The terrifying story of the Highgate vampire hunt – My London

In 1970, people began claiming that they had seen something supernatural in Highgate cemetery.

It all started with a man called David Farrant writing a letter to the local newspaper, the Hampstead and Highgate Express, on February 6, 1970, in which he claimed he had seen a "grey figure" walking about the cemetery on Christmas Eve of the previous year.

Several people then replied to the letter to say they had also seen a variety of ghosts in the graveyard and surrounding Swains Lane.

Another man, Sean Manchester, claimed the figure that had been seen was actually a vampire and it was enough for the media to go to town.

Articles started coming out about the figure being the supposed king of the vampires and of black magic being practised in the cemetery.

It was enough to make anyone reading the reports question what on earth they should believe.

In fact, the media whipped up such a storm that it resulted in a mob descending on Highgate cemetery.

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A rivalry began to grow between Farrant and Manchester about who would destroy the ghosts at the graves.

Of course this made for entertaining TV, so ITV interviewed the two 'hunters' as well as some other individuals who claimed to have seen spectres at the graveyard on March 13.

The result was a huge mob of people flooding down to Highgate cemetery and climbing over the walls even though the police tried to stop them.

Strange happenings started occurring in the months after this mob. On August 1, 1970, a woman's body was found in the graveyard burned and headless and police suspected black magic.

Farrant was arrested one night that August after being found at the cemetery with a crucifix and a wooden stake.

The rivalry between Farrant and Manchester continued for decades. They were apparently going to have a 'magicians duel' on Parliament Hill in April 1973 but it never happened.

Farrant was actually arrested in 1974 for damaging memorials at the cemetery and interfering with dead remains, although he insisted that was done by Satanists rather than him.

The feud between the two vampire 'hunters' went on and on, until Farrant died in April of 2019.

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The terrifying story of the Highgate vampire hunt - My London

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