Prolific Kildare author - whose passion came from working in video shops - launches his latest book tonight

Naas author Wayne Byrne is set to celebrate the release of his new book, You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman: The Ongoing Halloween Saga – 13 Films and Counting, at Naas Library & Cultural Centre on Thursday, September 18 at 7pm.

The highly anticipated book on the Halloween franchise has already garnered acclaimed for its literary style, attention to detail, and candid interviews. 

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This is not the first time Byrne has tackled an iconic horror series, having published the definitive study of the Freddy Krueger films, Welcome to Elm Street: Inside the Film and Television Nightmares, in 2022. 

With that book receiving high acclaim and making Amazon top ten charts, it was inevitable that he would be asked to repeat the formula. 

However, Byrne was initially resistant. “I had no intention of doing more horror books,” he admits.

 “I’ve spent my literary career writing about vastly different subjects: from arthouse cinema to Hollywood blockbusters to film composers to female musicians; the only thing that links the books is that the subject meant something deeply personal to me. 

“That is what dictates the subjects I choose. The Elm Street films were part of that. But when you do something that is perceived to have done well, people want you to do more of the same, and you get known for that.

“So, after Welcome to Elm Street I got asked to do more horror franchise books; but the only one I agreed to was Halloween, because I grew up with those films; I was introduced to Halloween III: Season of the Witch by my dad when I was six years old and just fell in love with it. Forty years later here I am working with the people who made these films. I never expected that.”

While Byrne’s books have taken him to the hills of Hollywood and the streets of Manhattan for research and in celebration, there is only one place that he prefers to launch them.

 “I’ve always launched my books locally; it just makes sense to me; Naas is my home, and it’s where I discovered the films that I write about. As I say, I always have a deep personal connection to my subjects. I discovered these films in Naas in the late-80s and early-90s. I have vivid memories of renting Halloween 4 and Halloween 5 on VHS from Screen Test, the video shop that was on the Dublin Road. That and Hollywood Nights in Poplar Square, which became Xtra-Vision, were my film schools. I paid more attention there than in actual school.

Little did I realise that those places would be so influential to me in pursuing my passion for Cinema.”

You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman will be released by Bloomsbury, a major publisher with a catalogue boasting some of the world’s most beloved and successful books (including Harry Potter). 

Having such an industry powerhouse behind Byrne’s new book is testament to the immense popularity of the Halloween franchise, and a meaningful step forward for the author. 

“I’ve been very lucky with all the publishers that I’ve partnered with,” he says, “they have really supported my vision. It means a lot to have a house of such renown supporting me on this book. I never thought I’d have a Bloomsbury logo on one of my books.

“ That is so surreal. But it was made possible because of the artists who influenced me so young, and because of those wonderfully lax and permissive employees of Screen Test and Hollywood Nights who let me rent Halloween movies when I was six years old back in the 80s.”

All are welcome to join Wayne at the library on the night of the launch, where refreshments will be provided and he will be in-conversation with Film Ireland journalist Paul Farren to discuss his writing career and the making of the book.