It is the tale of Highlands policeman, Police Sergeant Neil Howie, on the trail of a missing girl being lured to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. As May Day approaches, strange, shamanistic and erotic events erupt around him. Initially he is convinced that the girl has been abducted for human sacrifice - only to find that he may be the revellers' quarry...
Anthony Shaffer was a UK-based screenwriter well-known for such successful thrillers as Sleuth and Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy, in addition to this screenplay and novelization. He died of a heart attack on November 6th, 2001, while at his home in London.