James Herbert Collection: The Rats, The Survivor, The Spear, Haunted, The Jonah, Moon, The Magic Cottage, The Fog, Creed, The Dark, Others, Nobody True, Shrine

by James Herbert

About the author

James Herbert was Britain's number one bestselling writer (a position he held ever since publication of his first novel) and one of the world's top writers of thriller/horror fiction.

He was one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are sold in thirty-three other languages, including Russian and Chinese. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his 19 novels have sold more than 42 million copies worldwide.

As an author he produced some of the most powerful horror fiction of the past decade. With a skillful blend of horror and thriller fiction, he explored the shaded territories of evil, evoking a sense of brooding menace and rising tension. He relentlessly draws the reader through the story's ultimate revelation - one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside. His bestsellers, THE MAGIC COTTAGE, HAUNTED, SEPULCHRE, and CREED, enhanced his reputation as a writer of depth and originality. His novels THE FOG, THE DARK, and THE SURVIVOR have been hailed as classics of the genre.

Reviews

[Gerald Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cut my horror teeth on these titles and found them great fun. He really drew me into the stories that were relentless

[Maryann Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of these books mentioned! Loved them all! A great writer of jumpy horror.

[Cheryl Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic cottage by far my favourite out of the series , I loved the eerie feeling it gave !

[Will Staunton · Rating 3 out of 5]

December always feels like horror season. But my horror taste has been defined by classic Stephen King, and I struggle to find anything else that scratches that itch. (Though Nick Cutter's The Troop was right on the money.)

This year I tried two James Herbert novels (The Rats, The Fog). They had their moments, and the concept was fun, but he often seemed more interested in a montage of grotesque or lurid scenes than in telling a story.

And both basically played out the same:

- here we are, living a regular British life, until...
- My, that's an unusual amount of [Rats! / Fog!] ...
- Wow, they're coming this way... [gruesome death]. (Repeat these 3 parts a bunch of times)
- Time for cabinet meetings!
- Call in the army!
- Glad we dealt with that [Rats / Fog] problem
- ...or DID WE?

Which, like, fine, but I shouldn't have read them back to back.

[Viv Keenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a real mix and on the whole I really enjoyed the different themes and styles. Found Creed really hard to get through - difficult to concentrate on when listening - maybe I didn’t relate to the main character in any way (but then I didn’t relate to a lot of the main protagonists & still enjoyed the other titles).

James Herbert has a really good catalogue of books and if you’ve not listened to his books recently - it’s well worth a revisit.

[Kelly Grice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read them all over the years, as I’m old. A good collection but on reading them back now they’re quite dated. The female characters tend to fall apart at the slightest thing and become hysterical, which winds me up. Not being at all scared of rats, the rat trilogy did nothing for me. A good collection for nostalgia but somewhat dated

[Jennifer Birdie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story takes you on a mind bend!!

[Beccy Noall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some better than others, but I loved them all. Master of psychological and gory horror!