats in the former and accidentally dispersed chemical weapons in the latter. He wrote three sequels to "The Rats," one of which, "The City," was in the form of a graphic novel. While his first two books were works of science fiction, in his third novel, "The Survivor," the writer utilized supernatural horror. In "Shrine," he explored his Catholic heritage, telling a story of an apparent miracle that turns out to be something far more sinister. "Haunted" is a tale about a skeptical paranormal investigator haunted by malevolent spirits, originally written as a screenplay for the BBC but later turned into a book. Seven years later, in 1994, Herbert returned to this theme with a sequel, "The Ghosts of Sleath." Some of his other books, such as "Moon" and "Sepulchre," are considered thrillers that combine elements of spy and detective stories with the supernatural. For example, "The Jonah" is a story of a police investigation involving supernatural forces. Herbert also wrote in the alternative history genre with works like "'48" and, to some extent, "The Spear." He has written stories from the perspective of a ghost, such as in "Nobody True," and even narratives about reincarnation, like "Fluke." One of his later works, "The Secret of Crickley Hall," was adapted into a television series in 2012.

Personal Life and Legacy

Herbert lived in Woodmancote, near Henfield, in West Sussex, with his wife Eileen O'Donnell and their three daughters. He passed away on March 20, 2013, at the age of 69 in his home in Sussex. He left behind his wife and three daughters. Throughout his career, Herbert sold over 42 million copies of his books, establishing himself as a highly successful and influential author in the horror genre.