The Troop, a 2014 novel about a scout camping weekend that takes a scary twist by Canadian author Craig Davidson (using the pseudonym of Nick Cutter), has won the first James Herbert award for horror writing, winning the £2,000 prize. The award was created to celebrate the life and work of horror writer James Herbert. It tells the story of a scoutmaster named Tim Riggs and his troop of boy scouts who encounter an “emaciated stranger” on a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness.
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Kerry Herbert’, the late author’s daughter, who was one of the judges, described the winning book as the “darkest of tales”. She added: “My father would have chuckled in his chair; his fans will love it. And you’ll never go camping again.The Troop is a brilliant and terrifying classic that I am proud to champion as the first winner of the James Herbert Award for Horror Writing – it’s now one of my favourite books.” Tom Hunter, Chair of the judging panel commented: “The Troop is a perfect first winner, and the judges loved its tense plotting, detailed characterisation and above all the driving sense of fear that compels you to keep turning every horror-soaked page until the end.”
Davidson’s other works include his first short story collection, Rust and Bone, adapted as a film by French director Jacques Audiard. British author James Herbert was the writer of twenty-three best-selling horror novels, such as The Rats, The Fog, The Dark, The Magic Cottage, Haunted and Fluke.
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Shortlisted titles for the James Herbert Award 2015:
- MR Carey, The Girl With All the Gifts (Orbit)
- Nick Cutter, The Troop (Headline)
- Frances Hardinge, Cuckoo Song (Macmillan)
- Andrew Michael Hurley, The Loney (Tartarus Press)
- Josh Malerman, Bird Box (Harper Voyager)
- Kim Newman, An English Ghost Story (Titan Books)
