Joseph Delaney

Delaney, who was living in Manchester, died on 16 August 2022, after a period of illness; he was 77 years old.

From 2015 to 2017, Delaney published the science fiction Arena 13 trilogy. He published the dark fantasy Aberrations series from 2018 to 2019.

In 2014, Stephen Delaney, Joseph Delaney's son, adapted The Spook's Apprentice into a 160-page play script; it is published under the title The Spook's Apprentice – Play Edition.

A 2014 film adaptation of The Spook's Apprentice was produced by Legendary Pictures, directed by Sergey Bodrov, and entitled Seventh Son. Ben Barnes played Tom Ward, Jeff Bridges was the Spook, Julianne Moore was Mother Malkin, Alicia Vikander was Alice Deane, Kit Harington was Billy Bradley, Djimon Hounsou was Radu (an original character), and Antje Traue was Bony Lizzie.

Delaney's first works were written under the pseudonym J. K. Haderack; a reference to the Kwisatz Haderach from Frank Herbert's Dune universe. After struggling to find success publishing fantasy and science fiction books for adults, his agent encouraged him to try writing for a younger audience, to meet the brief of a children's publisher. To fulfil the requirements of the brief, Delaney created a book based on a story he had first written in 1993, which was inspired by Stalmine's boggart, as well as Lancashire folklore and other stories. In 2004, he published the book as The Spook's Apprentice, under his real name, which became the first book in the dark fantasy Spook's series. Delaney achieved international success chronicling the adventures of his lead character, Tom Ward. The series has been published in 30 countries, with sales exceeding 4.5 million copies. Following the publication of the second book in the series, Delaney retired from teaching to write full-time. He identified J. R. R. Tolkien and Frank Herbert as his two biggest inspirations, Delaney, similar to Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, used his dreams to help write his stories.

Delaney married Marie Smith in 1968; they had three children and nine grandchildren. She died of cancer in 2007. In 2014, he married Rani Kuncher Vannithamby.

Joseph Henry Delaney (25 July 1945 – 16 August 2022) was an English author, known for his dark fantasy series Spook's. He started his career as a teacher and wrote science fiction and fantasy novels for adults under the pseudonym J. K. Haderack. Delaney later wrote under his real name, starting with the publication of The Spook's Apprentice, in 2004, the first book in his Spook's series, which lead to international success. He published 19 books as part of the series, as well as several books which take place in the same universe. In 2014, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a play script and the 2014 feature film Seventh Son. Delaney also published two other series: the science fiction Arena 13 and dark fantasy Aberrations.

Joseph Henry Delaney was born on 25 July 1945 in Preston, Lancashire, the son of a labourer; he was the oldest of four children. Delaney attended Preston Catholic College and then worked as an apprentice engineer and fitter. He took his A-Levels at night school before studying English, history and sociology as a mature student at Lancaster University. Following graduation, he studied at St Martin's College to become a teacher. He later became an English teacher at the Blackpool Sixth Form College, where he helped start the Media and Film Studies Department. In the 1980s Delaney completed an Open University degree in an effort to become a computer programmer. In 1983, he moved to the village of Stalmine, where he discovered that, in the past, a boggart had been found there by a priest; he noted this down and the finding later became the source of the Spook's series.