Joseph Delaney, creator of The Wardstone Chronicles, dies aged 77

Joseph Delaney, known for the dark fantasy series The Wardstone Chronicles, has died aged 77. 

He passed away on 16th August after an illness which he kept to himself and his family. He leaves behind his wife Rani, two sons and a daughter and his grandchildren. His first wife Marie died in 2007.  

Delaney worked as an apprentice engineer and fitter before getting his A-Levels at night school and then becoming an English teacher. He would write in the early mornings before school until his first children’s book, The Spook’s Apprentice about Tom Ward the seventh son of a seventh son who trained to fight ghosts and creatures from the Dark, was published by Random House Children’s Books in 2004.

He then left teaching and went on to write 12 more titles in his globally bestselling dark fantasy series The Wardstone Chronicles, plus 17 other titles, predominantly set in the same world. The books have now been translated into 30 languages and won many awards including the Lancashire Book Award. In 2014, The Spook’s Apprentice was made into a movie called “The Seventh Son” starring Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. His books have now sold 4.5 million copies around the world, PRH said.

He travelled widely to promote his books, spending lots of the winter in New Zealand and Singapore, as he hated the cold, but most of his time was spent in his home county Lancashire – a place embedded in all of his writing. 

Delaney was writing right up until the end of his life and was about to embark on the next round of edits for the fourth in his Brother Wulf sequence. 

His children Joanne, Paul and Stephen said: "Dad loved writing and lived his dream over the last 18 years as an author published by Random House and Penguin. His imagination was boundless, and he could have kept creating new and exciting stories for years to come. He enjoyed meeting fans throughout the world and hearing their thoughts on his books. We are very proud of what he achieved. There is a great deal of Dad in his writing, and we see that in every page. When we were young children, Dad would tell us very scary stories that should not have been told after dark! We are so fortunate to have those memories. 

“He was a wonderful dad and a deeply caring man with an infectious sense of humour, especially after a glass of red wine. We hope that his books will inspire children and adults to create stories and live dreams of their own. That would have made him happy. 

“We would like to thank Penguin Random House as well as all the wonderful people who helped him on his adventure and especially everyone who has read his books.” 

Ruth Knowles, publishing director for Puffin, added: “The Spook’s Apprentice was first published just before I joined Random House Children’s Books (now Penguin Random House Children’s) and so Joe and his totally unique blend of fantasy-horror have been a part of my entire working life.

“I was so proud to have been his editor for many years. It was frustrating at times – we would meet for a beer in Manchester and in response to my questions he would simply smile and remind me every time that he followed ‘the Bram Stoker’ method of writing (meaning nothing was ever planned or plotted in advance!) so I would have to wait for answers – but it was also of course completely magical as the creatures and characters from his worlds would slowly come into focus, journeying into brilliantly terrifying adventures. I hope he’s with the ghosts of his beloved Lancashire now and that there’s some delicious red wine on tap. We are so very proud to publish him.”