- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; New edition edition (21 Jan 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333761243
- ISBN-13: 978-0333761243
- Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 15.9 x 24.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,673,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Dark
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Product Description
Product Description
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 their attendants. In slimy tunnels, once-human creatures gathered. Madness raged as the lights began to fade and humanity was attacked by an ancient, unstoppable evil.
Book Description
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 their attendants...in slimy tunnels once-human creatures gathered. Madness raged as the lights began to fade and humanity was attacked by an ancient, unstoppable evil... Remember with fear...
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After all the hype James Herbert receives (best British author status etc.), I decided to read this, which I did a few years ago when I was 14 or something. At the time I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematic scenarios and gory features, which fed my curiosity and desire throughout. But then I read 'The Rats' and have started to read 'The Fog'....and I'm beginning to see a pattern here somewhere. This IS 'The Rats' but in a different form !! E.g. different scenarios where malevolent evil destroys good and the main character (of course) has to stop it in the usual James Herbert (predictable)finale. THEN I read 'Shrine' and I discovered something else - the main character Fenn in that is practically IDENTICAL characteristically to Bishop in this book....and, er, Harris in 'The Rats' and, yes yet again, the main guy from 'Moon'. Mmmmm. This made me feel rather cheated to be honest, because since I read this, I can predict the characters and outcomes of all Herbert's other books. Is that just me?? Perhaps so. But all that aside, I think the descriptive quality and malevolent images evoked in this novel are intensely addictive and may leave you thirsting for more if you like this sort of thing. My favourite section is probably the opening introduction, which sets the scene wonderfully. Okay, so it was hardly going to be acclaimed for an intricate plot or original storyline, but this is full-on horrofic fun and may even send a chill or two rippling down your spine. The parapsychological jargon (some of which is deliberately difficult to comprehend in certain places) makes the book feasible, I think. Maybe it's a bit cliché and predictable (and having virtually the same story as his other books) but it really is good fun if you don't feel up to any analysis of context etc. This is his best from the five I've read, in my opinion, solely due to the dark ambience it is able to evoke within.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read several of Herbert's novels but this is by far one of the best.
Some of the other reviews point out a similarity between The Dark and The Fog, but they are very different. I wont spoil either book but if you have read The Fog and found it disturbing, you probably shouldn't read The Dark!
Like many of Herbert's other novels the suspence starts from the first chapter and keeps you gripped until the end. Despite being over 430 pages long, this book could have carried on for longer, and part of me wishes that it had. I am in no way disappointed with the ending, I was just so caught up with the characters that I would have been more than happy with a few more chapters!
An excellent read and an absolute must for anyone who has read some of Herbert's other works. Also a good starting point for new Herbert fans, I am sure this book will have you hooked and eager to read more of his novels.
Some of the other reviews point out a similarity between The Dark and The Fog, but they are very different. I wont spoil either book but if you have read The Fog and found it disturbing, you probably shouldn't read The Dark!
Like many of Herbert's other novels the suspence starts from the first chapter and keeps you gripped until the end. Despite being over 430 pages long, this book could have carried on for longer, and part of me wishes that it had. I am in no way disappointed with the ending, I was just so caught up with the characters that I would have been more than happy with a few more chapters!
An excellent read and an absolute must for anyone who has read some of Herbert's other works. Also a good starting point for new Herbert fans, I am sure this book will have you hooked and eager to read more of his novels.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Is evil a force within all of us? Is it a source of energy that can be harnessed by powerful men? After a mass suicide in a normal house in a normal suburb of London things start to go wrong. Family members attack one another and strangers kill each other on the street. The feeling of evil spreads during the night over London and there is even a mass brawl at a football game leaving 100s dead. With Marshall Law installed can the government discover what is behind the dark? Is it a physical problem or one of the soul?
This book is by no means Herbert's best, but still has some good elements. The idea that everyone has evil within them and it can be harnessed is very interesting, but the book fails to really explore the concept fully. I found the characters to be a bit too generic and that the majority of the book fell into a straight chase. The parts that do succeed are the elements of horror as Herbert describes the various grisly events that the dark induces. I would recommend this book to Herbert completists only as it may put off a new reader. Herbert's 'Rats' trilogy or 'The Shrine' are far better starting points.
This book is by no means Herbert's best, but still has some good elements. The idea that everyone has evil within them and it can be harnessed is very interesting, but the book fails to really explore the concept fully. I found the characters to be a bit too generic and that the majority of the book fell into a straight chase. The parts that do succeed are the elements of horror as Herbert describes the various grisly events that the dark induces. I would recommend this book to Herbert completists only as it may put off a new reader. Herbert's 'Rats' trilogy or 'The Shrine' are far better starting points.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
enjoyed read and pleased with condition of book
Bought as a gift and my dad enjoyed the read and he was pleased with condition of book. Would recommend
Published 6 months ago by suzi_inspire
Disappointed
I adore James Herbert's books, and have read several of them, with every intention to read more. This one, however, left me disappointed. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Me
The Fist book I
The First book I read of James Herberts was Nobody True. Since then I have bought more books from this Auther. Alot of them are much of the same. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Wendoleen
The Dark by James Herbert
I'm a big Horror fan, and James Herbert is one of my favourites. His early offerings are particularly enthralling, and I rate this one as one of his best. Read more
Published 13 months ago by The Accountant
Murder For The Masses : A Dark Masterclass
Hello all
This book is very absorbing and Herbert's development as a writer begins to shine though. Read more
This book is very absorbing and Herbert's development as a writer begins to shine though. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Rainy-Day-Reading
Strange but true
I read this book at the age of 16 and found it a better than average Herbert novel with all the usual ingredients mentioned so often in these reviews. Read more
Published 23 months ago by G. Shorrock
Beware of the Dark!
James Herbert is very much an "in-your-face" author whose reputation is built on the uncompromising - detractors would say gratuitous - depiction of that which we define as... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Matthew Norton
Herbert's Darkest novel...
No pun intended. The Dark is a genuinely chilling novel with a menacing, foreboding atmosphere to it, containing some genuine scares, an intriguing plot and intersting characters. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2008 by M. Evans
A CHILLER THRILLER...
This British author is immensely popular for his horror fiction. Having read a number of his other books and enjoyed them, I delved into this one with much anticipation. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2006 by Lawyeraau
Worth reading
The only critisism of this book is that its a little bit like the fog but not to much so that its not a story in its own right. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2005
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