Denial Ain't Just a River in Highgate

It's nice to see David taking note of my comment-presence on Net Curtains Lurkers:

[...]I see my old friend the Overseer is on there trying to unravel the Highgate ‘vampire’ mystery (at least, what he sees as a ‘mystery’) and the parts various people played in the saga.

No problems so far...

The only ‘mystery’ – if any – is exactly what this apparition was, or is. But the “Overseer” seems to think that this might be a ‘real-life vampire’, or more precisely, he is trying to follow up claims made by others that this might have been the case.

Wait-what? When did I say that it might be a "real-life vampire"?

Well, sorry ‘Overseer’, you’ll have to rule me out of this one, because I never said the ghost reported at HC was a vampire. In fact I was very careful to avoid using that term when talking to the TV or Press. I have never accepted the existence of ‘blood-sucking vampires’ and it was not myself who went on the television twice then advising people how to ‘stake’ them! That was another person. Sorry!

Hmm, that's odd, because I could swear that you did think it was a vampire and refer to it as one.

After all, you might remember that when I asked this

You claim the press connected you to the vampire story due to the court case. So why, as early as March, 1970 were you entertaining the vampire hypothesis as a possibility?

You responded with:

I put many ‘possibilities’ to the Press at this early stage: not lease [sic] that Highgate Cemetery was being used by a group of professional Satanists. I was asked abot [sic] the ‘vampire theory’ – I did not volunteer it.

And let's keep in mind, that what you said to the Press was this ("Why do the foxes die?", Hampstead and Highgate Express, March 13, 1970):

The odd thing is there was no outward sign of how they [dead foxes found in the Cemetery -ed.] died. Much remains unexplained, but what I have recently learnt all points to the vampire theory being the most likely answer. Should this be so, I for one am prepared to pursue it, taking whatever means might be necessary so that we can all rest.

And don't forget, that when I asked

Why is it that after the court case, you allowed yourself to be filmed in a television news article reconstructing your patrols for the vampire with a stake and cross? You also did the same thing for an article with Barrie Simmons. If you say the press labeled you with a "vampire hunter" tag, then why did you give demonstrations of stalking vampires in Highgate Cemetery to other members of the press?

Your response was:

Why not? It was what the Press and television wanted.

And then, of course, while you were promoting your Highgate Vampire Society to the Press in 2005, you said this:

The Highgate vampire has had the effect of completely overshadowing all my other investigations.

It also made you come to this gripping conclusion in the same article:

The sighting of a tall, black figure in April on Swains Lane makes me think the vampire is active again.

Looks like you need to be more cautious, Dave!