DAVID FARRANT: BEYOND THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE

 

Do such things as 'vampires' really exist? Or is such imagery merely the result of misguided theology, legend and outdated superstition?

Author David Farrant throws a unique insight into the realm of ghosts, demons and 'vampires', and the fascinating realm in which they supposedly dwell. 

Beyond the Highgate Vampire was the first contemporary account to expose the activities of Satanists in Highgate Cemetery. Including original reports received by the BPOS, it details the original BPOS investigation,  that concluded such activity may have been responsible for ‘activating’- or perhaps ‘re-activating’- a terrifying demonic entity which lurked in the environs of Highgate Cemetery.

 

The markings themselves in the mausoleum, which indicated that a group of Satanists were regularly using Highgate Cemetery (Photo (c) BPOS)

David Farrant consecrating a vault desecrated by Satanists in Highgate Cemetery in 1971 (Photo (c) BPOS)

Read 'Beyond the Highgate Vampire' to discover where fact divides from fiction in a remarkable tale of 20th century vampirism recorded at Highgate Cemetery in North London in 1970 ... true facts of supernatural origin which have never been disclosed in their entirety ... until now!  

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FOR SOME YEARS  now David Farrant has been renowned for his investigations into unexplained mysteries and other ghostly phenomena. 

 Perhaps the most well known of these cases, at least, in so far as much that this came to be held in the public view, was the mysterious phenomenon that was reported at London's Highgate Cemetery in the late 1960's - a case that he was later to regret having investigated in the first place due to the unforeseen circumstances that were to arise. For as he describes in the book, David Farrant was taken to court for his involvement in the Highgate Cemetery affair in 1970, although he was also involved in a series of later court actions which he has chosen to leave out of this present account.  Perhaps this is an inevitable consequence of space (or lack of it), for Farrant's involvement in the whole Highgate affair (not least, with the 'blood-sucking vampire' that was said to lurk at Highgate Cemetery), would have been wildly beyond the confines of the space he devotes to put forward the essential part of the  investigation and his original arrest for 'vampire hunting' back in 1970. 

Discovery of a vandalised coffin by the author at Highgate Cemetery in 1971 (Photo (c) BPOS)

 But these events, he deals with fairly, and I suppose it remains his privilege to record later happenings - the tragic consequences included - as and when these were to occur in the future.  For the purposes of this present work, it would perhaps be fitting to remind ourselves, that the following account remains on record as a sober and factual testimony about the facts that surrounded the strange vampire-like entity that was said to haunt Highgate Cemetery.

G.C.

BEYOND THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE

BY DAVID FARRANT

FOREWORD…

SO MUCH has already been written on the subject of ‘vampirism’ that it would seem an impossible task to write anything new about the subject without reverting to mere repetition or flirting with facts incredible - a trap that has ensnared even serious researchers since the myth was first born, somewhere, at some time in the distant mists of human memory.

But instances of vampirism (in their written form at least) are by no means confined to the whims and platitudes of their various creators (Bram Stoker included) and occasionally there will occur a ‘real life’ event that seemingly steps out of fiction to silence the objections of the most hardened sceptic. Perhaps the most famous case in recent times concerned the Croglin Grange incident when in Cumbria in 1875, a ‘vampire-like’ figure that had been terrorising the neighbourhood was shot by a band of ‘citizen vigilantes’ and later discovered lying in a bloodstained coffin - wound intact - in the vaults of a local cemetery; but another case that occurred only a few years ago was to take its turn in convincing many that there really existed such things as ‘blood-sucking vampires’. The year was 1970; the location, a semi-derelict Victorian burial ground on the outskirts of north London called Highgate Cemetery.

In fact, the story really began the preceding year, although at this time consisted of little more than a series of ghostly sightings at - or around - Highgate Cemetery that had been marked down for investigation by the British Psychic and Occult Society (BPOS).

The Flask public house, not more than a stone's throw away from Highgate Cemetery, where a "black-clad" apparition was sighted. (Photo (c) BPOS)

The council flats at "Hillcrest", scene of drastic bouts of psychic activity (Photo (c) BPOS)

It was little dreamt that this subsequent investigation was to uncover a sequence of strange events (some would say ‘sinister’) that were to eventually associate Highgate Cemetery with a unique outbreak of 20th century vampirism. Some of these events are now all but history, but many others have become immersed in a deluge of fact and counter-fact, the truth having long since been buried beneath a welter of unfounded supposition and frivolous publicity.

David Farrant being interviewed by ITV Television about the Highgate Vampire in March 1970 (Photo (c) BPOS) 

 

The author speaking on the BBC television programme "24 Hours" in October, 1971 (Photo (c) BPOS)

It is only now, some twenty years after the case first came into the public view, that the BPOS have chosen to release the true facts underlying the original investigation. The motive is to clarify once and for all the general uncertainty and misunderstanding over what may, or may not have been, a ‘vampire’ at Highgate Cemetery.

DAVID FARRANT: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

An Autobiography - Vol. 2

Following on from his bestselling book In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire, David Farrant picks up the story where the first volume left off, with his infamous ‘Witchcraft Trial’ at the Old Bailey in 1974. In a no holds barred account, David finally tells the full story of life behind prison bars, and dispels the myths and rumours that have grown out of those dark years.

David was facing a number of ‘occult related’ charges; including conducting nude witchcraft rituals in open vaults in London’s Highgate Cemetery; being in possession of a loaded firearm,  and threatening two police detectives by sending them ‘voodoo death dolls’ impaled by pins.  The book goes on to deal with his convictions at the Old Bailey and details his life at various prisons, where he was to gain further notoriety for involving other prisoners in the ‘occult lifestyle’ for which he had been sent to prison.   “He had a thriving Coven in there” as one prisoner on release told The Sunday People, which resulted in a newspaper headline . . . Naked Witchcraft in the Nick. Forced to share a cell with a notorious axe murderer who would eventually come to fear him, David reveals the details behind the secret magic rituals that took place in the cells and how prisoners would turn to him for help and advice.

David describes his clashes with the top levels of prison authority as they constantly tried to censor his communication with the outside world. Refusing to admit defeat, he took his case to the Home Office and European Commission for Human Rights whilst still managing to smuggle letters out before finally going on a hunger strike in a bid to clear his name.

Moved from prison to prison in attempts to break his rebellious spirit, David was finally released in 1976 from Blunderstone Prison with a one way ticket to London. Penniless, homeless, divorced and still trying to come to terms with the death of his parents, David returned to a world which he no longer recognised. Unfortunately the world recognised him, and the media witch hunt had only just begun.

But behind the headlines life went on, and Farrant goes on to detail his marriage to a controversial white witch in 1979 (And the Bride Wore Black as one tabloid dutifully reported); his meetings with the late comedian Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame;  his involvement with the well known French author and occultist Jean-Paul Bourre which resulted in his guest appearance at the Congrès Luciférienne in Paris alongside a variety of international mystics and occultists, and a host of other detailed psychic investigations and ‘ghost hunting’ trips with which he was involved in the intervening years.  

In between all this,  he continued to be the subject of much ire from some rival occultists, all trying to prove that they had greater magical abilities; one of whom persistently challenged him to a series of ‘duels’ in an attempt to ‘prove’ his superiority.  In the main, David ignored these challenges, made to usurp his public position, but has included them as part of the record, purely for their entertainment value, and to enable a fuller picture of the London ‘occult scene’ to be presented.

 

The real circumstances behind these, and many other incidents which gained David infamy in both the ‘occult’ and public spheres are presented here in detail. This continuing account, in the author’s own words, offers the curious reader a personal insight into events which have become clouded by so much controversy and misinformation over the last four decades. Out of the shadows, but back into the spotlight, the story continues…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Farrant is a well known psychic investigator, writer and researcher whose many findings on the paranormal have published around the world. He is Founder President of the British Psychic and Occult Society, which was established in 1967, and gives regular talks on the subjects of ghosts and the supernatural.  

Asa Bailey's 'The Highgate Vampire'