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 ...' "


 

Thursday 29 September 2016

Farrant's Underwood Faux Pas



"Oh, and did you ever know Peter Underwood? Because in his '75 vampire book, he said he first became aware of hauntings in '68. Question is, who did he hear that from? (If you know, that is)" –
Anthony Hogg

"In 1976 I wrote to Peter Underwood (when he was living in Bently [sic] in Hampshire) to complain about material that had been submitted to himself (about myself) for publication in his Vampire Bedside Companions [sic] book." – David Farrant

"I can take a wild guess what it was. lol He seemed to have it in for ya in that book." - Anthony Hogg

The late Peter Underwood, a personal friend and colleague of Seán Manchester, makes clear in his anthology how the vampiric discoveries of the 1960s unfolded within his own sphere of experience.

What makes the mind boggle is Hogg expecting Farrant to know anything about Peter Underwood.

Farrant wrote to Underwood, but never once received a response because Peter Underwood did not like David Farrant and certainly did not trust him. Farrant says he wrote to "complain about material that had been submitted [about himself] for publication in The Vampire's Bedside Companion book."

There were several contributors to The Vampire's Bedside Companion (1975), and the biggest by far, bar Peter Underwood himself, was Seán Manchester whose chapter on the Highgate Vampire did not mention Farrant once; nor did it allude to him in any way. It was Peter Underwood's own contribution to the anthology that referred to David Farrant. None of the other contributors would have been remotely aware of what Peter Underwood was writing in his own book before it was published.

Nothing submitted by Seán Manchester, Professor Devendra P Varma (another friend and colleague of Seán Manchester), or anyone else, other than Peter Underwood, made any reference to Farrant.

Peter Underwood's "Vampires and Highgate Cemetery" preceded Seán Manchester's "The Highgate Vampire" chapter, and refers to a first-hand report of a vampire infestation at London's Highgate Cemetery. This report had nothing to do with Seán Manchester's research and investigations.

He ends his chapter with some mention of David Farrant whom Underwood notes was also cited in the press as "Allan Farrant." In fact, he gave the name "Allan Farrow" to the police when arrested, but was known locally by all and sundry as "Allan" due to his fondness for the film star Alan Ladd who died in January 1964. Farrant was born in January 1946, and would have been familiar with the actor. Farrant's real name on his original birth certificate, however, is David Robert Donovan Farrant.

Underwood in his coverage of Farrant in the chapter he wrote on Highgate Cemetery tends to rely heavily on newspaper reports and articles in which Farrant is obviously working in collaboration with various journalists. The coverage by Peter Underwood is nevertheless fair and accurate. He reasonably asserts that "publicity of a dubious kind has surrounded the activities of a person or persons named Farrant." How is that anything other than the truth? Underwood observed that first we had an "Allan Farrant" (aka "Allan Farrow") then a "Robert Farrant" and finally a "David Farrant."  

All of which was true. These are the names that appeared in the press, and the remainder of what Underwood wrote could also be found on record. Yet Farrant felt he just had to write and complain.


Hogg's Dud Bombshell



The Grade I listed memorial – featuring a brooding bronze bust resting on a rectangular marble plinth inscribed with “workers of all lands unite” – was installed in 1956 by the Communist Party although its sculptor Laurence Bradshaw did not sign the finished work. Since then, the monument has become a familiar pilgrimage site for Marxists and socialist politicians, as well as a target for attacks and demonstrations, including damage from homemade bomb explosions in the 1970s.

"Someone tried to blow it up in 1970. 'The explosion cracked a plaque at the base of a 10ft-high statue of Marx at London's Highgate Cemetery.' (Marx Tomb Damaged by Time Bomb, Daily Mirror, January 19, 1970, p. 2.)"  Anthony Hogg

"I think the 'guy' in question is actually Tony Hill. But David can clarify that one." – Anthony Hogg

Let's be absolutely clear about what Hogg is suggesting, because it really does take the cake. 

Hogg actually believes the person responsible for planting a bomb that damaged the bust of Karl Marx at Highgate cemetery is Tony Hill who, at that time, was also David Farrant's "landlord." Farrant was residing in Hill's coal bunker beneath the first floor flat where Hill lived in Archway Road.

Given that Farrant had executed a "ghost" hoax in the early months of 1970 with both Hill's knowledge and assistance, we very much suspect he would have known about any plans to bomb the Karl Marx memorial in Highgate's East Cemetery. The whole idea is preposterous and, of course, to allege it in public, as has Anthony Hogg, is libellous in the extreme. But that is Hogg all over.

Hogg will say anything to suit his own agenda, even if it means publishing gross defamation about someone he has never met or had contact with, and doesn't know anything about, apart from what Farrant has told him, which will be a tissue of lies. How can anyone believe anything Hogg says?




Sunday 25 September 2016

Forteana, Facts, Follies, Identity




The above appeared on the ASSAP group before Seán Manchester's ban. What appears below, and much more beside, appeared from the usual culprits after Seán Manchester's ban, but were eventually deleted when brought to the ASSAP's notice. These posts, and there are more from Hogg, Swale, McWilliams and Farrant, are in breach of the ASSAP's own declaration just a few hours earlier. Sadly, Robert Moore was sympathetic to some of the unfortunate comments made by this motley handful of troublesome trolls. On the matter of Fortean Times, raised by McWilliams, such was that magazine's reliance on Farrant, due to the hoaxer having close ties to two or three of its contributors, that everything written about Seán Manchester or the Highgate Vampire case was invariably factually incorrect, and sometimes defamatory. They very wisely steered clear of listening to Farrant on these matters, and now try to avoid these topics.

Redmond McWilliams bizarrely invites people wanting to know more about Seán Manchester to contact Alan Murdie, which opens up another portal. From 1962 author Peter Underwood served as President and many accounts of The Ghost Club activities are found in his books. Tom Perrott joined the club in 1967 and served as Chairman from 1971 to 1993. Both Tom Perrott and Peter Underwood knew Seán Manchester, and are indeed mentioned in his books. In 1993, however, The Ghost Club underwent a period of internal disruption. Peter Underwood, by now a close friend of Seán Manchester, left to become Life President of the rival The Ghost Club Society, taking some of the club members with him. During this period, Tom Perrott resigned due to the political turmoil, but was invited to return to The Ghost Club as chairman, which he accepted. The Ghost Club decided to abolish the "invite only" clause in its membership policy, to absorb the role of Chairman and President into one post, and to allow ordinary members to have their say in council meetings etc. During this period The Ghost Club also expanded its remit to take in the study of UFOs, dowsing, cryptozoology, and the like. This would not have been to the taste of Seán Manchester who had been made an Honorary Life Member of The Ghost Club, and openly supported Peter Underwood's rival Club in which he was also an esteemed Honorary Life Member. In 1998, Perrott resigned as Chairman while remaining active in Club affairs, and barrister Alan Murdie was elected as his successor. Kathy Gearing replaced Alan Murdie as Chairman in 2005. Alan David Murdie (born 1964) of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, holds a more sceptical appraisal of the supernatural than did the late Peter Underwood, or indeed Seán Manchester, both of whom approach it with Christian and more traditional values. Murdie is of that later generation who reflect a liberal and often cynical approach.

The important fact is that Alan Murdie has never had any contact with Seán Manchester, much less met him. That he might have been influenced to some small degree by the claims of Farrant is always possible, but someone with the least scrap of intelligence would soon see through Farrant's fakery and foolishness. Any resentment that Murdie holds toward Seán Manchester, and there is no clear evidence that he does hold any resentment, would stem from the history of The Ghost Club.    


Anthony Hogg continues to erroneously refer to Seán Manchester as "Patrick," a name he parrots from Farrant, a poisonous source from where virtually all of Hogg's "(un)intelligence" can be traced.

Below are the relevant details from Seán Manchester's driving licence, marriage licence and passport (kindly shared by him) which clearly reveal his correct and legal name to be "Seán Manchester."



"Funny how if you look at the license photo, where it says 'copy' and has his name typed the background is different." - Erin Chapman (collaborator with Hogg, resident of Vancouver, Canada.)

Let's take a closer look at the area referred to by Chapman, and enlarge it without "COPY" on it:


That is how driving licences look in Great Britain, ie the background is slightly different in text areas.

Her colluding sidekick, Anthony Hogg, just felt he had to get in on the act to offer his two penneth; the problem being they are forged coins. He refers to FoBSM not being authorised to speak on Seán Manchester's behalf. He overlooks the fact, as stated on previous occasions, that FoBSM comprises some of his closest friends and is reliant on input from and consultation with Seán Manchester who will confirm this to the case should anyone contact him via Facebook. Hogg, as others have observed, likes to play games in order to obfuscate the simple truth; nor does he, nor Chapman, understand the law in the United Kingdom. To obtain a driving licence, marriage licence or passport, for example, original documents have to be provided. These would include an original birth certificate. A British passport must be in the same name as that appearing on the applicant's birth certificate.

Hogg, who resides in Melbourne, Australia, continues with the claim that "Patrick" is the name on a civil document also bearing the name "Marie." His source is Don Ecker, who resides in the United States and collaborates with David Farrant to the extent of regurgitating anything Farrant gives him about Seán Manchester without examination or substantiation. Some facts about the civil document on which "Patrick" appears ought to now be shared; though much of it is already on public record.

The document, were it genuine, would be private and confidential, ie not available to the public, and only legally available to the two people identified on it. Anyone else publishing, or otherwise disseminating, such a document will have broken British law. Thus they would be prosecuted. Hence the names are incorrect, so technically those people it is intended to represent are not identified. "Patrick" has been added to Seán Manchester's name, and someone whose real name was "Mary" becomes "Marie." How did this forged document come to be circulated? It had been created by a graphic artist to whom Farrant was married in the past and remained in contact. She shared his oddball ideas about witchcraft and black magic, and enthusiastically engaged in his hate campaign. 

Farrant has always had other people do his dirty work, but this particular mission was just too much of a hot potato for his usual collaborators. He shelved it until he could find a way to use the poisonous ammunition he had manufactured. Somebody in another country was unlikely to be prosecuted, so he eventually elected to use Don Ecker. But how could he explain being in possession of such a document in the first place? That was not going to be so easy. This is what he did, as confirmed by his ex-girlfriend who was with him for three years. Farrant arranged to have it posted to her at her home address in the north of England. She naturally showed it to him, and he then included it amongst the material he forwarded to Ecker who, of course, foolishly published it. Farrant claimed its origin was unknown and simply came from a "well-wisher." Farrant's ex-girlfriend, however, made some interesting observations about the package and its contents. Before she handed it over she, of course, examined it because it had been addressed to her. How many people would have known her address? Faint pencil writing was on the item, which she recognised. It was Farrant's handwriting. How did his writing get on a document he supposedly had not seen or touched? It was not long before she realised it was fraudulent. She was being used. This is something she now regrets, having allowed herself to be a link in the chain of those doing David Farrant's dirty work. 

It is generally agreed that Farrant is extremely lazy, and, unless others do things for him, he can't be bothered to do anything convincingly himself. He botches everything he touches. His phoney "ghost" back in 1970 he'd seen three times, then twice, and then only once. When interviewed it was "a tall, grey figure" that "glided." He told Sandra Harris in March 1970: "It looked like it was dead." This swiftly became a vampire-like entity with glowing red eyes, and later an amorphous black mist.


Saturday 24 September 2016

ASSAP ~ The Final Curtain




"The matter has reached a satisfactory outcome, and is now closed." - Seán Manchester


Thursday 22 September 2016

"Impartial" ASSAP Bans Bishop



"Given the final vote:

12 to remove, 4 to keep, 2 abstain......

I have removed Sean Manchester from this page."

— Robert Moore (ASSAP)

That's a mere twelve votes, naturally including Farrant and his cronies, eg Redmond McWilliams, and, of course, Barbara Green, voting for Seán Manchester's ban out of a total membership of 2,023.

The vote was held on a completely obscure thread started by Barbara Green, ostensibly to discuss vampires and hauntings, that was mostly dominated by trouble-makers, trolls and time-wasters.

The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) is a registered charity, and as such is obliged to be impartial and not show bias for or against any contributor or member.

Is that reflectd by Robert Moore's supposedly "democratic" vote on Barbara Green's thread where a mere twelve people out of two thousand and twenty-three members decided the ban? How many members were even aware that he was carrying out this kangaroo court which lasted a few hours?

A thread for the explicit purpose of voting over a reasonable period should have been created, if it was felt necessary. But was it necessary? Why, indeed, is Robert Moore demonstrating such partiality? Those who were posting material to the extreme detriment of Seán Manchester before he joined, continued to do so while he was briefly a member, and no doubt will continue to do so now he has been summarily banned. However, let's examine the spurious reasons offered for the ban.

Robert Moore says that Seán Manchester was too keen to implement DMCA notices. In fact, Seán Manchester only exercised his legal right once where the ASSAP is concerned, and that was on a newly created ASSAP page supposedly dedicated to the Highgate Vampire. Robert Moore linked to a page on Trystan Lewis Swale's website that had nothing to do with the Highgate Vampire, or indeed anything else remotely paranormal. The hot link caused an image to appear from that page which is Seán Manchester's copyright. The page itself is designed to incite hatred against Seán Manchester.

Robert Moore claims Seán Manchester does this "when arguments don't go his way." It was done once, and Seán Manchester wasn't having an argument because he contributed nothing whatsoever to the page. The reason it was done is because the image linked to inflammatory defamation.

Moore said he had received two serious complaints about "protracted harassment campaigns," but was unwilling to identify from whom, or indeed any evidence of any harassment campaign. We can reveal that the complainant is Redmond McWilliams who is one of the worst offenders when it comes to trolling and stalking Seán Manchester. McWilliams, a lackey of David Farrant, is the one who has been waging a relentless harassment campaign against Seán Manchester, both on and off the group.

Moore alleges that "it came to the point that we were unable to discuss any aspect of his work due to his very liberal use of such threats." Once again, Robert Moore offers no evidence to support this claim. Seán Manchester exercised his right only when hateful material that had nothing to do with any ASSAP discussion was linked by Robert Moore to a Highgate Vampire page on which Seán Manchester was not even present. The malice could have put Seán Manchester in some danger due to its extreme nature. That is the only time a DMCA was activated against Robert Moore and the ASSAP. There was also a minor incident where Barbara Green uploaded a group photograph that was not her copyright, which included Seán Manchester's wife. The photograph was gratuitous and unnecessary. Seán Manchester advised her that it was not her copyright, but she failed to remove it.

Bearing in mind the constant libel against Seán Manchester being published by David Farrant, Patsy Sorenti, Redmond McWilliams and others of that ilk on the ASSAP, was the ban really justified?

Robert Moore has suggested that Seán Manchester's refusal to unblock known trolls like McWilliams, Hogg and Swale contributed to the ban. Yet Moore knows that other members have blocked numerous people (who are also members). For example, Angie Mary Watkins is blocked by Redmond McWilliams. Seán Manchester is blocked by David Farrant, and so on and so forth. Seán Manchester is very much aware that the trolls he has blocked can all view his comments because they employ fake "sockpuppet" accounts on Facebook, but what they cannot do is integrate their comments with his. Thus the trolling is minimised, and he was able to have a voice. Though no longer because Robert Moore sympathises with these elements and has more in common with them than he does with Seán Manchester. Banning him, however, brings its own problems for the ASSAP.

The Charity Commission have advised Seán Manchester to contact the Trustees of the ASSAP over their charity being in breach of their non-negotiable impartiality rule. He contacted Robert Moore privately and requested the names of the Trustees. Moore ignored his request. Then he reiterated the request on the ASSAP group shortly before he was banned. Still his request was ignored. It would seem that certain individuals in the ASSAP, and Robert Moore is one of them, think this will go away now that the independent voice of the bishop has been silenced on their FB group. Huge mistake!  






Monday 19 September 2016

Farrant's Mug ~ Sorenti's Sour Grapes


 


Farrant would be mortified if he was ignored. He craves attention. Robert Moore (ASSAP) obliges. This grey and pathetic figure (seen below wearing his "Bishop Bonkers" T-shirts) is only offended if he is treated as the irrelevant publicity-seeking clown he is. Those who give Farrant credit and take him even remotely seriously must themselves be regarded with suspicion, and are best avoided.

"Re. the mugs Robert [Moore]: really no need to be 'sorry'! I am the main character reproduced on them and I am not offended. In fact, I feel almost flattered by peoples' interest, though certainly not offended." — David Farrant

"This merchandise is aimed at mocking me, not Farrant. The wording on the various items is 'Bishop Bonkers,' not 'Faker Farrant.' Why would Farrant be offended by the mugs, cups, T-shirts, comics or any of the other puerile products he disseminates from his home?" — Seán Manchester





Green Onions








Seán Manchester says:

I have had no contact with Barbara Green down the years until last week when she applied to join a group that I help to administrate. The last time I heard from her was a handful of years back when she sent me a non-religious Christmas card on which she had drawn with biro a dagger in the hand of Santa Claus stabbing a snowman. This was not long after she had converted to Catholicism. I found it odd, to say the least, and did not reciprocate.

Despite having nothing to do with Barbara Green, I have nonetheless regularly been on the receiving end of her pet obsessions. These range from "nourishing broth" to "naked ceremonies" to "Lady Armytage" to "David Hepworth" (whom she quaintly calls "Liberace") and, more recently, to "Roy Barclay."

Barbara Green has it completely wrong over her "nourishing broth" and "naked ceremony" obsessions, but once she has something lodged in her head, even when the facts have been put before her in black and white, she will not budge an inch. This intransigence is part of the problem, but there must be other issues that go far deeper and are personal to her, but, of course, not me. That notwithstanding, I have become her target for reasons that I cannot fathom; reasons that are probably now lost in the darkness of the absurd. I only know that in the beginning I tried to help Barbara Green, as I try to help most people, and she rewarded that act with disloyalty and treachery by throwing in her lot with Farrant.

She has taken of late to addressing me intimately by my first name, something she has never done in the past, not even when we were first acquainted and on quite amicable terms. She is emulating Hogg, Swale and McWilliams in that regard, who exercise the same familiarity in the mistaken belief that it will somehow diminish me. In fact, it diminishes them. They are seen as being petty, puerile and contemptible. Yet Barbara Green does it all the same because she likes to run with the pack who have the mentality of a lynch mob. She was never more in her element than when she joined in with Farrant's baying mob of miscreants.

Now even they have deserted her because of her unstable and unpredictable behaviour towards people, especially her friends.

There remains, of course, the unanswered question. The one she refuses to answer despite having answered questions put to her by Hogg and others of that clique who troll and stalk me.

Bearing in mind that I have had nothing to do with Barbara Green for many years, why does she still want to constantly mention me by name on the internet, insult and offend me, misrepresent me, and publish blasphemous and derogatory cartoons, even to the extent of wanting to seek consent from the cartoonist who has long since quit the feuds she so obviously desires to reignite?

Barbara Green' paranoia knows no bounds. Another principal obsession, someone she refers to as "Liberarchie" [sic] (I suspect she actually means Liberace), a man by the name of David Hepworth, who lives not far from Barbara Green in West Yorkshire. He is someone I do not know and have never met. There was some sort contretemps approximately a decade back when he was bad-mouthing me for reasons lost in the darkness of the absurd, which I am insufficiently interested in to even begin to remember all these years later. I chose to ignore this curious individual and he eventually went away, taking his peculiar notions about me with him. Soon afterwards there was one hell of a kerfuffle over something he had written detrimental to Barbara Green that became public. The exact circumstances of what it was and all the accompanying minutiae escapes me. It is surely comparable to watching paint dry in slow motion. What is indisputable is that it has absolutely nothing to do with me, and the only person still obsessed by it all is Barbara Green.


Friday 16 September 2016

Sorenti Squirms And Turns Silly Over Salacious Libel Allegations




Resorting to abject asininity, Sorenti today claimed that if her unsubstantiated allegations about a fabricated 8mm film were tested in the law courts, Seán Manchester would have to "prove that the vampire existed and that [he] staked it." Really? Has she completely taken leave of her senses?!! 




Tuesday 13 September 2016

Sorenti Speaks ~ Then It's Roger And Out!




"I am still waiting for Patsy Sorenti (née Langley) to produce her 'evidence'." — Seán Manchester

"My friend told me that he had seen the film back in the late 1960's, when said friend was a student in London and became one of [Seán] Manchester's 'set.' Quite independently from [David] Farrant, this was. Friend told me that he ([ Seán] Manchester) had invited a small gathering of people to watch this film, which was in colour but had no sound. It was called 'The Vampire Exhumed' and [Seán] Manchester was playing the vampire and the vampire hunter. His girlfriend played the victim of said vampire and it was shot in Highgate Cemetery. At the end, there was footage of [Seán] Manchester and girlfriend having sex, but that was quickly turned off. Friend was impressed with the special effects, and asked how it was done. [Seán] Manchester then told friend how he did it, with flour paste, a fan and time lapse photography." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"As previously stated, I wrote a manuscript titled 'The Vampire Exhumed' in the late 1970s. This unpublished manuscript was the inspiration (at least, its title was) for a professional French art house film alluded to in a 1982 Time Out article. I was involved in that film which manifested almost quarter of a century after the bogus 8mm film that Farrant, and now Sorenti, have been falsely harping on about." — Seán Manchester, ASSAP forum.

"What's more, my informant told me that at the end of the film, there is a piece of footage showing [Seán] Manchester and Jacqueline in the throes of coital relations. ... Like I said, I am quite happy to disclose my contact re: the film if [Seán] Manchester were to unblock me." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"He has blocked me Anthony [Hogg]. He might say he hasn't but he has. He isn't exactly an ingenue when it comes to fibbing." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"Patsy Sorenti seems completely unaware that the word 'ingénue' applies only to a woman; indeed, to a young woman who has little experience and is very trusting. That safely rules us both out. But enough of the English lesson. A way of proving that I have not blocked Patsy Sorenti is for her to start posting on this thread." — Seán Manchester, ASSAP forum.

On September 12th, Patsy Sorenti began posting comments on Seán Manchester's thread:

"I told you before, I WILL NOT PUBLISH NAMES ON PUBLIC BOARDS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO ASSOCIATION WITH THE GROUP. PERIOD. For those who don't like that - tough."

Within an hour, Seán Manchester had responded with the following suggestion based on her promise:

"What is preventing you from sending 'information' by private message, as promised? Then we can begin the procedure of examination and investigation. Or do you only want to spread salacious gossip, originating with Farrant, where all and sundry are able to read it? I have been libelled by both you and Farrant. The onus is on you to substantiate what you have said. Alternatively, you should withdraw what you have alleged and apologise to all those whom you have named."

Patsy Sorenti then exploded (for the final time on this topic) with the following statement:

"I can substantiate EVERY WORD. I have all my evidence here and No, why should I apologise? I haven't named anyone--yet!"

However, a little over thirteen months earlier she did name somebody, and she provided a forename. 

Click on the image of Sorenti at the top of the page. It will link to a video. Seven minutes into the video we hear this so-called "secretary" of Farrant's non-existent "British Psychic and Occult Society" (a name he cooked up circa 1983) talking to an audience above a pub in Highgate Village on 19 July 2015. She was rather more forthcoming than she is now. This is what she claimed:

"About 2003 to 2004, when I began researching this case, I had a friend, I still have him, I still know him. His name is Roger [surname bleeped out on the video], and he is a computer scientist. In the 1960s [when Patricia Langley herself was a very young child; she was barely ten when the case first hit the headlines in the following decade], he was studying computer science at the University of London and my friend Roger was into the vampire scene, the vampire sphere. And the sphere, the whole paranormal was something he was into and is still into. And he came into contact with Mr Manchester and became a good friend of his. And Roger, in 2004, told me when I was researching, 'Do you know about the film that was made?' And I said, 'Well, I know of it. Can you tell me about it?' And he said, 'Well, yeah, I can tell you about it because he invited me and a few other students that were studying at the University of London to go to a screening at his house one Saturday evening and this Jacqueline was there laying on a few nibbles, and drinks and things, and they settled down to watch this film, The Vampire Exhumed. And this Vampire Exhumed was the story of a vampire hunter who chases out a vampire, seeks out a vampire, in Highgate Cemetery. Made in colour, but it had no sound. It was full colour, but it didn't have any sound. [Seán] Manchester on film was playing both the vampire hunter and the vampire. And so I said, 'Well, this is the second independent case of the film actually having been seen by someone other than David [Farrant]  who saw it with others, and for which [Seán] Manchester categorically denied it. And Roger then revealed some quite good technical details about the film. He said, or he offered to me, details about the decaying scene of the vampire. What it was, [Seán] Manchester covered himself in flour, wet flour on his face, let it dry and after a little while it dried and fans were used and a hot breeze was used to blow the flour from his face so it looked as if his skin and the muscles and everything of the vampire's face and body was disintegrating. And I knew at that time [Seán] Manchester was a very good photographer. Very adept in technical effects of this kind. And Roger told me that this is how the effects of the vampire decomposing were achieved."

This is the steadily metamorphosing account that owes its origin entirely to David Farrant who has even claimed that images of the vampire corpse in The Highgate Vampire book were taken from this non-existent film. "Roger," of course, will never come forward to be identified because he does not exist. Langley claims that she "knew at that time" that Seán Manchester was "a very good photographer" and "very adept in technical effects of this kind." In fact, Seán Manchester was a portrait photographer with his own studio and a permanent staff of five people, but he did not have any expertise in ciné film, much less technical effects using ciné film. How would Sorenti know such a thing? She would have been barely a seven-year-old at the time. Farrant is her exclusive source.

"When I put this to [Seán] Manchester in my research - it wasn't just David [Farrant] I interviewed, I did eventually ask for an interview with [Seán] Manchester and I did put these points to him in 2004 - not only did he categorically deny that this film exists, existed, but [he] told me I was all wrong, a complete liar, that I was a member of Farrant's evil cabal, and so on."

In actual fact, Seán Manchester has never spoken to Patsy Sorenti, and has never discussed anything to do with the Highgate Vampire case with her. She did not interview him. It is all fabricated.



Patsy Sorenti had promised in a comment on Seán Manchester's thread on the ASSAP forum:

"When you message me, I will tell you."

Seán Manchester messaged her, and as can be seen below, Sorenti did not respond. She has still not responded. Her libellous allegations are spawned from Farrant, and have been exposed as lies.


Two more nails in the coffin of defamatory allegations made by this odious pair are Farrant naming Tony Hill and Jacqueline (Seán Manchester's girlfriend at the time) being part of the supposed gathering. Hill, of course, was living two hundred miles away in Devon (with the barmaid he had run off with) during the time-frame alleged by Farrant. And, of course, both will hotly deny the allegations.