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. In 2010 several great things happened to this man, he was awarded with ‘Master of Horror’ at the world horror connection, the award was presented by his very good friend Stephen King.

The Dark by James Herbert

Then, too many years later, I found this in the university library's "giving away for free" shelf. So of course I had to take it, because FREE BOOKS! And then it sat in my shelf for several years waiting for its moment. Our protagonist Childes has fled to this island "from the terrors of his past" , fighting his demons (don't they all!!!) while trying to maintain his relationship his Amy! Oh, did I tell you that he also get visions of horrible murders and mutilations. Then people in his vicinity start dying, bodies keep pilling up and finally get to the climax -- which was very abrupt in my opinion. This is a book of two halves. The first half I struggled to stay interested. Jon Childes is a man running from his past. A reluctant psychic who solved a murder case but resulted in divorce and publicity he did not want. So he now lives on a channel island teaching computer science at several schools. This has led him to repress and avoid his psychic ability. James Herbert was born in London in April 1943 and died on the 20th of March 2013 (a day I will never forget). He is my personal favourite horror writer of all time as most of his works are based on the paranormal, mutations and the damn uncompromisingly explicit. He is very unlike Stephen King whose works are based on the human psyche and things that humans are capable of. The main character is basically a guy who teaches computing to schoolkids and who ends up teaching at a girl’s school on an island as he tries to get away from his past. He has some psychic powers, despite the fact that he doesn’t really believe in them, and he finds himself witnessing all sorts of horrible things, including some brutal killings.An excellent horror story with supernatural overtones. Bishop is a psychic investigator who goes to Beechwood a house in the London suburbs where 37 people killed themselves. He has a vision of what happened and we enter a rabbit hole where a scientist has created an evil through the dark. Events of murder, suicide and violence slowly begin where people are infected or influenced to do evil acts by the dark. They also become zombies once their infected. The police and army are helpless as the craziness spreads throughout London. arguably the most successful writer of the horror genre. Yet despite his worldwide fan base, surprisingly little is known about the man himself. In this work, Craig Cabell has written an in-depth biography of the He was very afraid of the dark as a small child, known to cower under the covers at the shadows that moved around his room. As he grew older he lost this fear and then only became afraid of spiders. Bit like myself, not with the little ones, but those big monsters give me the shivers!

The Dark by James Herbert | Goodreads The Dark by James Herbert | Goodreads

It's not as bad as I'm writing it to be, as I said. It's okay... Well, kinda. I'd be lying if I said that the ending isnt a mess. In fact the entire final third of this book just really lost me. I don't know if the publisher had a word count in mind or not but the ending chapters feel like an eternity. The pacing entirely goes off a cliff. For those who have read the book, I'm mainly talking about "The Fire". From "The Fire" until the end felt incredibly dull and drawn out. I just wanted it to end. Sadly, it did then end and I was left relieved that I could put the book down but also pretty disappointed at how the ideas here were left squandered. It came like a malignant shadow with seductive promises of power. And somewhere in the night… a small girl smiled as her mother burned… asylum inmates slaughtered I can see why Stephan King loves Herbert! Stunning displays of violence perpetuated by 'normal' people and London is ripped asunder. The Dark is one of my favorite Herbert novels, and I think he set a record for introducing characters before they succumb to some sort of nasty foo. First published in 1980, The Dark rides the paranormal wave that was so popular in that era. He had fled from the terrors of his past, finding refuge in the quietness of the island. And for a time he lived in peace. Until the "sightings" began, visions of horror seeping into his mind like poisonous tendrils, violent acts that were hideously macabre, the thoughts becoming intense. Bishop is a psychic investigator tasked with investigating a seemingly nondescript house where he uncovers a scene of brutal mass suicide. It turns out the events that took place inside was some form of ritual that saw the leader imbued with powers that can control the dark.Terminé anoche de leerlo y quedé media catatónica porque por un lado, durante todo el bendito libro no hay forma de que te hagas a la idea de quién corno es el asesino y eso me gustó. Por otro lado, el asesino .... por favorrrrrrrrrrr que mentalidad tan trastornada... los últimos asesinatos fueron los que más sentí porque aunque no eran personajes que conocían profundamente, cada uno por distintas razones te llegaban al kokoro. However James Herbert offered something different, yes there were so truly graphic scenes but there was as story there, characters you could invest in and events you just had to read to the end of to see what happened. I loved it this was the first James Herbert book I have read. Others say it is not that good but I differ it has a lot going for it. Beginning in a small suburban street where an empty house is haunted by a malevolent, sentient darkness, the scope of the story expands as the darkness escapes and begins to engulf the city. The main character is Chris Bishop, a paranormal investigator called in initially to investigate claims that the house is haunted. There he discovers that those engulfed by the darkness are driven to savage and murderous frenzies, in connection with a mysterious cult leader whose spirit inhabits the darkness.