Masquerade by Kit Williams (book)
Hareraiser by Haresoft (software)
I wonder if many people remember these and if so whether many people ever heard the full story?
At the time the book came out, I was still pretty young and although I saw a copy of it briefly at school, I never had much exposure to it. I'd heard that it contained a treasure hunt but didn't have a clue how it worked. In time, it was revealed that although the captivating paintings within its pages could be enjoyed by people of all ages, the puzzle itself was really far too difficult for children to solve (as well as most adults, of course).
Similarly, I was aware of the game and saw it being advertised but with the high cost and its infamous low entertainment value, I never obtained a copy. As a result, I didn't really follow what happened with the game or give it much attention.
It was only recently that I learned the two were linked. I found it a really intriguing story of how the golden hare was discovered, yet not by the first team to solve the riddles of the book. Instead, it was claimed in questionable circumstances by a fictitious character who turned out to be the business partner of a man who had befriended an ex-girlfriend of the creator (Kit Williams) in order to obtain clues for its approximate whereabouts. He then actually got lucky by finding the hare's casket amongst earth that been dug up and discarded by the team that had solved the book as intended - sadly, they'd simply failed to spot it!
The “winner” (Ken Thomas, real name Dugald Thompson) then used the prize to found Haresoft and released the bewildering Hareraiser software in two parts across multiple platforms, again offering the golden hare as a tempting prize. To this day, it seems to have remained a mystery whether or not Hareraiser really has a solution or was merely a scam to sell home computer tapes into a buoyant market. In the end, however, it apparently wasn't much of a money-spinner for owner Mr Thompson, as the company folded before long and with the beautiful golden hare having been used as security to finance Haresoft it was later sold at auction to pay creditors.
Although listed with an estimated value of just £3,000-£6,000 it actually fetched £31,900 and promptly disappeared into the collection of an anonymous buyer. It wasn't until 20 years later that the golden hare was, at last, re-united with Kit Williams after the present owner responded to an item in a BBC radio show and agreed to lend it for a one-time-only exhibition of the artists work. This touching moment can be seen, together with a perspective on much more of his artwork, in the BBC4 documentary "The Man Behind the Masquerade" (available from MVGroup).
I found the documentary well worth watching and much more of the story, the scandal, archive pictures and solutions is also provided by various web sites. Here are a few links for anyone interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book)
http://www.thefoolsparadise.com/masquer ... er-end.htm
http://www.bunnyears.net/kitwilliams/masq.html
