Whitley Strieber began by writing softcore Erotic thrillers (most of which involving vampires and bondage and lots of descriptions of satin sheets and rope), most successful of which being The Hunger (which was either a thinly disguised retelling of the Donner Party incident or a faction about the private life of David Bowie at his Labyrinth hideout). His stories were so popular that they competed against the likes of Anne Rice, who would later hold a jealous grudge against Whitless. He also happens to be Stephen King, when he got tired of being famous and decided to write even more fucked up shit.