James Herbert Dead - But Definitely Not Forgotten

 

 

I signed into Twitter today to check what was going on with the Country's leadership, the first thing I see is a tweet saying that James Herbert had died at the age of 69. I quickly forgot about the trivial subject of who our prime minister would be by the end of the day and went to check my emails - hoping that maybe, just maybe it was one of those 'celebrity death' hoaxes.

Sadly, an email from the James Herbert fanclub confirming the news, was at the top of my inbox list. I sat there staring at it - tears streaming down my face and felt utterly shocked. This man was so integral in my journey to becoming a writer and now he was gone.

 

When I was just 14 years old, my mother started to read books by a new author. She enjoyed the first book she read and I asked if I could read it. She warned me that it was scary, but I wanted to read it anyway. I couldn't put it down and it was to be the first full length novel that I would read.

The Fog by James Herbert started my love affair with horror books and as the years went by I have bought and read another 18 of his books.

 

I love the way his writing is just so easy to read and just flows - though the way his chapters jump around between subject matter, always appealed to me too. I am sad that there will be no more books and so, so grateful that I picked up that first book when I did. He was such a big inspiration to me and he will be sadly missed :(

 

 

Hopefully, we will actually get to see The Secret of Crickley Hall in Australia - that would be something to really look forward to!

RIP James and thanks for being there for me when I needed you most xx