Prolific and popular, John Blackburn never strove for critical esteem or academic attention, and accordingly he received little of either during a career that spanned more than three decades. Despite this fact, he was widely regarded as a talented writer of genre fiction, ranging from spy thrillers to horror and science fiction. Frequently in his work these genres were combined in interesting ways. In addition, readers often admired Blackburn's skills with characterization and plot in a publishing category in which both tended toward the predictable or the stereotypical. He is widely considered an important figure in British horror fiction in particular, a transitional figure between the older style of weird fiction practiced by Dennis Wheatley and the later type of horror written by the popular author James Herbert.

John Fenwick Blackburn was born in England in Corbridge, Northumberland, on 26 June 1923. His parents were Charles Eliel Blackburn, a clergyman...