Herbert van Thal [SEP] date of death
Herbert van Thal
Bertie Maurice van Thal (1904–1983), known as Herbert van Thal, was a British bookseller, publisher, agent, biographer, and anthologist. 
Biography.
Van Thal's grandfather was a distiller (King's Liqueur Whisky), and was a director of the theatre proprietors, Howard and Wyndham. Henry Irving and Harry Lauder were friends of the family. 
After the Second World War, he founded the short-lived publishing house of Home and van Thal, with his friends Margaret Douglas
Pan Book of Horror Stories
The Pan Book of Horror Stories was a British paperback series of short horror story anthologies published by Pan Books Ltd. The series ran to thirty volumes, the first published in 1959.
The series was initially collected and edited by Herbert Van Thal. On Van Thal's death Clarence Paget edited the series, from volume twenty-six until its demise with volume thirty in 1989.
The early editions of the "Pan Book of Horror Stories" were notable for their lurid cover art and Van