Blackburn

JOHN BLACKBURN (1923 - 1993)

The son of the vicar of Corbridge, Blackburn attended Durham University. He served in the navy during WWII and later worked as an antique bookseller. He began his writing career in 1958 with A Scent of New-Mown Hay, a characteristic amalgam of fantasy, espionage and science-fiction. The novel had a cold-war background typical of his early works; his own authorial stance was staunchly right-wing.

Blackburn was a prolific writer of horror fantasy novels, among which Children of the Night (1970) is set on the Northumberland moors and coast. A later novel Nothing but the Night was filmed in 1972 with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors and Michael Gambon, but was a box-office failure and led to the collapse of Lee's production company Charlemagne. Our Lady of Pain (1974) about Elizabeth Batory of Hungary, was suggested to Blackburn by Christopher Lee and is dedicated to him.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOHN BLACKBURN (1923 - 1993) The son of the vicar of Corbridge, Blackburn attended Durham University. He served in the navy during WWII and later worked as an antique bookseller. He began his writing career in 1958 with A Scent of New-Mown Hay, a characteristic amalgam of fantasy, espionage and science-fiction. The novel had a cold-war background typical of his early works; his own authorial stance was staunchly right-wing. Blackburn was a prolific writer of horror fantasy novels, among which Children of the Night (1970) is set on the Northumberland moors and coast. A later novel Nothing but the Night was filmed in 1972 with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors and Michael Gambon, but was a box-office failure and led to the collapse of Lee's production company Charlemagne. Our Lady of Pain (1974) about Elizabeth Batory of Hungary, was suggested to Blackburn by Christopher Lee and is dedicated to him.
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