Visit Highgate Cemetery: Home to magicians, vampires & George Michael – The National Student

In its chequered history, Highgate Cemetery has seen the likes of duelling magicians, blood-thirsty mobs of vampire hunters, and is home to Karl Marx, George Michael and Christina Rossetti to name but a few.Located near Hampstead Heath in London, Highgate Cemetery was opened in 1839. Its age is reflected by the multitude of imposing Victorian Gothic buildings and tombs that can be found in its sprawling grounds.Following World War II, Highgate Cemetery became overgrown and fell into disrepair which only added to its creepy, disturbing feeling and served to increase public interest in the cemetery as it became a location used regularly by the horror film studio, Hammer.

Perhaps the most interesting period of the cemetery so far is the Highgate Vampire Sensation of the late 1960s. A number of supernatural sightings at the cemetery led to widespread media reports. Mobs of vampire hunters from far and wide regularly descended on the cemetery and destroyed graves and mutilated corpses. One beheaded corpse was even found propped up behind the wheel of a car.

The events culminated in early 1970 as two magicians, David Farrant and Sean Manchester, called an official vampire hunt on Friday 13th March. A duel was planned between the two magicians, both of whom supposed that they would be the first to kill the vampire. The duel, however, never happened as Farrant was arrested by the police and was found carrying a crucifix and a wooden stake. Cheerily, he was later imprisoned for damaging memorials and interfering with dead remains. Grisly goings-on continued through the 1970s, with a charred, decapitated corpse of a woman found in one noteworthy incident.

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Visit Highgate Cemetery: Home to magicians, vampires & George Michael - The National Student

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Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero
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