Supposed supernatural activity at in London in the 1970s
TheHighgate Vampire was amedia sensation surrounding reports of supposedsupernatural activity atHighgate Cemetery inLondon, England, United Kingdom, in the 1970s. The most thorough account of the story is given byfolklorist Bill Ellis in the journalFolklore, published in 1993.[1]
On 31 October 1968, a group of young people interested in theoccult visitedTottenham Park Cemetery, at a time when it was being regularly vandalised by intruders.[2] According to a report in theLondon Evening News of 2 November 1968:
These persons arranged flowers taken from graves in circular patterns with arrows of blooms pointing to a new grave, which was uncovered. A coffin was opened and the body inside "disturbed". But their most macabre act was driving an iron stake in form a cross through the lid and into the breast of the corpse.
Though the identities and motivations of those responsible were never ascertained, general consensus at the time linked thedesecration to events surrounding the Highgate Vampire case.[3]
Then, in a letter to theHampstead and Highgate Express on 6 February 1970, David Farrant wrote that when passingHighgate Cemetery on 24 December 1969 he had glimpsed "a grey figure", which he considered to besupernatural, and asked if others had seen anything similar. On the 13th, several people replied, describing a variety ofghosts said to haunt the cemetery or the adjoiningSwain's Lane. These ghosts were described as a tall man in a hat, aspectral cyclist, a woman in white, a face glaring through the bars of a gate, a figure wading into a pond, a pale gliding form, bells ringing, and voices calling.[4]
Sean Manchester claimed Farrant's "grey figure" was avampire and the media quickly latched on, embellishing the tale with stories of the vampire being a king of the vampires, or of practisingblack magic.[5]
The ensuing publicity was enhanced by a growing rivalry between Farrant and Manchester, each claiming that he could and would expel or destroy the spectre. Manchester declared he would hold anexorcism onFriday 13 of March 1970.[6][5]ITV conducted interviews with Manchester, Farrant, and others who claimed to have seen supernatural figures in the cemetery, which were transmitted early on the evening of the 13th; within two hours a mob of 'hunters' from all over London and beyond swarmed over gates and walls into the locked cemetery, despite police efforts to control them.[7]
Some months later, on 1 August 1970, the charred and headless remains of a woman's body were found not far from thecatacomb.[8][9] The police suspected that it had been used in black magic.[citation needed] Farrant was found by police in the churchyard beside the cemetery one night in August, carrying acrucifix and a wooden stake. He was arrested, but when the case came to court it was dismissed.[10]
A few days later Manchester returned to Highgate Cemetery. He claims that this time he and his companions forced open the doors of a family vault (indicated by his psychic helper). He says he lifted the lid off one coffin, believing it to have been mysteriously transferred there from the previous catacomb. He was about to drive a stake through the body it contained when a companion persuaded him to desist. Reluctantly, he shut the coffin, leaving garlic and incense in the vault.[11]
There was more publicity about Farrant and Manchester when rumours spread that they would meet in a "magicians' duel" onParliament Hill on Friday 13 April 1973, which never occurred.[12] Farrant was jailed for four years and eight months in July 1974 for damaging memorials and interfering with dead remains in Highgate Cemetery—vandalism and desecration which he insisted had been caused bySatanists, not him[13]—as well as other offences.[14]
Farrant and Manchester wrote and spoke repeatedly about the Highgate Vampire, each stressing his own role to the exclusion of the other.[15] Each attempted to control the narrative around the vampire, resulting in ongoing animosity and rivalry between the two. Their feud continued for decades, marked by insults and vindictiveness, until Farrant's death in April 2019.[16]
The Highgate Vampire appears as a villain in theDark Horse comics seriesBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine. The Highgate Vampire is revealed to be, not a vampire, but an insectoid demon that feeds off its victims' emotional trauma.Rupert Giles had nearly been killed by the creature in 1972. The Highgate Vampire became a minion ofDrusilla when it returned in the 2010s.
Il vampiro di Highgate (Highgate Vampire) is the title of 45th issue of Italian horror comic book seriesDampyr.[18]
The 2021 song "Graveyard Sun" byGreen Lung is based on the mythical Highgate Vampire.[20]
When planning a witching hour visit to a grave in Highgate West, the threat of the vampire is discussed inAmelia Ellis' 2018 novelThe Mirror of Muraro.[21]
^R. D. Altick,To Be in England (1969), 194-95, and various press reports, cited in Ellis (1993) 19-20
^Medway, GarethLure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism, New York University Press (1 April 2001)
^Hampstead and Highgate Express, 6 February 1970, 26; 13 February 1970, 25; 20 February 1970, 1, 27; 27 February 1970, 6. Cited in Ellis (1993) 20-21; some also in Farrant (1991) 6-8.
^Hampstead and Highgate Express,6 March 1970, 1;Hampstead and Highgate Express, 27 February 1970, 1; Manchester (1991) 69-70, 75; Ellis (1993) 24
^Such behaviour exemplifies, in an extreme form, a fondness forlegend tripping.Hampstead and Highgate Express, 13 March 1970, 1;The Evening News 14 March 1970, 1; Ellis (1993) 24-25.
Barlay, Nick. (10 July 2004)The Times "Zzzzz London;Z is for...;A-Z;London Life" Section: Features; Page 31.
Beresford, Matthew.From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth (London: Reaktion Books, 2008), 175-92.
Campbell, Ramsey. "The Strange Case of Seán Manchester" inRamsey Campbell, Probably (PS Publishing, 2002,ISBN1-902880-40-4). The essay is expanded in the revised edition of the book (ISBN978-1-848639-11-9).
Ellis, Bill. "The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt",Folklore 104 (1993), 13-39. This journal can be read online via the JStor site.
McKay, Sinclair. (6 May 2006)The Daily Telegraph "The loved ones of London Sinclair McKay is beguiled by an account of how the capital once dealt with its dead" Section: Books; Page 5.
Page, Carol, "Blood Lust: Conversations with Real Vampires, (HarperCollins, 1991, Dell, 1992, Warner, ULK, 1993)
