James Herbert (1943 – 2013)

Having a background in art and marketing, he also designed his book covers and handled his publicity. He wrote over two dozen books that sold 54 million copies worldwide and were translated into 34 languages.

Herbert was raised in London, and attended art school then worked in advertising before becoming a full time writer. His first work, The Rats, publishing in 1974, sold through its first print run of 100,000 in 3 weeks.

In 2010 Herbert was honoured with the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award, presented to him by Stephen King, and was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours, presented by Prince Charles.