Trade tributes to James Herbert

21.03.13 | Charlotte Williams

Book industry figures around the world have expressed their sadness at the death of bestselling horror writer James Herbert at home in Sussex yesterday (20th March). Herbert was 69.

The author is understood to have been in good health recently, with events planned to support the publication of his new paperback, Ash, currently at number seven on the mass market bestseller chart. The author had been due to appear as the keynote speaker at the North London Literary Festival next week.

Waterstones spokesman Jon Howells said: "James Herbert was a giant of British horror, and his early books, like The Rats and The Fog, terrified a generation and still have power today. There wasn't a boy in school when I was 13 that didn¹t devour his books, loving every visceral, creepy and titillating scene. He was still a force to be reckoned with today, even if his output had slowed. Ash was a great seller for us last week in paperback. He'll be much missed."
On Twitter, fellow writer Peter James said: "Deeply saddened to hear today that my dear friend, writer James Herbert, died last night. Will miss you lots, Jim, you were a diamond. RIP." Crime writer Mark Billingham said: "Sad to hear about James Herbert. The Rats was one of first novels I read outside school. Enjoyed watching my son read it. RIP." Curtis Brown agent Jonny Geller tweeted: "Sad news about the great scaremeister James Herbert who died today."
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live last night, author and friend Neil Gaiman said: "[Herbert's] first book was a bestseller, which is something that happens to very few writers. He had to do all his growing up in public. He had to learn to write in public.

"Jim's [sales] numbers were extraordinary and he was very grumpy that nobody noticed. He'd point out that he had outsold Stephen King in the UK. He was a bestselling author which I think also meant that he felt he wasn't getting the attention that he deserved...He wanted critical acclaim and I don't think he felt he ever got it even when some of his novels did get serious critical attention.
"He was always incredibly encouraging. When Terry Pratchett and I wrote our first novel together, Good Omens, my first novel, he gave me a blurb for it, said something about how incredibly funny and wonderful it was. A few years later, on a panel, he was recorded as saying that, long after he had given the blurb, he picked up the book and read it, and was delighted to find out that it was actually as good as the blurb he had given it, which I think shows something rather sweet about Jim. That he would have had the confidence in me, and assumed that the book would be funny and later discovered that it was. And he had the humility to tell the world."
Publisher Jeremy Trevathan, who was his editor for 10 years, described Herbert as "one of the hot keystone authors in a genre that had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. It's a true testament to his writing and his enduring creativity that his books continued to be bestsellers right up until his death. He has the rare distinction that his novels were considered classics of the genre within his lifetime. His death marks the passing of one of the giants of popular fiction in the 20th century."