Dennis Wheatley – thriller writer, author of historical, science fiction and occult novels, principally: ‘The Devil Rides Out’, ‘The Satanist’, ‘To The Devil A Daughter’, ‘The Ka of Gifford Hillary’ and ‘The Haunting of Toby Jugg’.  Gassed at Passchendale in 1917 while serving as a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, Dennis was sent home to die. Instead, he recovered and ran the family wine business until achieving instant success as an author with his first published book, set in Russia, ‘The Forbidden Territory’ (1933). ‘The Devil Rides Out’ followed, a year later. During WW2, Dennis was appointed a Wing Commander, working as a ‘Deception Planner’ in the war cabinet’s top secret Joint Planning Commission. After the war, his reputation continued to grow as an international best- selling author.  

Hammer Film Productions produced ‘The Devil Rides Out’ in 1968 with great success. However, ‘To the Devil…a Daughter’ released in 1976 was the flop Dennis Wheatley predicted. Before production began, he was sent the screenplay adaptation and typed a letter to producer Michael Carreras saying, “It is a hopeless mess.” and “My name is of very considerable value and I can see no reason why it should be abused…”.  Dennis Wheatley died on 10 November 1977, aged 80.  His ashes were buried at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking.