The egotistical film director John Hampton is a thinly-veiled portrait of John Huston, and the story dramatises the relationship between Huston and Ray Bradbury while the latter was collaborating with Huston on the film Moby Dick (1956) in Ireland in 1954.
Ray Bradbury based the "Banshee" story on his working relationship with John Huston during the making of "Moby Dick" in the mid 50's.