In
1982, a young man named Byron Preiss set out to create the largest scavenger
hunt in history. He traveled across America with a backpack and shovel and,
under the cover of night, he buried twelve ornate boxes inside public parks near
major cities. Each box contained a key. When he returned home to Manhattan, he
hid the clues that would lead to these keys inside paintings and poems that
appeared in a book called The Secret: A
Treasure Hunt, which was published later that year by Bantam.
Byron
was an ambitious freelance editor, on the lookout for his big break. He thought
it would be The Secret. He found
inspiration in a story called Masquerade,
which had become a publishing phenomenon in the U.K. The book sold over a
million copies. Recognizing the possibilities, Byron attempted to recreate the
excitement, here. And instead of one treasure – he buried a dozen!
Anyone
could play the game. All you had to do to win was decipher the clues in the
poems and paintings that appeared in his book. Byron wrote the twelve poems
himself. The paintings were created by a young artist named John Jude Palencar
(who would go on to become quite famous for his fantasy book illustrations and
covers, used in the Eragon series and
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower). Each
painting had to be matched up with a specific poem – neither contained enough
information, alone. Once a poem and painting were connected and understood, the
reader would learn the location of one of Byron’s buried keys. Once the key was
retrieved, it could be sent to the publisher and exchanged for a real gem,
worth about $1,000. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds – real treasure!
Also included in the book was a detailed
history of the “Fair Folk” – the elves and trolls and dwarves – who immigrated
to the New World to find a safer place to bury their treasures. After they
arrived, the magical creatures evolved into new fairies that could blend in
with the changing culture – silly beasts like the Tupper-werewolves and the
maître demon (who sits you by the kitchen if you’re unlucky enough to encounter
him!)
Upon
its release, The Chicago Tribune
suspected that “Hundreds of thousands of Americans will be galvanized into
action by the promise of rubies, diamonds, and opals, and will be captivated by
the elaborate fantasy-mythology world that the book’s authors have created as a
context for their conundrum.” But, to date, only two of the keys have ever been
found. Byron was the only person who knew the exact location of the remaining
keys and he died in a tragic car accident, in 2005.
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