The prevalence of secret recordings

Smoking guns are hard to come by in this case. One must duck and weave through a wave of paltry excuses, revisionism and flat-out stonewalling. That, of course, doesn't stop the claims a-rollin' on in, though.

But one of the more explosive claims, something that could hammer a nail into the coffin—and reputation—of one of the 'vampire''s leading proponents, burying the case once and for all, is also one of the most elusive pieces of 'evidence'.

Oddly enough, it originated from one of the deepest, darkest recesses of the web: the MySpace page of an undead Hungarian scholar.¹ His entry discusses a dinner held at Sean Manchester's place, notable for the presence of David Farrant's former friend, Tony 'Hutchinson' Hill. 'It was in the winter of 1969/70 that Farrant suggested to Hill they attempt to hoax a ghost story to see what the public reaction might be,' so claims Arminius Vámbéry.

CBS Miami

Vámbéry goes on to assert that 'Farrant could not afford to allow Hill to come forward if he wanted to retain any semblance of credibility because, more than anyone else, Hill knows that Farrant is a fake.' While none of the content of his blog entry contains any direct quotes—nor does its author disclose his attendence, suggesting he's relying on the story 'secondhand'—it also alleges Hill 'still possesses secretly recorded tapes of their forty-year-old conversations to prove it. On these tapes, Farrant can be heard conspiring to hoax a ghost story using acquaintances' addresses to send fraudulent letters to local newspapers, and by dressing up as a "ghost" and wearing make-up for photographs.'

There's certainly a precedent for the letters and Ghost Dave is backed by photographic evidence, do the tapes actually exist? Unfortunately, the credibility of Vámbéry's claims is undermined by saying, 'It was not long before Seán Manchester was advising caution where Farrant's claims were concerned, and by the end of that year he had publicly dissociated himself from Farrant on a television programme (BBC's 24 Hours, 15 October 1970) and in both the national and local press.' Considering the 'access' he has to Manchester's personal life—or so his photos of the dinner would suggest—you'd expect him to know that Manchester and Farrant's association continued long after this time.

But where Vámbéry stumbles, the Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester pick up the slack, by regurgitating his entry for their blog. In another entry, 'Mug shot', the the allegation of Farrant and Hill's hoaxing a ghost story, rears its head again. It also makes an appearance in Vampire Research Society member, Vampirologist's blog, under 'The ghost writers', but adds further detail: 'Hill was in on the hoax and can be heard colluding with Farrant in conversations secretly recorded in December 1969, January and February 1970.'

Farrant is certainly aware of these claims: I showed them to him and asked him to comment. For the record, he said, 'The content of this document is untrue, and apparently concocted because of a disclosure I made on an American Radio broadcast recently to the effect that the above named ‘Tony Hill’ together with his ‘side-kick’ and close friend one Mr. Sean Manchester, had hoaxed their version of the infamous Highgate Vampire in the year of 1969 by making a home-made 8mm cine film (this film was in colour but had no sound) about its (The Highgate ‘Vampire) alleged activities. This film showed Mr. Manchester himself disguised as a ‘vampire’ and Mr. Tony Hill assisted in its original production.'

That is an unlikely claim, due to the timing of the postings. I would suggest, along these lines, that the 'secret recordings' were a 'comeback' to Farrant's publication, The Seangate tapes, which feature alleged transcripts of incriminating phone conversations between Farrant and Manchester. These, too, were 'secret recordings'. As far as I know, Manchester—a man keen to invoke DMCAs, as Brendan Kilmartin, owner of The supernatural world forums will also attest—has not pursued legal against against Farrant for their publication.

But, on the other hand, Farrant, who took the Daily Express to court over allegedly defamatory comments², has not made any such injunctions, either, despite repeated insinuations that Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester, Arminius Vámbéry and Vampirologist are actually Sean Manchester in disguise.

Seeing as The Seangate tapes have remained in circulation, relatively unhindered, I think it's time Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester, Arminius Vámbéry and Vampirologist—and Hill, too, presuming he actually made such allegations—put their money where their mouth is and produce the tapes. Otherwise, they should retract their statements.

---

^{1. The real Arminius died on 15 September 1913. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius_Vambery.↩}

^{2. ‘Occult man appeals for help after libel cases’, Daily Express, 16 February 1980, p. 4 and ‘Witch left with £20,000 libel bill’, The Guardian, 16 February 1980, p. 3.↩}

Arminius and the Bombardment of Insanity

I signed into my e-mail account not long ago and noticed four (count 'em four) notifications concerning wall posts to my Facebook group from the undead Hungarian, Arminius Vámbéry.

Two things surprised me about them: 1) I wasn't even aware that he joined my group, 2) all four posts were exactly the same!

Here's the stats:

1. "Arminius Vámbéry commented on Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?'s wall post...", Sunday, 7 March 2010 8:49:42 PM.
2. "Arminius Vámbéry commented on Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?'s wall post...", Sunday, 7 March 2010 8:50:53 PM
3. "Arminius Vámbéry commented on Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?'s wall post...", Sunday, 7 March 2010 9:16:47 PM
4. "Arminius Vámbéry commented on Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?'s wall post...", Sunday, 7 March 2010 9:17:19 PM

And here's what the psychopath wrote:

Anthony Hogg has definitely NOT interviewed Seán Manchester. Hogg's obsession with the "main participants" of a case closed many years ago which occurred long before he was born is unhealthy and questionable. To attempt to pour oil on troubled water in the hope of reigniting a feud is despicable. I suggest this Australian youngster be ignored.

I have to quote it here, because...the posts have mysteriously disappeared (hint: he deleted 'em). Of course, Arminius' status as a laughing stock is secured by the fact that after that bombardment, he questions my mental health. Classic stuff.

Sheer Inanity

You would obviously have noticed that I've been letting my blog languish for a while.

The reason for this is quite simple: the sheer tedium and pettiness evinced from both sides of the Highgate Case can get a bit overwhelming.

So, I took an extended break from it.

That's not to say I've been completely dormant. After all, I've been making regular contributions to my other blog.

At this point, there's not much left to pursue, vampirologically, with this Case. The feuding will continue between these two "gentlemen" and their associates for their duration, from the looks of it.

It's still good to see that JBC is interested in some form of reconciliation (or a damn cease fire) from the two main parties, as indicated in his "Fancy a Pint?" entry.

The proposition held that David and "Demonologist" (Dennis Crawford) were to have a meeting at Highgate's Woodman Pub.

Did this meeting come to pass?

Nooooo, of course not.

Yet again, it was stymied by the usual flimsy excuses.

Dennis expected David to rock up to the pub within a 13 hour duration. When he didn't, he canceled the meet.

From there, it lapsed into an argument about the pub's opening times and Arminius hinted that he wasn't a Christian.

Probably so his continuous attacks wouldn't reveal hypocrisy.

And so, the battle rages on.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hunchback

As I've previously pointed out, VRS member "Arminius Vámbéry" has no qualm in making light of David's deformity.

One of his Hallowe'en entries, "The Hunchback", says

The Hunchback was born on the border of Crouch End and Highgate, London, on 23 January 1946, some believe (though this is unconfirmed) at six minutes past six o'clock in the morning. It was discovered he was foetally-hunched.

So why does Vámbéry keep his Farrant-fixiated blog hidden?

If you access his profile, you'll see (as of this writing) only one entry under "My Blogs":

So why doesn't he disclose The Hunchback of Muswell Hill on his list?

Is it because he's ashamed of it? Is there a more sinister reason? And, if that blog is hidden...how many others might he have tucked away?

Can you believe that the VRS actually "hires" people like this?

Making Fun of Hunchbacks

John Baldry's Cat discusses one of the latest anti-Farrant blogs issued from the Vampire Research Society.

It's called The Hunchback of Muswell Hill and was created by Arminius Vámbéry, who obviously has no sensitivity towards people who suffer from kyphosis.

This, from a guy who bills himself as

a trained and seasoned researcher of the arcane, the paranormal, and especially those dark areas of humanity where few dare to venture, namely vampirism and demonolatry.

Peas in a Pod

It seems that TFO ("Demonologist") has inadvertently revealed how entwined Manchester and Farrant are in the Highgate Vampire Case.

In this comment to John Baldry Cat's "Farrant Rates Women of the World", TFO displays his uncanny grasp of minutiae concerning the good Bishop. In this case, discussing other publishers who were interested in Manchester's tale, The Highgate Vampire.

However, it wound up being published by the British Occult Society in 1985, an organisation Manchester served as president of, at the time. Why? Here's one reason:

One of the amendments to his manuscript that was found unacceptable by him [Manchester -ed.] was the excising of all reference to Farrant whom the publisher saw as superfluous to the account.

TFO then presents a speculative what-if scenario, also inadvertently revealing how indebted Farrant should be to Manchester, for helping him turn Farrant into a renowned public figure:

If the same book was being written today, Seán Manchester would probably not mention Farrant who, if he is known at all (I've lost count of all the people who have said they would never have heard of Farrant but for reading Seán Manchester's book) it is because of the success of "The Highgate Vampire" which is about to be turned into a major cinema film.

Good one.

Of course, the "if he is known at all" statement is especially amusing not only in light of TFO frequently mentioning Farrant in his writings, but also being a follower of VRS Member Arminius Vámbéry's Farrant-devoted blog, In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire.

And he's not the only one.

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).

A Trained and Seasoned Researcher?

"Arminius Vámbéry" uses his MySpace page to describe himself as

a trained and seasoned researcher of the arcane, the paranormal, and especially those dark areas of humanity where few dare to venture, namely vampirism and demonolatry.

The same dire self-description appears on his Blog Talk Radio page, where he goes under the username, "Vampirologist". Interestingly, the same username TFO has recently reverted to.

The "trained and seasoned researcher" malarkey also appears in his Blogger profile.

Shame he forgot to mention being versed in the ancient art of plagiarism.

He's also the copy-n-paste admin of the (defunct) British Occult Society Facebook page. His post, "Origin of the British Occult Society" is remarkably similar (hint: plagiarised) to "Genesis of the Vampire Research Society" (Vampire Research Society).

Arminius also sees fit to reproduce Sean Manchester's rebuttal to a review of David Farrant's autobiography in Fortean Times. Here's one of the stand-out paragraphs:

My aversion to superfluous and sensationalist publicity has been partly responsible for David Farrant filling the void where the Highgate Cemetery happenings are concerned, despite his involvement being spurious. Others genuinely caught up in the case and the investigation thereof understandably share my distaste for sensational newspaper elaboration. Not so David Farrant who has been repeatedly described by the judiciary and the media as a shameless publicity-seeker.

Which is funny, considering that the BOS's Facebook photos page consists of images...all relating to Farrant!

Even more amusingly, 9 out of the 10 links featured on the BOS Facebook page relate directly to...yep, you guessed it: David Farrant!

Bravo, Arminius! Talk about fueling the fire!

Something You Should Know About Arminius Vámbéry (VRS)

This quote from Arminius Vámbéry's MySpace blog entry, "Something You Should Know About Steve Genier (SOPS)" brought a smile to my face:

Much nonsense is claimed about the Highgate Vampire case on the internet by those who copy and paste manufactured twaddle from elsewhere.

It's hard to tell if he's taking the piss or not. There doesn't seem to be a hint of irony in what he's saying, even though he's pretty much referencing himself.

For those not in the know, I've previously exposed Arminius as a blatant plagiarist.

He also happens to be one of the admins for the VRS's Facebook page.

I enjoyed reading his unabashed statement so much, that I've now incorporated into this blog's very first tagline:

If the VRS can keep producing comedians like Arminius, then maybe they're still in with a chance!

Strange Goings-On at Facebook

Lone Stranger has written a rather interesting blog entry called "Sean Edits THV Cover for Facebook Page!".

For some obscure reason, the cover of the first edition of The Highgate Vampire (1985), posted on the VRS Facebook page, has been given the Photoshop touch.

An image of the vampire has been conspicuously blurred, which prompted Mr. Stranger to say:

What's wrong Sean? Are you afraid the noobs on Facebook will recognize you and realize you are a fake?

This statement refers to certain claims that Sean Manchester painted himself up as a vampire for the purpose of taking pictures to accompany his book.

Of course, it's not the only picture on the page that has been given a strange tampering. Have a look at the big black smudges that surround David Farrant in this picture.

Psychic energy waves...or a big black texta? You decide.

Mr. Stranger also noted something else interesting about the VRS Facebook page:

Hey and look at the organizers of the new VRS; there's Sean; our good buddy and sock puppet Arminus; and an actual real person from Bristol.

I previously noted that "Arminius" (a copy-n-paste plagiarist of TFO calibre) was also one of its admins.

But of particular interest, is that a new admin has been added to the VRS Facebook page ("an actual real person from Bristol").

His name is David Carter-Green, which keeps in the tradition of hyphenated surnames like the VRS's National Secretary, Katrina Garforth-Bles.

I've never even heard his name mentioned in association with the VRS before, or the Highgate Vampire Case, so his arrival on the scene is certainly a surprise. Especially his out-of-nowhere appointment as an admin on the VRS Facebook page.

Who knows what winning contributions he'll supply to this whole Affair?

Dennisologist?

Some time ago, I wrote a blog entry which openly queried just who our chum, "Demonologist" aka TFO, might be. I also stumbled across some further clues.

Deme's latest comment-flood, however, gave away something incredibly interesting.

All it took, was this little snippet of text:

Let me make Bishop Seán Manchester's position quite clear. He has no interest in party politics and has at no time in his life been a member of any political party.

What's that? Speaking on the Bishop's behalf with an air of representative authority?

That's a pretty odd call to make, considering that he only claims to be "personally acquainted with Bishop Seán Manchester and have been for some considerable time."

I decided to Google portions of "Demonologist"'s comment-flood with the expectation of finding it regurgitated from elsewhere.

I wasn't let down:

Let me make Bishop Manchester's position quite clear. He has no interest in party politics and has at no time in his life been a member of any political party.

That quote came from a post called "The Devil's Fool", dated 6/23/2007 6:38 AM, on The Cross and the Stake message board.

The most significant item, however, is its author: "From: MSN NicknameDennisCrawford1".

Yep, it's the username of the one-and-the-same International Secretary of the Vampire Research Society.

Funnily enough, remarkably "similar" content to Dennis' post and "Demonologist"'s comments, can also be found on "Arminius Vámbéry"'s "Wicca Workers Party" blog entry for In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire.

Well, as the old adage goes: with friends like these...

Dead Hungarian Scholar Logs onto Facebook!

Well, well, well.

Look who went and got a new admin!

Yes, that's right, the VRS Facebook group (as covered here and here) - under the direction of Sean Manchester - have decided to recruit the services of one "Arminius Vámbéry". That is, the same bloke I revealed to be a blatant plagiarist.

Evidentially, he's now helping fuel the VRS Propaganda Machine with regurgitated posts.

Vampire scholars may be familiar with the real Arminius Vámbéry (1832-1913) from his link to author of Dracula (1897), Bram Stoker. Here's what Vámbéry's Wikipedia entry says about it:

Vámbéry knew Bram Stoker and is believed by some biographers to have acted as his consultant on Transylvanian culture. The character of Professor Van Helsing in Stoker's novel, Dracula, is sometimes said to be based on Vámbéry, though there is no real evidence of this supposition. In the novel (chapter 23) the professor refers to his "friend Arminius, of Buda-Pesth University".

But, as renowned Dracula scholar, Elizabeth Miller, notes in Dracula: Sense & Nonsense (Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex: Desert Island Books Limited, 2000, p. 31):

There is no reason to believe that Arminius Vambery was the source for any of Stoker's knowledge about vampire lore. While it is unlikely, Stoker and the Hungarian professor might have talked about vampires; Vambrey might have sparked Stoker's interest sufficiently to send him scurrying off to the library to find some books. To say that he did is irresponsible.

Seriously, how much more desperate can the VRS get to further their "cause"? I mean, recruiting dead Hungarian scholars into their ranks? Come on!

Oh, and as of this writing, their Facebook page has a total of "179 members".

In the Shadow of a Plagiarist

It doesn't really surprise me that the author of a blog called, In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire (ITSOTHV), is a blatant plagiarist akin to TFO (if he isn't TFO, himself. "Coincidentally", TFO is also the blog's only follower, as of this writing).

Not only is the title of ITSOTHV "borrowed" from David's latest autobiography, the banner "borrowed" from one of my posts (both mentioned in the previous entry), but it also seems he can't keep his grubby little hands off Manchester's work, either.

Compare ITSOTHV's "Introduction" against "Introduction by the Author" in Manchester's Aftermath of the Highgate Vampire: Final Struggle Against a Post-Demonic Infestation at Highgate (AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH).

Then, match up ITSOTHV's "Hymn to Pan" with AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH's "Part the Ninth". Now, ITSOTHV's "Invoking the Vampire" and AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH's "Part the Second". And then ITSOTHV's "A Convenient Bandwagon" with AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH's "Part the First".

I'm sure you're getting the picture now, but I'll cite two more, just to drive a stake through this undead beast.

Compare ITSOTHV's "Dark Secrets" against AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH's "Part the Eighth" and, lastly, ITSOTHV's "Source of Falsification" with AOTHV:FSAAPDIAH's "Part the Third".

Yes, essentially we have a Blogger blog featuring regurgitations from Manchester's still-extant ClearBlogs blog, "written" (i.e., copy and pasted) by a bloke naming himself after a dead Hungarian scholar.

You might be asking yourself, quite rightly, "what's the bloody point?"

That's an interesting question in light of the "endorsement" ITSOTHV is given by the VRS, by virtue of it being linked via their Facebook group. Its administrator is Sean Manchester himself. Evidentally, the VRS/he supports wholesale plagiarism.

Unless, of course, it's not plagiarism at all, but Manchester regurgitating his material under a pseudonym, using a variety of forums to rehash the same old stuff.

But why would a vampire-huntin' Bishop want to do something as crazy as that?

Wanna Be Their Friend?

You can't keep a good vampire down. Vampire group, that is.

Now you've got your choice of two! And you can add them both via the wonders of Facebook: the latest medium the opposing sides of the Highgate Vampire Case are using to promote their...uh...cause.

David gave me a heads-up on his group's Facebook presence ("The Highgate Vampire Society") in an e-mail dated Tuesday, 21 April 2009 9:55:38 PM. The e-mail I sent him prior to that (Tue, 21 Apr 2009 7:46 am) concerned answers to a batch of questions I'm awaiting his answers to.

Interestingly, the date given on the Facebook page for his Society's founding ("1996") contradicts the account given by Marc Mullen:

David Farrant, president of the British Psychic and Occult Society, founded the Highgate Vampire Society in 1997.

Oh, and David's own website:

But in 1997, following a mass of speculation about the so-called Highgate Vampire and misguided controversy that had come to surround his name - not least because this had spread to a world wide interest in the case - David Farrant decided to form the Highgate Vampire Society, its purpose (as he said at the time) . . . “One of our main aims will be to become a repository for all the oral history and written data concerning the Highgate Vampire”.

And now, contrast this raison d'être with the one found on the Facebook page:

The Highgate Vampire Society (THVS) was established in 1996 to investigate ongoing reports of any unexplained phenomenon in and around Highgate Cemetery, in North London.

Hmm...

Next, we have the Vampire Research Society.

It outranks David's group of "friends" (40 members against 77, as of this writing), but, of course, there's not much else you'd find on it, that you couldn't find from the VRS's website. Hell, even its "blurb" is taken from there.

Apart from three links to books available for sale (accessible via its links page) by the VRS (can't say Manchester ain't an opportunist!), it also features links to blogs (Vampire Research Society, Journal of a Vampirologist and Did A Wampyr Walk In Highgate? [no, not my one]) by the decidedly suspect TFO. You'd think Manchester (the site's administrator) would would to step back from such connections. Not embrace them!

But, there's also another blog featured on the VRS's Facebook group links page. One I haven't seen before: In the Shadow of the Vampire (subtitled, "The Life of a Lack-lustre Luciferian Layabout"). Is it a mere coincidence that it shares the same primary title as David's autobiography?

Mmm, I doubt it.

Oh, and it also "borrows" the screencap I took for "Farrant on YouTube".

Did I mention that the blog is attributed to a guy who died in 1913? Its author bills himself as "Arminius Vámbéry". Nice and subtle there. Anyway, I think we'll look more into that blog, later.

Oh, by the way, if you join either of those Facebook groups, you do so at your own peril! If you find that your personal info has or hasn't been, possibly, used against you, can't say you weren't warned!