My friend Denis Meikle, who has died aged 74 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was an author, film historian and publisher known for his pioneering and meticulously researched books on Hammer studios, Roman Polanski, Vincent Price, and Johnny Depp, and the Japanese horror franchise The Ring.
Denis was born in Glasgow, the only child of Elizabeth (nee Little) and Adam Meikle. Through his father’s work for the Post Office, the family moved to Peckham, south London, when Denis was nine years old.
