Oh Rats! That Other Big Horror Novel of 1974
January 24, 2024 4:30 AM Subscribe
Respectable reviewers were aghast. Martin Amis’s infamous and vinegary assessment in The Observer set the tone: “By page 20 the rats are slurping up the sleeping baby after the brave bow-wow has fought to the death to save its charge… enough to make a rodent retch, undeniably—and enough to make any human pitch the book aside.” When Herbert went to his local W.H. Smith’s to ask if they had a copy, he was told, “no, and nor were they likely to.”
James Herbert's obit thread on the blue. The James Herbert Award for Horror Writing was briefly a thing. Here he is in his own words, and in a 1995 "This Is Your Life."
James Herbert's obit thread on the blue. The James Herbert Award for Horror Writing was briefly a thing. Here he is in his own words, and in a 1995 "This Is Your Life."
I randomly grabbed a copy in a used bookstore in London once, long before pocket internet. I think it was my first "did not finish" in English. (Getting books in English in Poland before the advent of ebooks was a very expensive adventure.) Thankfully the other book I got that time was Mirrorshades, and both were like a quid each, so I got my value for money after all.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:23 AM on January 24 [7 favorites]
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:23 AM on January 24 [7 favorites]
… enough to make a rodent retch, undeniably...
Except that they can't.
Interesting that rats were sort of a theme back then. Ratman's Notebooks was published in 1968 and was adapted into the somewhat successful movies Willard in 1971 and its sequel Ben in 1972. The latter being notable for the fact that its theme song was the first number one solo hit for a young singer named Michael Jackson.
posted by TedW at 5:26 AM on January 24 [8 favorites]
Except that they can't.
Interesting that rats were sort of a theme back then. Ratman's Notebooks was published in 1968 and was adapted into the somewhat successful movies Willard in 1971 and its sequel Ben in 1972. The latter being notable for the fact that its theme song was the first number one solo hit for a young singer named Michael Jackson.
posted by TedW at 5:26 AM on January 24 [8 favorites]
"Ben, the two of us need look no more....."..Love the melody.
posted by Czjewel at 5:29 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 5:29 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
Herbert went on to write many other books, including The Spear which led to a lawsuit brought by Trevor Ravenscroft, author of The Spear of Destiny which he claimed Herbert had heavily copied from. Unfortunately the judgment in Ravenscroft v Herbert is not available (it predates the routine placement of cases online) but I have access to a copy and quote from Mr Justice Brightman's description of Herbert's book, which His Lordship had read in preparation for the trial. If you read this with a mental image of an English High Court judge, in full robes and long wig, dangling the paperback between thumb and forefinger at arm's length, I will not blame you.
Mr. Herbert's novel contains 278 pages. It is divided into seven prologues, twenty-three chapters and an Author's note. The prologues recount the story of the Hofburg Spear from the Crucifixion down to the end of the 1939 war. The chapters record, in the form of a novel, the post-war exploits of the spear.
I will, for the moment, leave aside the prologues and attempt a brief summary of the novel. The time is the present. The hero is a private detective called Steadman, sometimes identified in the story as a modern Parsifal. Steadman is approached by an Israeli Intelligence agent for the purpose of tracing one of their operators who is missing. Steadman turns down the assignment. However, his female business partner thinks that the assignment should be accepted and secretly makes contact with the Israeli agent. She is captured by an enemy and killed in most unpleasant circumstances. Steadman seeks out the Israeli Intelligence agent, thinking that he is the murderer. The agent tells him that the murderer is an arms dealer called Gant. Steadman returns home and finds on the doorstep a man called Pope, who introduces himself as an agent of M15. Pope tells Steadman that Gant is connected with a Nazi secret society called the Thule Gesellschaft operating in England. Pope hints that the society is in possession of a magic spear. Pope tells Steadman that he is anxious to infiltrate Gant's organisation. He persuades Steadman to contact Gant on the pretence of negotiating an arms deal for a client. Steadman drives to Aldershot where the Ministry of Defence has laid on an exhibition of weapons and armaments for potential purchasers. Steadman introduces himself to Gant, discusses his pretended requirements and arranges to see Gant at his home in Guildford. He falls in with an attractive young lady called Holly, who has been interviewing Gant on behalf of a newspaper. They leave the exhibition grounds together but are chased and nearly killed by a remote controlled tank. Steadman proceeds to Gant's country house at Guildford. Gant makes a prisoner of Steadman and reveals to him that he is working with the Thule Gesellschaft to take over power in England. Gant then leaves for his secret hide-out in Devon, which is named after the Nazi stronghold built by Himmler for top Nazis at Paderborn in Germany and called The Wewelsburg. Steadman is left in the care of Gant's henchmen at Guildford but manages to elude his guard and make his way to the Devonshire Wewelsburg. He is met on the doorstep by Gant and also by Pope, now revealed in his true colours, and by other unpleasant characters. Steadman, who is shortly to be liquidated, is told more details of Gant's plot to take over power in England, and in particular of the planned destruction by missile of the aircraft carrying the United States Secretary of State to London. This assault, it was hoped, would sabotage Arab/Israeli peace talks and help to create world chaos. For his execution Steadman is led into a hall where members of the secret society are holding a meeting. They are grouped round the Hofburg Spear. This, it appears, was cunningly switched with a replica during the last days of Nuremberg and brought by a Nazi to England. Steadman learns that it will be used to slay him in a ritual killing. Fortunately the police, aided by local agents of M15 and the CIA, and a detachment of Marine Commandoes flown from Plymouth, successfully assault the Devonshire Wewelsburg. In the course of the operation, however, Steadman undergoes the alarming experience of being chased by the skeleton of Himmler, which normally reposes in the basement of the house. Luckily he is saved by the redoubtable Holly in the nick of time. The missile is destroyed on its launching pad and Steadman hurls the spear into the flaming debris.
To this short account of the novel one would need, for completeness, to add half a dozen more murders and some very unpleasant torture scenes.
One must not under-estimate the commercial attraction of the rubbish which I have attempted to describe. The book is written with much inventiveness and a racy flow of language and incident, and the numerous scenes of violence exercise a strong appeal to certain readers. The defendant's novels have enjoyed great financial success. Mr. Herbert does not think of himself as a serious novelist.
“All my books go in for violence for the sake of violence. I make no excuse for it, it is what I do; it is what people enjoy reading”.
He writes tongue in cheek, and agrees that The Spear is a horror comic.
In case you're wondering Herbert lost the case, having been found to have done a rather large amount of what we would now call cut-and-paste from Ravencroft's book.
posted by Major Clanger at 5:52 AM on January 24 [24 favorites]
Mr. Herbert's novel contains 278 pages. It is divided into seven prologues, twenty-three chapters and an Author's note. The prologues recount the story of the Hofburg Spear from the Crucifixion down to the end of the 1939 war. The chapters record, in the form of a novel, the post-war exploits of the spear.
I will, for the moment, leave aside the prologues and attempt a brief summary of the novel. The time is the present. The hero is a private detective called Steadman, sometimes identified in the story as a modern Parsifal. Steadman is approached by an Israeli Intelligence agent for the purpose of tracing one of their operators who is missing. Steadman turns down the assignment. However, his female business partner thinks that the assignment should be accepted and secretly makes contact with the Israeli agent. She is captured by an enemy and killed in most unpleasant circumstances. Steadman seeks out the Israeli Intelligence agent, thinking that he is the murderer. The agent tells him that the murderer is an arms dealer called Gant. Steadman returns home and finds on the doorstep a man called Pope, who introduces himself as an agent of M15. Pope tells Steadman that Gant is connected with a Nazi secret society called the Thule Gesellschaft operating in England. Pope hints that the society is in possession of a magic spear. Pope tells Steadman that he is anxious to infiltrate Gant's organisation. He persuades Steadman to contact Gant on the pretence of negotiating an arms deal for a client. Steadman drives to Aldershot where the Ministry of Defence has laid on an exhibition of weapons and armaments for potential purchasers. Steadman introduces himself to Gant, discusses his pretended requirements and arranges to see Gant at his home in Guildford. He falls in with an attractive young lady called Holly, who has been interviewing Gant on behalf of a newspaper. They leave the exhibition grounds together but are chased and nearly killed by a remote controlled tank. Steadman proceeds to Gant's country house at Guildford. Gant makes a prisoner of Steadman and reveals to him that he is working with the Thule Gesellschaft to take over power in England. Gant then leaves for his secret hide-out in Devon, which is named after the Nazi stronghold built by Himmler for top Nazis at Paderborn in Germany and called The Wewelsburg. Steadman is left in the care of Gant's henchmen at Guildford but manages to elude his guard and make his way to the Devonshire Wewelsburg. He is met on the doorstep by Gant and also by Pope, now revealed in his true colours, and by other unpleasant characters. Steadman, who is shortly to be liquidated, is told more details of Gant's plot to take over power in England, and in particular of the planned destruction by missile of the aircraft carrying the United States Secretary of State to London. This assault, it was hoped, would sabotage Arab/Israeli peace talks and help to create world chaos. For his execution Steadman is led into a hall where members of the secret society are holding a meeting. They are grouped round the Hofburg Spear. This, it appears, was cunningly switched with a replica during the last days of Nuremberg and brought by a Nazi to England. Steadman learns that it will be used to slay him in a ritual killing. Fortunately the police, aided by local agents of M15 and the CIA, and a detachment of Marine Commandoes flown from Plymouth, successfully assault the Devonshire Wewelsburg. In the course of the operation, however, Steadman undergoes the alarming experience of being chased by the skeleton of Himmler, which normally reposes in the basement of the house. Luckily he is saved by the redoubtable Holly in the nick of time. The missile is destroyed on its launching pad and Steadman hurls the spear into the flaming debris.
To this short account of the novel one would need, for completeness, to add half a dozen more murders and some very unpleasant torture scenes.
One must not under-estimate the commercial attraction of the rubbish which I have attempted to describe. The book is written with much inventiveness and a racy flow of language and incident, and the numerous scenes of violence exercise a strong appeal to certain readers. The defendant's novels have enjoyed great financial success. Mr. Herbert does not think of himself as a serious novelist.
“All my books go in for violence for the sake of violence. I make no excuse for it, it is what I do; it is what people enjoy reading”.
He writes tongue in cheek, and agrees that The Spear is a horror comic.
In case you're wondering Herbert lost the case, having been found to have done a rather large amount of what we would now call cut-and-paste from Ravencroft's book.
posted by Major Clanger at 5:52 AM on January 24 [24 favorites]
but I have access to a copy and quote from Mr Justice Brightman's description of Herbert's book
This whole comment is so...I mean it is so specific as to be unbelievable, especially with no references, except that it is also about something so inconsequential that there is no reason I could assume you would be dishonest. But also...I just don't know.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:07 AM on January 24 [5 favorites]
This whole comment is so...I mean it is so specific as to be unbelievable, especially with no references, except that it is also about something so inconsequential that there is no reason I could assume you would be dishonest. But also...I just don't know.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:07 AM on January 24 [5 favorites]
As a schoolboy in 70s Britain, The Rats and other James Herbert books was passed around like samizdat literature in the Soviet Union, and then the good bits (i.e. the killings and the occasional bits of sex) breathlessly read out at break time. The books were usually sourced from someone's older brother - I don't think any adult ever went near one, but were probably pleased we were reading something.
This lasted for about 18 months and then suddenly we were all too old for this stuff, to the benefit of the next generation of younger brothers.
posted by YoungStencil at 6:12 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
This lasted for about 18 months and then suddenly we were all too old for this stuff, to the benefit of the next generation of younger brothers.
posted by YoungStencil at 6:12 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
When Herbert went to his local W.H. Smith’s to ask if they had a copy, he was told, “no, and nor were they likely to.”
He should have dropped round our school. We had one. (I was 10.)
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:15 AM on January 24
He should have dropped round our school. We had one. (I was 10.)
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:15 AM on January 24
Literaryhero — if you can get access to this Oxford Academic Library resource, you can see the full record; I googled the phrase "Luckily he is saved by the redoubtable Holly in the nick of time", which led me to this mostly-inaccessible PDF that nevertheless corroborates our own redoubtable Major Clanger:
The full record in question
posted by IcarusFloats at 6:16 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
The full record in question
posted by IcarusFloats at 6:16 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
Interesting, I hadn't heard of this case. Thanks, Major Clanger.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:24 AM on January 24
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:24 AM on January 24
After The Rats we had Fluke. We actually persuaded a student teacher to read that in class to us during an English lesson when our regular teacher was ill.
Other literature we were fond of included Sven Hassel, of course; Nick Carter, and Troy Conway (the sex scenes in which were so stupid they even made 10-year-old boys laugh out loud). And someone had a prized pre-movie copy of Jaws.
Eventually the UK marketers decided to tap boys' enthusiasm for guts, gore and grossitude with Action, which was a comic and therefore didn't escape the disapproval of adults nearly as much as the books did.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:25 AM on January 24
Other literature we were fond of included Sven Hassel, of course; Nick Carter, and Troy Conway (the sex scenes in which were so stupid they even made 10-year-old boys laugh out loud). And someone had a prized pre-movie copy of Jaws.
Eventually the UK marketers decided to tap boys' enthusiasm for guts, gore and grossitude with Action, which was a comic and therefore didn't escape the disapproval of adults nearly as much as the books did.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:25 AM on January 24
Apologies for being slightly oblique. As a lawyer I have access to printed case reports and subscription databases and so could find a copy of Ravenscroft v Herbert [1980] RPC 193 to quote from.
posted by Major Clanger at 6:26 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
posted by Major Clanger at 6:26 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
cupcakeninja Not many people had. It became a bit better-known in English IP legal circles thanks to the much better-publicised case of Baigent and Leigh v Random House, aka The Da Vinci Code Case. The judge in that case referred to Ravenscroft v Herbert in some detail from para 160 on; it was the only major prior case addressing the question of whether a fictional work can 'plagiarise' in any sense a non-fiction one.
posted by Major Clanger at 6:30 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
posted by Major Clanger at 6:30 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
I knew about the substance of the "Da Vinci Code Case," but I also did not before today know anything about the cipher embedded in the written decision. I've heard previously about certain people embedding as a lark quotes from notable films in the text of lengthy legislative documents unlikely to be read often, if at all, but the cipher's on another level.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:38 AM on January 24
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:38 AM on January 24
I am reminded of Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell, a delightful exploration of old-fashioned horror novels that led to a few reissues. I don't think this was one of them, but I know he was in there, along with the others writing in horror's rat fad. And the dog fad, and the crab fad, and the insect fad, and the worm fad ...
posted by Countess Elena at 7:02 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 7:02 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
I loved those books as a teenager. I don't think I could go back to them now, either because I couldn't handle the gore, or because post-Garth Marenghi I couldn't take them even as seriously as they need.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:49 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:49 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
Derail continuo: If you have an hour, and the interest, then the Holy Da Vinci Blood story was was covered as a BBC Seriously podcast last Sept.
"BBC Paris CorrespondeNt Hugh SchOfield heads to the South of FraNce to uncover a forgotten mileStonE of broadcastiNg which helped Set thE template for the modern conspiracy theory. "
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:53 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
"BBC Paris CorrespondeNt Hugh SchOfield heads to the South of FraNce to uncover a forgotten mileStonE of broadcastiNg which helped Set thE template for the modern conspiracy theory. "
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:53 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
The linked description makes this sound exactly like yet another JG Ballard novel. Somewhere between High Rise and Crash, but maybe more The Wind From Nowhere in concept. A thinly plausible sci-fi conceit, slightly clumsy prose taking it to a grotesque extreme, and a veneer of "British society is monstrous right under the surface" to give it literary respectability.
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
Rats.
Rats?
Rats.
RATS.
Rats.
And little bits of sick.
posted by Artw at 9:18 AM on January 24 [5 favorites]
Rats?
Rats.
RATS.
Rats.
And little bits of sick.
posted by Artw at 9:18 AM on January 24 [5 favorites]
Other literature we were fond of included...
Wot, no mention of Richard Allen's Skinhead series? They were a mainstay in British playgrounds throughout the 1970s, surely? Certainly were in mine.
Another series I loved at that age was the Pan Horror Stories paperbacks. Lots of short stories in each book, and again very heavy on the gore. The one that stuck in my mind had a guy cremated alive, his last sensation being his eyes melting.
Going back to Herbert, I think Amis and the other reviewers look at bit silly clutching their pearls over his stuff. There's nothing wrong with a full-on trashy paperback, and my adolescence would have been poorer without them.
posted by Paul Slade at 9:44 AM on January 24
Wot, no mention of Richard Allen's Skinhead series? They were a mainstay in British playgrounds throughout the 1970s, surely? Certainly were in mine.
Another series I loved at that age was the Pan Horror Stories paperbacks. Lots of short stories in each book, and again very heavy on the gore. The one that stuck in my mind had a guy cremated alive, his last sensation being his eyes melting.
Going back to Herbert, I think Amis and the other reviewers look at bit silly clutching their pearls over his stuff. There's nothing wrong with a full-on trashy paperback, and my adolescence would have been poorer without them.
posted by Paul Slade at 9:44 AM on January 24
I wonder if the C64 game would make an interesting companion piece to Dishonored.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:47 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:47 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
What made these rats dangerous was that they were smart enough to not eat the green wobbly bit.
posted by delfin at 10:20 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
posted by delfin at 10:20 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
Huh, that C64 game is new to me. The graphics style is interesting, with pixmap images on top of text. Nice way to add some visual horror to what seems to be a text-heavy game.
Looks like it never made it over to the Apple ][ which is why I probably never saw it.
posted by Nelson at 10:31 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
Looks like it never made it over to the Apple ][ which is why I probably never saw it.
posted by Nelson at 10:31 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
Say what you will about James Herbert; Dan Brown makes James Herbert look like James Joyce.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:29 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:29 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
I know that in my high school "eat lunch in the library and tear through large numbers of books" phase I went through a bunch of horror authors (lots of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc). I also know that I read one that might have been The Rats - I think the book I read was set in London.
But maybe the one detail I recall for certain will help folks confirm whether it was James Herbert or something else: In the Herbert novel, is there a point at which one of the characters pulls the large blade off an office paper cutter for use as a weapon?
posted by nickmark at 1:12 PM on January 24
But maybe the one detail I recall for certain will help folks confirm whether it was James Herbert or something else: In the Herbert novel, is there a point at which one of the characters pulls the large blade off an office paper cutter for use as a weapon?
posted by nickmark at 1:12 PM on January 24
After reading the article I immediately went and read the book (available for check-out at Archive.org). Thoroughly enjoyed it, and looking forward to digging into the sequels. A grim, pulpy delight.
posted by longtime_lurker at 8:56 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by longtime_lurker at 8:56 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
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