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.