During the 20th century, several writers used the forest as a setting for their novels, including R. Austin Freeman's "Jacob Street Mystery" (1940), partly set at Loughton Camp. Dorothy L. Sayers' 1928 mystery "Unnatural Death" includes the discovery, in Epping Forest, of the body of a young woman possessing knowledge that could incriminate a murderer. The horror writer James Herbert used Epping Forest as the setting for his novel "Lair" (1979). In the book, a horde of Giant Black Rats establish a colony in the forest and embark on a murderous campaign against humans. Herbert mentions a now obscure legend attached to the forest – the legend of the white stag. Supposedly, the sighting of this animal is an omen of trouble and death. Natural historian and author Fred J Speakman lived at the Epping Forest Field Studies Centre, High Beach. He wrote several books about the area, including "A Poacher's Tale" with Alfred T Curtis, a Waltham Abbey-born poacher, and "A Keeper's Tale", describing the life of forest keeper Sidney Butt.