Two More Bite the Dust

Just noticed that Net Curtains Lurkers is no more. Here's their final blog entry, "That's All Folks":

No one has any time to keep up this blog, so this is the last post. The Posse is grateful we still have jobs after our company cut positions and downsized. In all honesty, no one has given this blog or the “Highgate Affair” any thought until we received an email about us on another blog. Sorry to disappoint, but most people over age 17 have jobs so we are busy with those and cannot live vicariously on the internet. We all have bills and mortgages that must be paid. As the US does not have a dole, that means we must work or get our collective asses kicked to the curb.

The website will remain up as an archive until the rent runs out, so copy all this garbage to your heart’s content. After that, it will vanish into thin air.

And guys, get a life will ya?

A shame to see 'em exit the stage, as they provided some good posts during their (brief) involvement in the Highgate affair.

I am wondering who e-mailed them that reference to my blog entry, but it appears to have been misconstrued. Nonetheless, I wish 'em all the best with their future endeavors.

The second blog to bite the dust (even if it wasn't Highgate-related), is Catherine's I Did It My Way.

After Dennis' round of blather (and a follow-up comment), I checked to see if Catherine had responded to my queries yet.

Not only hadn't she, but looks like she went and deleted the whole damn blog. Ah wells, better luck next time.

I'm Checking In

Right, now it's time to check up on the state of the proposed Great Highgate Tea Party, which was last covered here.

After my last comment on JBC's blog, he wrote this:

You know, I just don't understand this "he who makes the first offer is entitled to have all of his conditions accepted" rubbish, Anthony.

I mean, historically speaking, we don't even know if the Bishop's recent offer of a meeting was even the first. What if 3 years ago Farrant proposed a meeting in Scotland suggesting that they both wear pink kilts and lipstick. What then? Wouldn't the Bishop be bound to agree to it? And if he didn't, or wanted to change the locale to England and lose the costumes, would he be "putting up roadblocks?"

This is a reference to Manchester's invitation to David, to pop by for a chat. David requested that Dennis Crawford also be present, which Manchester agreed to ask. Manchester also requested that no media be present and the event kept quiet. He made the public offer via his blog.

After David's request were met...he decided to switch things around. He went on to insist that Manchester contact him or post a comment on his blog.

JBC thinks Manchester's original terms are too disagreeable. For some reason.

This was after I was pointing out that David was putting up obvious tit-for-tat roadblocks to prevent the meeting going ahead. You know, a step towards ending this bloody feud.

That didn't surprise me in the least. After all, the feud is something that feeds the other party. What else would they have to write about after nearly 30 years?

Other than that, the feud's been relatively quiet of late, as Lone Stranger points out.

There've also been some attempts to make the feud more...lucrative.

The person behind this is a dodgy chap named "Cecil Lamont-Dwiggins" (an obvious pseudonym), who wrote on the JREF Forum under the username "CLD". He engaged me in correspondence, asking for my views on the Highgate Vampire Case and then proceeded to write an article in which he said that I was Sean Manchester himself.

He also created a comic which portrayed me as a Manchester supporter because I had the gall to question David on his claims.

So, in this light, it shouldn't surprise you that the comic was published by the British Psychic & Occult Society - which just so happens to be David Farrant's publishing firm.

Talk about being in cahoots.

Honorary Vice-Presidential Bombshell?

Lone Stranger gives some kudos to my questions to the Bishop in "Burning Issues, Burning Questions".

However, it was this comment by David, on that blog entry, that pricked up my ears:

I almost forgot to mention that in the 1990’s, Devendra Varma wrote to myself to request a copy of my book Beyond the Highgate Vampire as he wanted to compare ii with the ‘other version’ he’d read. I sent him a copy and he informed me that the book was very well written and informative and cleared up quite a few things he had not understood. I remember him well; especially as he wrote from America but his cheque was drawable from an English bank (thus avoiding 4 or 5 pounds in conversion charges.

At this time, he was also in contact with Jeannie Youngson of the Count Dracula Fan Club, who informed me that Devendra regretted the day he had ever got in contact with Bonky who had been ‘driving him mad’ and misquoting him without his permission.

Does that really surprise you?!?

The bombshell nature of this "revelation" (if it is indeed true), is quite significant.

Devendra P. Varma (1923-1994) was a scholar on the Gothic, and also happens to be the Vampire Research Society's "Honorary Vice-President".

I asked David for proof of his claims.

He addressed this by saying:

I’ve got to find it first Overseer. I’ve got boxes upon boxes of past book requests and followup letters (including loads of privately signed ones from Bonky) after all the decorating work done here. Luckikly, I throw nothing (important) away, so yes, the correspondence is here somewhere.

As of this writing, it hasn't yet been produced.

Props for Lone Stranger

In spite of its satiric tone, I've really gotta give Lone Stranger's Net Curtains Lurkers due credit.

Sure, David might have fastened himself to it like a sea lamprey so he'll have yet another outlet for his usual anti-Manchester diatribes, but that doesn't detract from some great stuff being printed there.

As of this writing, I'm talking specifically about "Crybaby Manchester Tries Another Take Down", in which the Bishop is revealed to be a tad overzealous (and misguided) in protecting his "copyright" (thus, inadvertently revealing himself to be a reader of Mr. Stranger's blog); "Sean's Fake Medal Uncovered", in which the validity of certain medals and titles in Manchester's possession, are questioned; "The Smoking Gun", an exposé of an eBay member who ships satanic paraphernalia from the good Bishop's home address; and, of course, "Paper Credentials in Flames – Sean Rumbled Yet Again", which dissects the Bishop's entry in the 2004 edition of the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers.

I give a teeny bit of coverage to Manchester's entry in that book in the previous entry.

I always did suspect there was something a tad suss about the "World Union of Vampirologists".

A Series of Peculiar Events

Some very interesting things have been taking place during my absence. Very interesting indeed.

Firstly, as Lone Stranger reports, Bishop Manchester has a new blog. Here's what he has to say about its intended purpose:

This blog exists for those matters which can be discussed openly. Irrespective of the manner delivered, send your question, query or concern and I shall do my best to answer it.

Amusingly, it's latest post requests that commentators

refrain from posting links to other sites and sign off with your real Christian name ~ or your name in full should you prefer ~ rather than post anonymously.

The amusing thing about this, of course, is that its only current followers (as of this writing) are notorious for hiding behind usernames.

And they're bloody VRS members.

Which, of course also means that they won't even be able to post on their Prez's blog! Heh heh.

The next item of interest, also covered by Lone Stranger, was a blog entry talking about an "informal dinner party" at the Bishop's "spacious retreat on the south coast of England". Mr. Stranger claims that this was actually the Bishop's birthday celebration.

I suppose it's possible. You see, even though the entry is dated "Friday, 13 February 2009", the picture under the heading gives the date as "July 2009". Obviously, the blog's author has taken to recycling old posts rather than writing new ones.

Even more amusingly, part of the "informal" discussions that took place there concerned David Farrant. Naturally, Arminius (who doesn't state whether or not he was actually present for this "informal dinner") makes this the focus of his blog entry. This is in spite of TFO's recent protestations:

Seán Manchester understandably wants to deny Farrant the oxygen of publicity and knows that anything he might say will only add fuel to the fire. He feels the argument against Farrant was won decades ago and only the publicity-seeking charlatan will stand to benefit from its continuance.

For the record, the Bishop's birthday was on July 15.

That's not secret info, by the way. You can see the Bishop's entry in International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004 (p. 366).

Happy Hundredth!

Yep, this is the 100th post on DAWWIH!

Can you believe it?

Here's the seed from which this tree grew.

And now, time for the goodies. Don's gave coverage to a thread he's posted over at The Paracast forum, on his blog, Dark Matters Radio:

Oh, I almost forgot so let me tell you now before I do. Another show I uploaded to the Paranet is one titled “VAMPIRES & Tits and Ass.” It is concerned with the Highgate Vampire Case I’ve talked about before, right here. There are some absolutely hilarious website out there dealing with this case.

Yep, you read right: "VAMPIRES & Tits and Ass". You can read the thread here. In the meantime, here's a snippet:

I pissed this bunch off by trying to conduct an investigation into the claims that a genuine vampire stalked the London landscape back in the late 60’s and early 70’s looking to turn all of us into happy meals! Boy, did they take off after me. First they attacked me as a “war monger” because of my military service in Viet Nam, then they attacked all of America as “Imperialists” warmongers, etc. ad nauseum. Over many years they have managed to scare folks away from asking about this case by threats, internet stalking and various other means. I refused to be intimidated and began to crack the case.

Incidentally, my blog gets a mention on both.

To toot my horn a bit more, did you know I was given an "award for Best Retorts to Bonky" from Lone Stranger of Net Curtains Lurkers? Here's what he had to say in "Game, Set, Match – To The Overseer", regarding my debating tactics with "Demonologist":

Those of you watching the sparring between the “Demonologist” and that saucy Aussie, “The Overseer,” I have to declare the guy from down under the winner. While Deme keeps trotting out the same tired lines, it’s clear he’s run out of anything new to say. The Overseer, however, is articulate, concise and relentless.

I've also padded out my Blogger profile page with some background info in "About Me", listed a few of my "Favorite Movies", "Favorite Music" and "Favorite Books".

As a wrap-up treat, have a read through "The Highgate Vampire" thread over at the Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums. Predictably enough, it didn't take long for a faceless VRS rep to wade into the scene.

Thanks to my readers and casual browsers and here's to many hundreds more!

Manchester and the Law

During his usual game of dodging my questions, David decided to provide some interesting info on Sean Manchester over at Net Curtains Lurkers:

But also remember, such proof also came from the hi-tec department of the police. Two complaints were made to the police in 2004 and 2006 respectively: one on behalf of from Catherine, Kev and Chrissie Demant, Gareth J. Medway and myself for harassment by posting malicious material about other innocent people on the Internet: the other from Patsy for Bonky [David's nickname for Sean Manchester - ed.] sending her malicious emails to her place of work (before he discovered her address). Police thoroughly investigated both these complaints and Bonky (on threat of arrest) was made to sign two Police restraining Orders. He signed both these Orders after the Bournemouth police had visited him at his home in Bournemouth.

David subsequently offered me Sean Manchester's home address to verify this information with "the Yorkshire Police (Dewsbury) and the Feltham Police (Feltham Police in London)".

Could this be proof that the good Bishop has been engaging in acts of harassment?

We shall have to wait and see.

If it does prove to be true, I guess they'll have something else in common: run-ins with the law and the use of aliases to cover their tracks.

Demonologist Changes Robes

After being repeatedly rumbled over at Net Curtains Lurkers, VRS member, "Demonologist", went into a sabbatical, as covered here by Lone Stranger.

I ended up checking out Deme's Blogger profile page for any activity and was somewhat amused by what I found.

I hurriedly reported my findings to Mr. Stranger's blog entry:

It looks like Deme’s slipped off his moniker.

Check out his profile page. He’s gone back to referring to himself as “Vampirologist”!

This prompted Mr. Stranger to write "Demonologist Changes Name – Connects Himself to Manchester!" due to my tip-off.

He also added:

Hey and he forgot himself and linked this screen name directly to his real identity!

Slipping up old boy?

Straight from the Cubicles

It seems that the Lone Stranger and his Cubicle Posse have settled into their new surroundings quite nicely.

They've even garnered a mention on Eric Nuzum's blog. He's the author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula (2007).

Of particular interest, is Lone's coverage of the VRS Facebook page:

I guess the old boy is watching from somewhere, but is still too much of a coward to post. However, finding himself thoroughly rumbled on Facebook, he’s changed his share link photo to something more generic and pestered Blogger until the altered cover image was taken down.

The picture originally featured on the VRS Facebook page was an inexplicably edited version of the cover of Sean Manchester's The Highgate Vampire (1985).

As Lone notes, it's since been changed.

In my comment to Lone's blog entry, I mentioned that the image they've changed it to, is a colourised version (?) of William Mortensen's "The Vampire" (1936). I've previously dealt with that picture elsewhere.

And, last but not least, Lone has also chronicled the strange "disappearance" of Demonologist from his blog. See: "Monday Morning Clean Up & the Demonologist Vanishes" and "The Demonologist/Sean Disappears – Rumors Fly".

Will Deme surface again? Will he be wearing a new disguise? Only time will tell...

Net Curtains Drifts Away with the Breeze

Lone Stranger's latest post (Sunday, June 28, 2009 12:41 AM) was a bit of a surprise and a tad bittersweet:

No more comments will be uploaded after this point. This Blog is moving to its permanent home and this blog deleted.

Stay tuned for the new url.

Through its short duration (the first post was published on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:54 PM), it inspired a lot of debate with VRS sock puppet, "Demonologist", playing host to yet another online manifestation of the Highgate Vampire Feud.

With each installment, something new is always revealed.

But, no need to despair!

The blog has shifted to a new location. It bills itself as:

A Hilarious Look at the 30 Year Feud Between Paranormal Authors David Farrant and Sean Manchester Over The Highgate Vampire

Slouching Toward Disclosure

Demonologist has been getting awfully close to disclosing his identity.

In a recent comment to Lone Stranger's "Feud Watch!" blog entry, he writes:

If, as the Aussie "Overseer" says, my "blogs consist of copy-n-pasted VRS material" that could possibly be because I am a VRS member and have consent to use such material.

Yet, as I pointed out in my response:

If you do indeed have consent to regurgitate such material...why is this not disclosed anywhere in your blogs?

And, more importantly, what is the point of you regurgitating such things...if it's already on the bloody web? Why not just link to it? Provide commentary...something that would justify your blog's existence apart from being part of a VRS propaganda drive.

The response to that should be interesting.

And quite possibly evasive.

Don's Report Returns!

I previously gave Don's report coverage here.

Thanks to Lone Stranger's recent blog entry, "Don Ecker Speaks!", I've also found out it's been revised and uploaded elsewhere.

Warning: contains traces of satire!

Is Manchester Aware of What's Being Written About Him?

In a comment to Lone Stranger's "The Great Vampire Hunter and His Kit", "Demonologist" wrote:

I cannot imagine Seán Manchester wasting his time reading blogs about himself. He might have something brought to his attention by someone to clear up a question or because of unlawful activity involving his identity or his property, but he would not be aware of much else. I somehow doubt he would bother to actually view such blogs.

Well, there's a simple way to verify that.

If we skip over to Manchester's Blogger profile, then we're able to see which blogs he "follows".

Amidst several Catholic blogs, we have:

• In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire. A plagiaristic blog focused on David Farrant. Significant, especially, as much of the plagiarism is from Manchester's own writings. Its "author" is someone who co-administrates the VRS's Facebook page.
  
• Journal of a Vampirologist. Another plagiaristic blog that includes regurgitated items from VRS sources.
  
• And, of course, Vampire Research Society. One that wasn't written by a VRS representative, but by a "personal acquaintance".
  

The last two blogs are also significant because...they are "written" by none-other than, yep, Demonologist, himself.

And, lastly, let's not forget who was responsible for the removal of Don's report from Scribd.

What Lurks Behind the Net Curtains?

As a bit of a counter to the VRS Propaganda Machine, a new blog has burst onto the scene.

It's called Net Curtains Lurkers, and its purports to serve as an "hilarious look at the 30 year feud between paranormal authors Sean Manchester and David Farrant". It's run by a mysterious person who uses the nom de plume, "Lone Stranger".

David linked me to the blog in an e-mail to me ("Re: Good Evening"), dated Thursday, 11 June 2009 3:11:52 PM.

I've already made a comment on its latest posting.

I was a little worried, however, to see a post called "Feud Watch!", considering that I also already have a "segment"/category of this title.