Highgate Cemetery holds the reputation as one of London’s most haunted cemeteries, a sequence of amusing incidents occurred there (in hindsight, admittedly). During the 1970s, two men were vying to be the first to capture a vampire at Highgate cemetery, and the tale quickly became a sensation in newspapers around the country.
The History of Highgate Cemetery:
In the 19th century, rich Londoners buried their loved ones in the cemetery in North London. Ivy-covered gothic busts and an A-list register of permanent residents, like German philosopher Karl Marx and author George Eliot, make for a striking setting at the cemetery. The graveyard was in dire need of repair towards the conclusion of World War II. From Beyond the Grave & Taste, the Blood of Dracula was filmed there in the early 1970s because of its unkempt appearance. In contrast, the citizens of the town were having their own nightmares.
People in the area near Highgate Cemetery began reporting sightings of a scary, black figure with blood-red eyeballs that seemed to soar above the earth in the local media. Other than a vampire, there’s no other logical explanation. Young Wicca (Pagan witchcraft) devotee David Farrant sent a letter about one of his sightings, which was printed in the Hamstead & Highgate Express.
According to Farrant, he claimed to have seen a huge, grey figure hovering in the Highgate cemetery on Christmas Eve 1969, and that he had subsequently seen foxes in the grave with their throats cut. As the head of the Paranormal and Occult Society, it’s no wonder that he concluded the supernatural.
Farrant’s message was published soon after an interview with another guy for a piece headlined ‘Does a Vampy Roam in Highgate Cemetery?’ was conducted by the same publication. At first, it was believed by Mr. Manchester that the mysterious figure in the cemetery was a medieval dark sorcerer known as ‘King Vampire’ who had performed magic in Wallachia before being buried there.
Mr. Manchester said that a modern-day Satanist had revived his corpse and that his demon, like Frankenstein form, now prowled the cemetery at night in search of his victims.
Manchester, a self-proclaimed exorcist, and vampire-slayer who claims to be the Bishop of an unnamed church said that he would be the one to exorcise the cemetery of the undead. However, in response to the media’s negative effect, Farrant argued that the vampiric apparition is nothing but your typical garden ghost.
The Highgate Cemetery Vampire was released in 1970 by Manchester. Further, Then the Highgate Vampire was published by Farrant. There you have it. Even now, the dispute between the two magicians is still going strong, and their antics surrounding Highgate’s insane vampire hoaxes have been covered by the national media. Check out this video of the creepy haunted Highgate Cemetery.
On Friday, March 13, 1970, the ITV program on the cemetery spurred an angry crowd to march on Highgate Cemetery, desperate to rid their city of the vampire that was terrorizing them. Manchester and Farrant appeared in the report, with Manchester mocking Farrant by saying that he would be conducting vampire hunts every night at Highgate Cemetery. To see the action, throngs of curious “hunters” gathered at the gates and around the walls.
Several graves were uncovered and bodies were decapitated and mangled with spikes, despite police attempts to keep the crowd in check. Many hunters claimed to have seen the mysterious person lurking in the shadows of a graveyard, but the clever vampire escaped unscathed. He and Mr. Manchester were still arguing about who will be the first one to locate and slay their neighbor’s zombie body.
In a Harry Potter ending, the two resolved to face off in a battle to see who was the greatest magician and paranormalist of the two. The magical combat’, which was to take place on Parliament Hill at Hampstead on April 13, 1973, was advertised in London’s underground stations. The media was abuzz with rumors that the couple intended to perform a cat sacrifice in front of a group of “naked virgins.” As soon as a local man’s pet dog failed to come home one day, the RSPCA & the media demonized Mr. Farrant for supposedly beheading the animal following a sacrificial pagan ceremony.
The duel was never held, & Mr. Farrant was caught in 1974 with a crucifix and a wooden stake near Highgate Cemetery in London. He was found guilty of vandalizing monuments and tampering with the bones of those who have died. After all, he was able to win a lawsuit against News of the Globe for portraying him as a cat-killer. An RSPCA investigator and others who wanted to see him prosecuted received pin-in-the-head versions of his voudou dolls since a lawsuit is simply too worldly for a magician like him.
Mr. Farrant is still active in the sale of a series of cartoons called The Tales of Bishop Bonkers with associated Bishop Bonkers products even though there has been no duel to resolve the dispute between him and Mr. Manchester. Mr. Manchester has published several blogs in an attempt to demonize his adversary, Farrant, by claiming that the latter suffers from “narcissistic personality problems.” Find more supernatural stories here!
According to him, the vampire was eventually located near Crouch End, where a pike was driven into its corpse and set on fire. The good news is that I’m relieved. Only history aficionados are interested in viewing the tombs now that the buzz surrounding the cemetery has faded. When the Highgate Vampire frenzy of vampire hunt stories seems like a movie plot, that’s because it is: Draculas A.D. 1972 was inspired by the extraordinary events that occurred there only 50 years ago.
