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.