James Herbert was born in London’s East End on 8 April 1943. At the age of ten, he won a scholarship to St. Aloysius Grammar School, Highgate, and aged sixteen started studying graphic design, print and photography at the renowned Hornsey College of Art. He then found work in an advertising agency where he rose to the rank of Art Director and Group Head.

He began writing his first novel when he was 28. Ten months later he had completed The Rats, conjuring a London overrun by mutant, flesh-eating rodents. He submitted the manuscript to six publishers, three of whom replied. Of those, two rejected the novel and one accepted it. At its publication in 1974, the first printing of 100,000 copies sold out in three weeks, firmly establishing him as Britain’s leading writer of horror and one of the country’s greatest popular novelists.

The author of twenty-three novels, James Herbert was published in 34 languages including Russian and Chinese and has sold over 54 million copies worldwide.