Friday 30 September 2016

Vampirism at Highgate Cemetery in the 1960s


   
 

The following account was written by Peter Underwood in his anthology The Vampire's Bedside Companion (1975, pages 75-80) within the chapter titled "Vampires and Highgate Cemetery":

“The oldest part of Highgate Cemetery has long been reputed to harbour a vampire and what a place for a vampire to ‘rest.’ With its forty-five thousand graves, forgotten and forsaken tombs, overgrown paths and atmosphere of utter and complete ruin and decay wherever you walk. 

“Alleged sightings of a vampire-like creature - a grey spectre- lurking among the graves and tombstones have resulted in many ‘vampire hunts’; some of which landed those taking part in the hands of the police.

“In 1968, I heard first-hand of such a sighting and my informant maintained that he and his companion had secreted themselves in one of the vaults and watched a dark figure flit among the catacombs and disappear into a huge vault from which the vampire, ghost or whatever it may have been, did not reappear. Subsequent search revealed no trace inside the vault but I was told that a trail of drops of blood stopped at an area of massive coffins which could have hidden a dozen vampires.

“Other reports in 1968 and 1969 told of a similar figure visiting various graves and appearing and disappearing in circumstances that ruled out the figure being human. One man told me that he had seen ‘something’ emerge from a coffin inside a vault and then disappear and a moment later his companions, outside the vault, had seen a figure materialise seemingly from the ground and disappear with incredible speed and swift, long strides, along one of the many pathways in the cemetery.”

The above account by Peter Underwood is completely independent of Seán Manchester's account, which also begins in the 1960s with reports of a vampire contagion at Highgate Cemetery coming to his attention. Nobody described a ghost, or anything normally associated with a spectral haunting.

Indeed, Peter Underwood and Seán Manchester did not become acquainted until early in the next decade. His colleague, Tom Perrott, had invited Seán Manchester to address members of The Ghost Club at Bloomsbury in London. On 16 March 1973, Peter Underwood added: “We have a number of members who are deeply interested in the subject of vampires and I feel sure you would find our members kindly, sympathetic and friendly. I knew Montague Summers and members of The Ghost Club include Eric Maple and Robert Aickman who has written some excellent vampire stories. I hope that we may meet one day.”  In 1974, Peter Underwood was a participant in Daniel Farson’s now famous (among researchers) television documentary on the subject of vampires and vampirism.

He made Seán Manchester a Life-Member of The Ghost Club, whilst he, along with life-membership, was to become a Fellow Associate of the Vampire Research Society. Peter Underwood was already a member of the British Occult Society, an organisation that investigated the paranormal and occult phenomena, which was formally dissolved by Seán Manchester, its last President, on 8 August 1988. The year 1974 witnessed Seán Manchester's collaboration with Peter Underwood on an anthology that would include the first published account of events in the early days of the Highgate Vampire case. On 14 October 1974, Peter Underwood wrote to Seán Manchester: “I am pleased to be able to advise you that I have now passed the proofs and I am very pleased with the way the book has turned out. It will be entitled The Vampire’s Bedside Companion and is due for publication early in 1975.”

The Highgate Vampire had been finally exorcised by the time the book was published, but there were other vampires awaiting discovery, and it was agreed that only events up to 1970 should be shared with readers. The final and full account by Seán Manchester would not appear until the case was resolved, which would take until 1982. Thus began a comradeship in the field of vampirology that would endure until the sad news of Seán Manchester's friend's death. On 15 December 1985, Seán Manchester was invited to give a piano recital of his own compositions on the occasion of Peter Underwood’s quarter of a century service as president of the The Ghost Club, at Berkeley Square, London. Other well-wishers included Dennis Wheatley, Vincent Price, Patrick Moore, Michael Bentine, Sir Alec Guiness and Dame Barbara Cartland — all of whom have now sadly passed on.

In 1990, Peter Underwood retold the events of the case (up to the discovery of the undead tomb in Highgate Cemetery) in his book Exorcism! He commented in chapter six: “The Hon Ralph Shirley told me in the 1940s that he had studied the subject in some depth, sifted through the evidence and concluded that vampirism was by no means as dead as many people supposed; more likely, he thought, the facts were concealed. … My old friend Montague Summers has, to his own satisfaction, at least, traced back ‘the dark tradition of the vampire’ until it is ‘lost amid the ages of a dateless antiquity’.”

In his earlier book, containing the chapter with photographic evidence from the archive of the Vampire Research Society, written and contributed by Seán Manchester, he wrote: “In 1968, I heard first-hand evidence of such a sighting and my informant maintained that he and his companion had secreted themselves in one of the vaults and watched a dark figure flit among the catacombs and disappear into a huge vault from which the vampire … did not reappear. ... I was told that a trail of drops of blood stopped at an area of massive coffins which could have hidden a dozen vampires.”

Seán Manchester and Peter Underwood corresponded regularly and the author of The Highgate Vampire was invited on various occasions to become involved in various projects. Peter Underwood wrote a Foreword to Seán Manchester's novel Carmel: A Vampire Tale at the turn of the century which included these words: "Memories crowded in: [the author's] commanding lectures and television appearances; his ready and valuable co-operation in literary labours of love; his admiration of mutual friends such as Montague Summers, Dennis Wheatley and Devendra P Varma; his dealing with not always complimentary publicity; his piano playing and musical compositions; his abiding interest in unearthly subjects and his enduring publications — the list goes on and on."

Such was the generosity of spirit incumbent in Peter Underwood who ended his introduction to the author of Carmel: A Vampire Tale (2000) with the following fateful and poignant words:

"And as the shadows lengthen ... I often think, in the words he sometimes used to close his letters: 'Until we meet again ...' "


 

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