THE FOG - JAMES HERBERT

The Fog
James Herbert
Originally published 1975
Review edition: 1988 hardcover special edition published to mark the title selling over a million.

'The Fog made me a lot of enemies. Fortunately it also made me a lot of friends.' So writes James Herbert in this hardcover reissue published by NEL in 1988.

Those enemies Herbert talks about are the literary critics and those friends are the much more important end users - the readers. They are the ones who pay the money and there's no complaint from this reader. With this period in Herbert's evolution you knew what to expect - a good story well told with bags of violence. However rereading the book now I realised how little violence there is in this tale of madness. It just that the violence in the book is so shocking, so effective that it hangs over every word.

It was only the author's second book, his first being the creature feature throwback, The Rats and fans weren't disappointed and Herbert became the UK's top selling horror author, even outselling Stephen King in the British market. But where King received some critical kudos, Herbert was firmly left out in the cold in that regard. However now may the time to re-evaluate his work as a whole.

Personally I've always rated Herbert above Stephen King - King can be awe inspiring but he tends to ramble sometimes while Herbert spares the preamble and goes straight for the throat. Or at least he did during this period since Herbert has written some magical books with little, if any real violence - The Jonah and Magic Cottage are just two that spring to mind.

But back to the Fog - which has nothing to do with the John Carpenter classic - the book sees a mysterious fog which emerges from the ground after a minor earthquake. The fog drifts and whenever it comes into contact with anyone it turns them into insane, zombie-like creatures. The book was so influential that John Carpenter virtually lifted the plot for his 1980 movie, also titled The Fog and Stephen King sort of drifted into the same territory with his, The Mist.

But Herbert really is the king of horror and a nice guy too boot. In my youth I would buy each of his books on the day of publication, read it at super speed and then write to the author. Not once did he fail to write back. Now I must confess to not be the biggest fan of the author's last couple of novels but the fact remains that several of his books are amongst my all time favourite horror reads, The Fog being one of them.

The book is still in print,available in several different editions including audiobook and paperback (pictured) and really is a great read. It's an accomplished classic of 1970's horror and packs more chills into its 200 odd pages than most writers manage in a dozen books.

A great book - pure reading pleasure.