Order of Book Series
0

James Herbert Books in Order

James Herbert has written 25 books, published between 1974 and 2012. The first book is The Rats / Deadly Eyes (1974) and the newest is Ash (2012). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
25
Published
1974–2012
Pages on record
8,137 in 23 of 25 books
Reading time
136–203 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,137 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 25 titles with a page count on record.

See all 25 books in order Printable James Herbert checklist
Photo of James Herbert, author

James Herbert (1943-2013) was an English horror writer. The Rats (1974) opened the catalogue and gave its name to a series about mutated rats, continued in Lair (1979) and Domain (1983). The Fog (1975), The Survivor (1976), Fluke (1977), The Spear (1978) and The Dark (1980) followed in quick succession. Haunted houses and ghosts run through the later work, where David Ash is Herbert's recurring character. Twenty-five titles are catalogued, closing with Ash in 2012. Herbert designed his own covers and publicity, and the books have sold 54 million copies in 34 languages.

How many James Herbert books are there?

James Herbert has 25 books, released between 1974 and 2012. They include 3 series and 17 titles listed outside any series.

James Herbert Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 25 James Herbert books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Rats / Deadly Eyes by James Herbert, book 1 of the Rats series (1974)
  2. Cover of The Survivor by James Herbert (1976)
  3. Cover of Fluke by James Herbert (1977)
  4. Cover of Lair by James Herbert, book 2 of the Rats series (1979)
  5. Cover of The Dark by James Herbert (1980)
  6. Cover of The Jonah by James Herbert (1981)
  7. Cover of Domain by James Herbert, book 3 of the Rats series (1983)
  8. Cover of Shrine by James Herbert (1983)
  9. Cover of Moon by James Herbert (1985)
  10. Cover of The Magic Cottage by James Herbert (1986)
  11. Cover of Sepulchre by James Herbert (1987)
  12. Cover of Haunted by James Herbert, book 1 of the David Ash series (1988)
  13. Cover of Creed by James Herbert (1990)
  14. Cover of Portent by James Herbert (1992)
  15. Cover of The City by James Herbert, book 1 of the Rats Graphic Novels series (1994)
  16. Cover of The Ghosts Of Sleath by James Herbert, book 2 of the David Ash series (1994)
  17. Cover of '48 by James Herbert, book 3 of the David Ash series (1996)
  18. Cover of Others by James Herbert (1999)
  19. Cover of Once... by James Herbert (2001)
  20. Cover of Nobody True by James Herbert (2003)
  21. Cover of The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert (2006)
  22. Cover of Ash by James Herbert, book 4 of the David Ash series (2012)
  1. 1
    The Rats / Deadly EyesRats #11974 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Fog1975 · 1 pages · confirmed 2/4
    19751
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Survivor1976 · 264 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1976264
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Fluke1977 · 220 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1977220
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Spear1978 · 314 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978314
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    LairRats #21979 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Dark1980 · 442 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1980442
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Jonah1981 · 296 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    DomainRats #31983 · 496 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Shrine1983 · 538 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983538
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Moon1985 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Magic Cottage1986 · 321 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1986321
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Sepulchre1987 · 333 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987333
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    HauntedDavid Ash #11988 · confirmed 2/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Creed1990 · 386 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990386
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Portent1992 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    James Herbert's Dark Places1993 · 167 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993167
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The CityRats Graphic Novels #11994 · 64 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199464
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Ghosts Of SleathDavid Ash #21994 · confirmed 2/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    '48David Ash #31996 · 435 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996435
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Others1999 · 480 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Once...2001 · 460 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001460
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Nobody True2003 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Secret of Crickley Hall2006 · 632 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    AshDavid Ash #42012 · 704 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012704
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

James Herbert books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

David Ash in order

4 books
  1. 1. Haunted
  2. 2. The Ghosts Of Sleath
  3. 3. '48
  4. 4. Ash

Rats in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Rats / Deadly Eyes
  2. 2. Lair
  3. 3. Domain

Rats Graphic Novels in order

1 book
  1. 1. The City

Standalone books

17 books

17 James Herbert titles here are not listed as part of any series.

James Herbert Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the James Herbert books run from The Rats / Deadly Eyes (1974) to Ash (2012), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for James Herbert in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read James Herbert books in order?

You only need to read James Herbert books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with James Herbert

Start with The Rats / Deadly Eyes (1974), the earliest published title.

What is the newest James Herbert book?

Ash (2012) is the newest James Herbert book released so far.

Is there a new James Herbert book coming?

No next James Herbert book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards James Herbert has won

Wikidata records 1 award and 1 nomination for James Herbert. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • World Horror Convention Grand Master Award2010Won
  • August Derleth Award2004Shortlistedfor Nobody True

James Herbert at a glance

Died
James Herbert died in 2013, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to James Herbert on record dates from 2012.
Release pace
James Herbert books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
8,137 pages across the 23 of 25 books with a recorded length, a median of 352 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most James Herbert books, 8 of 25, were published in the 1980s.

What the James Herbert books are about

All 25 James Herbert books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: horror is tagged on 19 of 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.