Born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1945, Delaney started his career as a teacher, who later authored science fiction and fantasy novels under the pen name J. K. Haderack.

[2] As a child, Delaney had a recurring nightmare where he sat with his mother while she knitted, when, suddenly, a shadowy figure emerged from the coal cellar, picked him up, and carried him into darkness.

He took his A-Levels at night school before studying English, history and sociology as a mature student at Lancaster University, at the age of 27.

[1] He later became an English teacher at Blackpool Sixth Form College, where he started the Media and Film Studies Department.

[5] Delaney's first works were published under the pen name J. K. Haderack,[6] a reference to the Kwisatz Haderach from Frank Herbert's Dune universe.

[1] To fulfil the requirements of the brief, Delaney wrote a novel based on a story he had first written in 1993, which was inspired by Stalmine's boggart, as well as the folklore, history and geography of Lancashire.

[14] Delaney travelled widely to boost the visibility of his books, frequently choosing New Zealand and Singapore for winter stays due to his aversion to cold weather.

However, the majority of his time was devoted to his native county, Lancashire, which served as a profound inspiration for all of his literary works.

[19] In the same year, a film adaptation of The Spook's Apprentice was released 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.