A new and entirely fictitious exhibition at the Walden Museum celebrates the much-loved horror author’s life, work and legacy.
A multi-award winning author and screenwriter, Bane, who was killed in 2020 at the age of 65 in a low-speed muntjac collision while riding his bicycle, is known as the writer of horror novels inspired by Saffron Walden, including Harloween (1982), A Nightmare on Elm Grove (1987), The Pargeting (1988), Deliver us from Haverhell (1999) and The Spike: Ghosts of the Old Workhouse (2003).
Born in 1955, Bane attended the Aleister Crowley Primary School of Black Magic on Mount Pleasant, where he was introduced to the work of Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, HP Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury, authors he would eventually draw inspiration from.
He was 27 when his first book was published.
Harloween tells the story of five Saffron Walden friends who find themselves playing cat and mouse with two masked killers after their car breaks down in Harlow one Halloween. “Terrifying,” wrote The Guardian. “Does for Harlow what Jaws did for Sharks.”
Harloween has sold over 20 million copies and was adapted for screen in 1983.
Several other film adaptations of Bane’s work have also been produced, including The Pargeting in 1989, which starred Andre the Giant as the Wisbech Giant and Anthony Hopkins as Tom Hickathrift.
Bane had a keen interest in the paranormal, and it is believed that he had been working on a book about the paranormal in Saffron Walden when he was killed. Indeed, he may have been distracted scribbling in his notepad when he collided with the muntjac.
To coincide with the retrospective, The Walden Multiplex on Windmill Hill is showing a double bill of Harloween and The Pargeting on Sunday, 29th October. Tickets can be purchased online, at The Museum or in Walden Tourist Disinformation.
