{"id":22811,"title":"James Herbert - The Rats","description":"We are the General Witchfinders, we review horrific British horror, mainly from the 1970\u2019s, in this episode we read\u2026 The Rats! Warning, this book has outdated attitudes, language and cultural depiction, which may cause offence today. Harris, a young East London art teacher, notices that one of his students has a bloodied bandage around his hand.  Meanwhile, a baby girl and her dog are killed by a mischief of giant rats.","content":"<p>We are the General Witchfinders, we review horrific British horror, mainly from the 1970\u2019s, in this episode we read\u2026<\/p><p><br \/><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/ckvl6ucyndmb7jgid6abyuc2wiruntvf5kslc9vlg6gfdqvb.jpg\" alt=\"ckvl6ucyndmb7jgid6abyuc2wiruntvf5kslc9vlg6gfdqvb.jpg\" \/><br \/><strong>Warning, this book has outdated attitudes, language and cultural depiction, which may cause offence today.<\/strong><\/p><p><\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/bchsdmjniafepnmd293uosctpydxxtxeovoon1pyeb7c2f6d.jpg\" alt=\"bchsdmjniafepnmd293uosctpydxxtxeovoon1pyeb7c2f6d.jpg\" \/><\/p><p><\/p><p>Harris, a young East London art teacher, notices that one of his students has a bloodied bandage around his hand. Meanwhile, a baby girl and her dog are killed by a mischief of giant rats.<\/p><p>Harris takes the student to the hospital and sees the grieving mother with her dead child. According to the doctor, the number of seemingly unprovoked rat attacks have strangely increased.<\/p><p><\/p><p>The rats become increasingly more vicious and daring, as more and more public places are attacked, including a tube station and Harris' own school.<\/p><p><\/p><p>Where did these mutant Rats come from and how can they be stopped!<\/p><p><\/p><p>Herbert became inspired to write The Rats, his first novel, in early 1972, whilst watching Tod Browning's Dracula; specifically, after seeing the scene where Renfield describes a nightmare he had involving hordes of rats. Published 2 years later, The first paperback edition sold out after three weeks. It received harsh criticism upon its publication, deemed to be far too graphic in its portrayals of death and mutilation. James Herbert went on to write 23 books (including 3 sequels to the Rats) selling over 54 million copies worldwide.<\/p><p><\/p><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/podfollow.com\/general-witchfinders\/episode\/fcc6efe904b6f9160ab7a0656bc46dd0f5901e93\/view\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>\u00bb Listen Here \u00ab<\/u><\/a><\/p><p><\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/2gseonsjwqfzyzipaoh7c9mnjmszpdapb445stoqmyj2sy9o.jpeg\" alt=\"2gseonsjwqfzyzipaoh7c9mnjmszpdapb445stoqmyj2sy9o.jpeg\" \/><br \/><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/collection\/james-herbert-the-rats\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy the t-shirt inspired by the show here<\/a><br \/><\/p><h3>Scores<\/h3><h2>ROSS 3.5 \/ JON -10 \/ JAMES -3<\/h2><h3>Horrific Links:<\/h3><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/1764436.Black_Harvest\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>Dark Harvest - Ann Pilling <\/u><\/a><br \/><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taschen.com\/pages\/en\/catalogue\/film\/all\/43957\/facts.the_star_wars_archives_19771983_40th_anniversary_edition.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>The Star Wars Archives. 1977\u20131983. 40th Anniversary Edition<\/u><\/a><\/p><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/articles\/cZHLDbJPNTcyXLHMVgxdQR\/nigel-kneales-the-stone-tape-in-six-facts\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>The Stone Tape<\/u><\/a><\/p><p><\/p><div data-youtube-video=\"\"><iframe class=\"youtube\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DElN6_4qWRs\"><\/iframe><\/div>","urlTitle":"james-herbert-the-rats","url":"\/blog\/james-herbert-the-rats\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/james-herbert-the-rats\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/generalwitchfinders.com\/blog\/james-herbert-the-rats\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1669635266,"updatedAt":1669846703,"publishedAt":1669846703,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":251626,"name":"General Witchfinders"},"tags":[{"id":2024,"code":"main-show","name":"MainShow","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/main-show\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/uvc3tzjk85lx1cnmtep4s90sbxfw3maser9bo9gvszhc0cvx.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/uvc3tzjk85lx1cnmtep4s90sbxfw3maser9bo9gvszhc0cvx.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/uvc3tzjk85lx1cnmtep4s90sbxfw3maser9bo9gvszhc0cvx.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":22698,"title":"Dracula AD 1972","url":"\/blog\/dracula-ad-1972\/","urlTitle":"dracula-ad-1972","division":251626,"description":"Dracula AD 1972from Hammer The seventh Hammer film featuring the count, and the sixth to star Christopher Lee as the count.  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