Patrick Sean Manchester's Reaction to Poll—He's Not Happy

Patrick Sean Manchester negatively responded to a Facebook poll hosted on my Facebook group: "who do you believe? Both David Farrant and Patrick Sean Manchester investigated the Highgate Vampire case. However, their accounts wildly differ and both accused the other of fakery. But who do you believe based on your own readings/watchings of the case? Choose your options, below." The options were: David Farrant, Manchester, Not sure, Neither, and A bit of both.

In response to a vote that has so far only swung between Farrant and Neither, Manchester had the following to say: "The name of Hogg's group (identical to the name of one of my own groups) is paraphrased from a newspaper headline and article that introduced me and the Highgate case to the world a long time before Anthony Hogg was conceived, much less born, in far off Australia."

Regrettably, Mr. Manchester failed to mention that the group's name was identical to one of his because he had copied my group name. The group name—sharing its title with this blog, and initially used in 2006 as a MSN Spaces forum—was indeed based on a newspaper headline. However, Mr. Manchester did not disclose the relevance of my age and location.

His post was accompanied by the following diatribe embedded into a screencap he took of the poll, despite previously acknowledging he has blocked my account thus indicating he should have no means to view it bar alternative identities: "Anthony Hogg has begun to run a poll on a Facebook group he uses to post abuse and misinformation about me [Mr. Manchester gave no examples of this alleged abuse and misinformation]. Anthony Hogg has begun to run a poll on a Facebook group he uses to post abuse and misinformation about me. It was opened a handful of hours ago and apparently nobody believes my account while 25% believe the late David Farrant's account regarding the Highgate Vampire case, which is curious view of the fact that Farrant didn't believe in the Highgate Vampire." Why Mr. Farrant would have been obliged to believe in the existence of a vampire to investigate a case was not disclosed.

Mr. Manchester continues: "That notwithstanding, those who are members of Hogg's group are extremely hostile towards myself. That also applies to visitors to his group for the most part." Of the group's 252 members, only a handful post or comment in the group. Few are overtly hostile toward Mr. Manchester (the group's posts are viewable to readers due to its public setting). However, there is no standing policy against who may join save those who agree to follow the group rules. Indeed, Mr. Manchester has previously been invited to join the group himself but appears to be too frightened to do so.

Mr. Manchester, a frequent visitor of the group, did not disclose how he determined visitors from members as only members may comment in the group. 

"Furthermore in his preamble above the poll," Mr. Manchester continues, "Hogg describes my name incorrectly. It is correctly described in all my documents that are used for identity, and not as Hogg would have it. The false addition comes from Farrant without whom Hogg would flounder." While the description of his name was derived from Mr. Farrant in a roundabout way (the divorce certificate included on Don Ecker's report on the Highgate Vampire was obtained by Ecker from Farrant), it has been independently verified from birth records viewable on ancestry.co.uk. Mr. Manchester's penchant for aliases has been remarked on this blog before.

Several hours later, Mr. Manchester posted another diatribe against the poll: "After nine hours, Anthony Hogg's poll reveals that 50% of all who voted believe David Farrant's version of events while 0% believe mine. However, this could be due to only six votes being cast on a group exceptionally antipathetic towards me." Far likelier the result reflects the implausibility of Mr. Manchester's account, riddled as it is with inconsistencies, revisions and a lack of reliable evidence.

Mr. Manchester's grumble continued thusly: "One could almost name who those 'six' people who voted are. Hogg being one, McWilliams being another, and, of course, Fugly, etc. Morever, they all have multiple Facebook accounts." The easiest way for Mr. Manchester to avoid this uncharitable speculation is to vote on the poll himself:

I have not actually voted on the poll, McWilliams has not voted (as of this writing) and no one named "Fugly" has. However, I suspect that "Fugly" is a pejorative for a member of the group (a portmanteau merging "fucking" and "ugly") rather than an actual person's name—a somewhat jarring term employed by an alleged bishop.

The hypocrisy of Manchester alluding to multiple accounts used by other persons (but with no evidence of the same person voting more than once), has been commented on many times before.

Notes

"who do you believe?": Hogg, "Poll time, everyone!," Facebook, August 23, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks/posts/10166918240880494.

"The name of Hogg's group": Manchester [The Cross & the Stake, pseud.], Facebook, August 23, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/pfbid02GVUQAFsqdX8qy53Q2Yw3KQBvmYRiaSzVB87fnd2zD7r1fFYYQYSPWVdw88DVVj6Pl. Subsequent quotations from Manchester are derived from this post unless otherwise noted.

based on a newspaper headline: "Does a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?," Hampstead & Highgate Express, February 27, 1970, 1. In a book review written almost forty years after the story was published, the paper's then-editor, Gerald Isaamann, revealed "we played the story for laughs." Review of London Lore: The Legends and Traditions of the World’s Most Vibrant City, by Steve Roud, Camden New Journal, January 29, 2009, http://www.thecnj.com/review/2009/012909/books012909_01.html.

Don Ecker's report on the Highgate Vampire: see Ecker, "My Inquiry into the Highgate Vampire," Paracast, accessed August 24, 2022, [p. 16], https://www.theparacast.com/darkmatters/borisdocument.pdf.

Mr. Manchester's penchant for aliases: See http://dawwih.blogspot.com/search/label/Aliases.

"After nine hours, Anthony Hogg's poll reveals": Manchester [The Cross & the Stake, pseud.], Facebook, August 23, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/974672275997573/posts/2691335964331187/. Subsequent quotations from Manchester are derived from this post unless otherwise noted.

a lack of reliable evidence: see, for instance, Erin Chapman, "5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn't Walk in Highgate Cemetery," Vamped, February 27, 2015, https://vamped.org/2015/02/27/5-reasons-why-a-wampyr-didnt-walk-in-highgate-cemetery/.

"Fugly" is a pejorative: D.A.T, Urban Dictionary, s.v. Fugly, https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fugly.

A Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Facebook Post

Gather for this tale of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Picture: ColouringPages101.com.

One of Patrick Sean Manchester's—aka Bishop Seán Manchester—favourite hobbies is slagging off people he doesn't like via the vast cornucopia of blogs and Facebook accounts he writes for. I am one of his frequent targets.

I usually respond to his diatribes via my Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks/), but I've decided that sunshine is indeed the best disinfectant, so I'll be addressing his posts on this blog to ensure Mr. Manchester gains the audience he seeks.

Recently, after noting that Manchester is utterly obsessed with his late nemesis, David Farrant, Manchester followed up with yet another diatribe about Farrant.

He then followed that remark with all the Christian grace of a bull in a china shop:

The "slimy behaviour and overt hostility" of Hogg renders anything he has to say as invalid. Whatever vitriol he posts is nothing less than one might expect from a universally despised troll. So many have recorded the malice of this alcoholic with a penchant for foul language.

I have certainly been called a troll in my day (especially by people who don't like their lies being refuted), but "universally despised"? I'm not sure about that. I have my own fan group after all (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1650940895149151) and I admin many Facebook groups with thousands of members. I detect a whiff of jealousy.

Do I swear? Yes. Am I an alcoholic? No. In fact, I barely drink (case in point: I had a single beer while at a Thai restaurant on Friday—literally my only alcoholic beverage that week). I honestly can't fathom why he said that. In the meantime, I suggest Mr. Manchester reacquaint himself with the Scripture he's supposed to be following. Namely Exodus 20:19.

Not content with gunning for me, he turns his toward another DAWWIH Facebook group member:

Redmond McWilliams, however, should understand that if he doesn't want me to engage by posting ripostes, all he need do is not mention me in the material he publishes. I would have no need to clarify my position were reference to me not made in the first place. Almost all his posts and comments on Hogg's hate group contain a negative aside. Is he unable to raise a topic without including some barbed reference to me? Yet we have never met.

I have no problem with him posting a right of reply. He's more than entitled to it. The problem is, these "ripostes" are little more than personal attacks and mistruths (see "alcoholic" remark, above), not setting the record straight. And what makes them particularly peculiar is that Manchester has us both blocked on Facebook. So, how is he seeing our posts?

Either way, an (allegedly) Christian bishop trying to pam off his hateful posting on us flies in the face of Christ's command that one "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39). Whatever he posts is wholly his responsibility.

I will admit that a lot of negative things are said about Manchester, though (readers are invited to visit/join the group to decide their extensiveness for themselves). But there's a good reason for it: he is an incredibly nasty person. Indeed, most of the replies are in response to things he's said first. Manchester thinks he can intimidate people into silence by personally attacking them behind his bewildering array of sockpuppet idents (like his "The Cross & the Stake" nom de plume his Facebook post was written under). 

He is renowned for obsessively posts about people he doesn't like (despite allegedly devoting his live to the Church), which strikes me as distinctly anti-Christian behaviour. Indeed, as someone who has been subjected to over fifteen years of his stalking, it's no surprise as to why people don't have many kind things to say about him.

The "clarifying [his] position" angle would be fair if he was a truthful, credible person. But he isn't. He lies. A lot. That is literally why people speak up about him in the first place.

To cap it off, mentioning he has never met McWilliams applies to a lot of people he attacks. Including me. Manchester has no place being on his high horse.

Manchester concludes his post with this pièce de résistance:

When McWilliams chose to throw his lot in with Hogg it puzzled me at the time and still does now. He was a longstanding friend of David Farrant, and collaborated in many of Farrant's projects, eg the so-called symposium of July 2015. No sooner did he, of the blue, form an allegiance with Hogg than Farrant understandably dropped McWilliams like a hot potato. I don't comprehend disloyalty at the best of times, but this treacherous act by McWilliams terminated his friendship with Farrant (now in his final years), and the schism lasted until Farrant's death in April 2019. Not that Hogg, the sower of discord, was bothered.

My history with McWilliams (founder of the Highgate Cemetery Vampire Appreciation Society Facebook group) pre-dates his association with Farrant. We "met" via an online forum over a shared interest in bringing an independent voice the Highgate Vampire saga.

Over time, McWilliams allowed himself to absorbed into Farrant's social circle (despite my concerns about him getting too close to his "subject") and yes, collaborated with him on various projects thereby shedding his ability to remain publicly objective (regarding the "so-called symposium," though: strange wording aside, it was an honest-to-goodness symposium that actually happened). Indeed, his association lead to a falling out between us too when I defended a former friend, Angie Watkins, from being attacked on his group without a right of reply (my administration of the group was revoked without warning after she had added me to a Facebook group of hers without my knowledge). My defense of her even got me banned from the group, too. That certainly caused a lot of bitterness for me especially as I had worked on the group since its inception. And to show how far it had gone to the dogs, I was replaced by...Farrant's wife, Della, another person in his entourage with a grudge against me. So much for independence!

Eventually, McWilliams and I did make amends when I opened up to him about the treasure trove of Highgate Vampire-related material I had been able to accumulate through the help of colleagues. Farrant became aware of this re-association, especially when I was readmitted into his Facebook group. Farrant was never a fan of mine because I often criticised his claims and behaviours, as he had spent decades doing to Manchester. However, Farrant's attempt at portraying me as a Manchester lackey didn't quite take because (as this blog post shows), I am not in the game of taking sides between these two.

So, really, there was no "allegiance." I didn't demand fealty. I still don't. The ethos of this blog, the forum it sprung from and the Facebook group spin-off has always been about neutral turf. Whether the people on that turf want to stick to one side is up to them. But for me? I take neither side. After all, taking sides in something like this is a surefire way to kill critical thought and objectivity. I've seen it firsthand. And I've seen it used, deliberately, to this effect. The side I take is the truth.

Manchester's "disloyalty" spiel is a classic example of why this objectivity is needed. Preying on McWilliams' guilt over the fallout with Farrant is reminder that as objective as we may like to be, we are human. Feelings often get in the way of what we investigate. And people exploit that for their own ends. But Manchester's rhetoric is undermined by his own concept of "loyalty": not questioning his claims. Not inviting participation from the "other side" of his beefs. I can attest to this firsthand. This is especially risible for someone acting more like a cult leader than the head of an organisation dubbing itself the Vampire Research Society.

But on his last remark: am I bothered over their falling out? Honestly? Not really. After all, I didn't cause it.

If Farrant was willing to terminate his friendship with McWilliams because he let me back on a Facebook group which I co-founded, I don't think that spoke much for their friendship. I could go further and speculate that their connection must have been one of convenience, in that both were getting a "use" for the other that was no longer tenable once it became apparent that McWilliams was interacting with me (without even being able to clarify why it was a problem in the first place). That said, on a human level, I would prefer they had buried the hatchet. A grudge is not a good thing to take to the grave.

For my final word on their friendship, though: I wasn't part of it. That was between them. The only person who can speak for them is them—and one of them is no longer around to do that. It's not my place to say how genuine it was. And certainly not Manchester's, who very obviously doesn't give a stuff. Therefore, his bottom-scraping tactic to attack McWilliams is just another example of the depths this alleged Christian bishop is prepared to go.

And that, honestly, is a shame too, speaking as it does to the psychology of a man so deeply entrenched in hatred for people because they've questioned him or exposed his shenanigans, that he struggles to process his emotions in a productive way. I hope he seeks the help he sorely needs.

Notes

Manchester is utterly obsessed with his late nemesis, David Farrant: Hogg, "In the latest edition of 'Where Is Your Church, Anyway, and Why Do You Keep Stalking Us?' . . .," Facebook, August 5, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks/posts/10166872067240494/.

yet another diatribe about Farrant: Manchester [The Cross & the Stake, pseud.], "Stewart Farrar said of Farrant . . .," Facebook, August 6, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/974672275997573/posts/2676860642445386/. Subsequent quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from this post.

subjected to over fifteen years of his stalking: Hogg, "My Number One Fan," The Vampirologist (blog), April 30, 2014, https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/my-number-one-fan/.

an honest-to-goodness symposium that actually happened: Della Farrant, "THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE SYMPOSIUM 2015," Harringay Online, latest activity June 12, 2015, https://harringayonline.com/events/the-highgate-vampire-symposium-2015. The event took place at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate Village, on July 19, 2015. McWilliams was one of the speakers.

Mr. Manchester Does Not Want to Be Called "Mr." & Other Gripes—Part 2

A dramatic representation of Patrick Sean Manchester's recent series of complaints about the author. Picture: Sony Pictures Releasing via Nerds and Beyond.

At the time of writing most of the first instalment, I did not realise Mr. Patrick Sean Manchester had made several other posts about me on his Facebook group, The Cross & the Stake. I will now take the opportunity to address those, too.

First, there is his rebuttal to a blog post that delved into his extremist, far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism. Overlaid on an uncredited partial screencap of my post, Mr. Manchester writes "No, Hogg, you beg to differ, along with your Marxist chums, while more and more people are agreeing with †Seán Manchester that all war is pure and utter lunacy."

Now, I'm a pacifist myself, but this response needs some context. Mr. Manchester was blaming Britain for the Nazi devastation of Europe during World War 2, i.e. if they hadn't butted in, it would have been a lot less worse: "Had Great Britain not declared war on Germany in the wake of a conveniently manufactured agreement with Poland that was designed to be violated, perhaps the sixty million people killed, which was over 2.5% of the world population, might for the most part have survived? Hitler certainly did not want a war with Great Britain on whose Empire he modelled his Third Reich. My country's action resulted in the worst and deadliest military conflict in history. It should have been avoided by every measure available."

That notion is, of course, utterly ridiculous considering Nazi Germany's Lebensraum ambitions, but not too surprising from a Nazi apologist. However, in the same post Mr. Manchester refutes this assessment: "I AM UTTERLY AMAZED THAT MY OPPOSITION TO WAR — INDEED, I HAVE PUBLICLY OPPOSED ALL WARS OCCURRING IN MY LIFETIME — CAN BE TWISTED BY ANTHONY HOGG INTO 'DEFENDING THE NAZI INVASION OF EUROPE.' I STAND BY MY WORDS (QUOTED ON TOP OF THE PAGE) AND SHALL CONTINUE TO PROUDLY ENDORSE THE SENTIMENTS THEY EXPRESS."

I'd day blaming Britain for Nazi atrocities and the scale of WW2 can be reasonably qualified as "DEFENDING THE NAZI INVASION OF EUROPE" don't you? 

Later, in third person, Mr. Manchester remarks "BISHOP MANCHESTER IS NOBODY'S APOLOGIST; HOGG IS AN APOLOGIST FOR SATANISTS." Here, Mr. Manchester clearly has a flimsy grasp on the meaning of "apologetics," in not only overlooking his own defense of Nazi Germany at the expense of Great Britain, but also wildly casting the concept around to include a nonsense statement about me being an apologist for Satanists. In what capacity, he isn't clear. The only thing I'd defend is their right to practice their faith, as we all do in a free society, and salient points they make on the hypocrisies of religion in mainstream society (e.g. the trolling and counter-protests of the Satanic Temple).

This, of course, is probably just another smokescreen for Mr. Manchester's own history with Satanism, a religion he practiced under the guise of "Lord Manchester."

Next up is a lengthy diatribe by Mr. Manchester, screencapped from some uncited Facebook post, about me and my colleague, Erin Chapman (accompanied by a pic stolen from a Vamped article she wrote, tinted with some sepia filter). Now, since Mr. Manchester's post appears sans context, I will do my best to address what he might be getting at.

It begins with a classic case of psychological projection from a man who regularly writes nasty comments and falsehoods about me: 

You write about me in the most negative, misleading and distorted manner possible, and have done so for in excess of a decade. 

I dispute that. I think I hold Mr. Manchester's claims and behaviour to the light of day. As I'm doing with this post. I provide quotes, links and/or citations so readers may have a common reference point—if I'm distorting anything, readers can easily call me on it by checking the references for themselves. This is a courtesy Mr. Manchester does not provide me, often taking my comments and material out of context specifically to smear me, as shown in this very post.

What about other people’s claims? How is it that you are not writing about them, save very infrequently, or in anything like the same abusive fashion?

Yet another falsehood. First, just on the Highgate Vampire topic alone, nearly all the posts I made on this very blog about Manchester's nemesis, David Farrant, were critical. One can easily see that by clicking on the "David Farrant" label link on the sidebar of this blog (https://dawwih.blogspot.com/search/label/David%20Farrant). That's one hundred and thirty posts in which he is a primary topic of discussion. I dispute Farrant's narrative, his criticisms, his recollection of events, the works. That's likely why Farrant wasn't a fan of mine, either.

Here, Mr. Manchester is trying to play victim; framing fair criticism as a torrent of abuse. In my view, this is a ruse to throw people off the scent of his own appalling behaviour, falsehoods and dubious claims.

When somebody confines entire websites, blogs and probably dozens of Facebook groups to attacking just one person over a period of more than ten years that, by any definition is indubitably obsessive. There is nothing “unChristian” in what I have written. What you are doing, and have done over many years, however, is unChristian. 

The lies in that post are inexcusable. First, my primary website (not counting the site dedicated to my organisation, the Vampire Studies Association [https://vampirestudies.org/], which will be undergoing some major redevelopment) is Vamped (https://vamped.org/), a general interest vampire site. Mr. Manchester has occasionally featured (https://vamped.org/tag/sean-manchester/), primarily in context with his "investigation" of the Highgate Vampire case, but he is not the website's primary topic.

As to blogs, I've created a handful over the years—none dedicated to a single person. This blog, for instance, focused on the Highgate Vampire case and the personalities involved. I previously wrote Diary of an Amateur Vampirologist (http://doaav.blogspot.com/), which later morphed to The Vampirologist (http://thevampirologist.blogspot.com/) before landing on a Wordpress version of the blog (https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/).

In what I can only class as yet another case of psychological projection gone wild, it's Mr. Manchester who has actually created blogs about other people; specifically his nemesis, David Farrant (e.g. David Farrant Obituary, https://davidfarrantobituary.blogspot.com/), Kevin Chesham (e.g. Kevin Chesham Q & A, https://kev-chesham.blogspot.com/), various perceived enemies (Antipathetic Voices, http://antipatheticvoices.blogspot.com/) and, yes, even yours truly (Hoggwatch, http://hoggwatch.blogspot.co.uk/ [site discontinued]). Sidenote: Mr. Manchester launched that blog about me under a fake identity, before revealing himself to be the true author when he issued a copyright claim against me for posting a link to it (!) on Facebook.

I think it goes without saying that Mr. Manchester's remarks on the practice of my faith are more than a little hypocritical, but I accept the notion that my remarks can't always be considered Christ-like. The difference, of course, is that I acknowledge that; Mr. Manchester remains unrepentant. And he's a "bishop" (as he likes to keep reminding us).

Notes

the first instalment: Hogg, "Mr. Manchester Does Not Want to Be Called 'Mr.' & Other Gripes," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), January 2, 2021, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2021/01/mr-manchester-does-not-want-to-be.html.

a blog post that delved into his extremist, far-right nationalist leanings: Hogg, "Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), December 27, 2020, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2020/12/response-to-patrick-sean-manchesters.html.

"No, Hogg, you beg to differ, along with your Marxist chums": Manchester [The Cross & The Stake, pseud.], "No, Hogg, you beg to differ, along with your Marxist chums," Facebook, January 1, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/2181196232011832.

"Had Great Britain not declared war on Germany": Manchester, Manchester, "Detractors," "The struggle can take many turns and directions." — Kevin Chesham (Dec 2009) (blog), April 8, 2012, http://kevin-chesham.blogspot.com/2012/04/detractors.html.

"I AM UTTERLY AMAZED THAT MY OPPOSITION TO WAR": Manchester, "No, Hogg, you beg to differ." The comments follow an image a sieg heiling pig, with a Nazi armband, captioned "Pig Heil"—in what appears to be a childish dig at my surname—over another caption reading "The Anthony Hogg Nazi Smear [?] Campaign," offsided with a photo of me, used without my permission.

"BISHOP MANCHESTER IS NOBODY'S APOLOGIST": Manchester, "No, Hogg, you beg to differ."

a religion he practiced under the guise of "Lord Manchester": see plate captioned "Lord Manchester chargeant le poignard du sacrifice, au cours d’un rituel magique" in Jean-Paul Bourre, Messes rouges et romantisme noir (Nice: Editions Alain Lefeuvre, 1980).

a pic stolen from a Vamped article: Chapman, "Trip to Texas: The Vampire Studies Symposium and More," Vamped, April 9, 2016, https://vamped.org/2016/04/09/trip-to-texas-the-vampire-studies-symposium-and-more. I took the picture.

"You write about me in the most negative, misleading and distorted manner": Manchester, "You write about me in the most negative, misleading and distorted manner," January 1, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/photos/a.974803782651089/2181200215344767. Unless otherwise noted, subsequent quotes are derived from this post.

and, yes, even yours truly: For a more detailed discussion of the blog, see Hogg, "My Number One Fan," The Vampirologist (blog), April 30, 2014, https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/my-number-one-fan.

revealing himself to be the true author: Hogg, "Suspended from Posting to Facebook for Three Days," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), November 26, 2013, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2013/11/suspended-from-posting-to-facebook-for.html.

Mr. Manchester Does Not Want to Be Called "Mr." & Other Gripes—Part 1

A dramatic representation of Patrick Sean Manchester's recent series of complaints about the author. Picture: Disney–ABC Domestic Television via Mark Galer.

In the past week, I have addressed two hostile postings Patrick Sean Manchester, under the guise of "The Cross & The Stake," made about me on his Facebook group. Mr. Manchester has made the group so toxic toward me, that merely being a Facebook friend of mine is enough to warrant a ban.

But this hasn't stopped Mr. Manchester from monitoring my group and "responding" to my posts without citing them. It hasn't stopped him using my pictures without my permission. Evidentially, Mr. Manchester has strived to create an echo chamber intended to turn members against me. This, from a supposed Christian bishop.

In the latest post made to his group, Mr. Manchester has sidestepped any effort to make amends, apologise or seek forgiveness for his malignant behaviour—despite my standing offer for him to join my group—instead, he has decided to focus on a narcissistic gripe: the title people refer to him by.

"People, largely out of ignorance," moans Mr. Manchester, "sometimes address me using the title 'Mr.' I am not a 'Mr.' The correct title when addressing me is 'Bishop.' I am Bishop Manchester. I am not Mr. Manchester. I would appreciate the appropriate title being affixed when using one. I do not mind if no title is used, but using the wrong one is borderline offensive."

The timing of the post, and the other posts it follows (directed me) suggests this passive aggressive diatribe is also intended for yours truly. So, I will address the matter head on. The reason why I refer to Manchester as "Mr." is because I have as much respect for his title as he does: none.

My use of "Mr." is a protest against abuse. While I am far from a perfect Christian, I do take the responsibility of priestly roles seriously. He doesn't. And never has except as a title; one no different from dubbing himself "Lord" during his Satanist phase. Or when he dubbed himself "The Magister" when performing an occult ritual at the home of David Farrant in 1973. 

There was even the time he masqueraded as "The Commander" in 1977 where he pretended to be the leader of the imaginary League of Imperial Fascists, a neo-Nazi group in Barnet, before being exposed by journalist Frank Thorne. After being unraveled, Manchester claimed that the "Commander" was actually an Irish neo-Nazi named Terence Byrne (1942–1982)—a falsehood I exposed in my own sting, helped by photographs of the real Byrne obtained from Anti-Fascist Action Ireland.

In what should be a matter to be hashed out between him and a licensed therapist, Manchester clearly has a thing for representing himself in positions of authority without actually doing any serious legwork to earn the title. As far as I'm concerned, this includes his "bishop" title.

After all, Mr. Manchester does not operate anything recognisable as a church, with no identifiable priests operating under his wing; although he does boast of owning "three residences in the British Isles" and "three vehicles" with his only discernable income being his "bestselling" books—whose proceeds go to his church, according to their inscriptions.

The materialism of Mr. Manchester's lifestyle isn't the only sticking point; it's his constant falsehoods and baseless attacks. In the aforementioned posts written about me, Mr. Manchester falsely claimed I am

• a supporter of [Marxist] terrorism
• an atheist

He also claimed my Facebook group (of the same name as this blog) "exists for one purpose, ie to stalk and troll †Seán Manchester," despite the variety of topics covered. Previously, he's even insinuated I am homosexual (I'm not).

And it hasn't stopped there...

Notes

I have addressed two hostile postings: Hogg, "Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group," Did a Wamypr Walk in Highgate? (blog), December 27, 2020, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2020/12/response-to-patrick-sean-manchesters.html; Hogg, "Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group (II)," Did a Wamypr Walk in Highgate? (blog), December 28, 2020, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2020/12/response-to-patrick-sean-manchesters_28.html.

being a Facebook friend of mine: Manchester [The Cross & The Stake, pseud.], "IF ANYONE IS FOUND TO BE A FB FRIEND OF ANTHONY HOGG," Facebook, December 24, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/photos/a.974803782651089/2174647722666683.

"People, largely out of ignorance": Manchester [The Cross & The Stake, pseud.], "People, largely out of ignorance," Facebook, December 30, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/2180377815427007.

during his Satanist phase: see plate captioned "Lord Manchester chargeant le poignard du sacrifice, au cours d’un rituel magique" in Jean-Paul Bourre, Messes rouges et romantisme noir (Nice: Editions Alain Lefeuvre, 1980).

dubbed himself "The Magister": David Farrant, "The Mysterious Magister," David Farrant, accessed December 30, 2020, http://www.davidfarrant.org/cabinet-of-curiosities/the-mysterious-magister.

exposed by journalist Frank Thorne: Thorne, "We Unmask Phoney Nazis," Sunday People (London), October 9, 1977, 2–3.

a falsehood I exposed in my own sting: Hogg, "The Byrne Identity," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), December 19, 2013, http://dawwih.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/the-byrne-identity (site discontinued).

"three residences in the British Isles" and "three vehicles": quoted in Hogg, "The Hypocricies [sic] of Bishop Manchester," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), April 19, 2010, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2010/04/hypocricies-of-bishop-manchester.html.

he insinuated I am homosexual: Hogg, "Bishop Allows Derogatory, Hateful Comments on His Blog, but Censors Comments about His Own Deceitful Ways," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), February 8, 2010, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2010/02/bishop-allows-derogatory-hateful.html.

Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group (II)

Excerpt from ADL's page on the Celtic Cross, a symbol often associated with white supremacist groups. A version of this symbol is seen on an armband Patrick Sean Manchester is wearing in a photograph in his infamous "Nazi room." Picture: ADL.

In reference to my response to Mr. Patrick Sean Manchester's claims about me, in which I refuted his allegation that I support Marxist terrorist groups; the false claim that I am an atheist; a troll; the false representation of my Facebook group, Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks), existing to "to stalk and troll †Seán Manchester," Mr. Manchester could only muster a single reply (after copy-pasting my response, sans credit). Unfortunately, it wasn't an apology.

Instead, he sought to address my reference to Mr. Manchester's far-right leanings and Nazi fetishism, by countering: "* 'far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism: As documented by Kevin Chesham' who is himself a Neo-Nazi with close associations to other far right extremists, eg Kerry Bolton. It would certainly seem to be the case that Hogg can only find Nazis and hardcore Satanists to source smears of †Seán Manchester being a 'Nazi feteshist.' Risible!"

Manchester supplemented this allegation against former friend, Kevin Chesham, with a link to Manchester's blog, Kevin Chesham Q & A (https://kev-chesham.blogspot.com). But this attempt at deflection is somewhat questionable.

Apart from not denying his own far-right leanings and Nazi fetishism, the blog's content is questionable at best. For example, in a blog post attempting to refute Mr. Manchester having a room dedicated to Nazism, he states "The room was not a Nazi room. It was a storeroom for books and items that had accumulated down the decades. My library is on the ground floor. These books were in a room on the first floor. They comprised mostly history books, biographies and autobiographies which concentrated on the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s."

However, a cursory scan of the room's contents expose the falsity of this counter-claim: the wall is mounted with Nazi/fascist regalia and photographs, the shelves lined with books on vampirism, British history, folklore, Nazism (including a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf) and a few others. But most tellingly, a tabletop features a silver framed article cut-out: "One in Four Germans Admires the Nazis," Daily Mail (London), October 18, 2007. 

Another wall features a photograph of a young Mr. Manchester (wearing sunglasses) in an armband representing the Christian Nationalist Movement. The Celtic cross symbol in Manchester's armband is  associated with white supremacist groups. Indeed, Mr. Manchester's own pseudonym, "The Cross & the Stake" (the same name of a newsletter he used to edit) echoes The Cross and the Flag, a magazine published by the Christian Nationalist Crusade (my italics)—which promoted Holocaust denialism. 

I should also point out that Mr. Manchester has previously dabbled in Nazi apologetics himself. On discussing the devastation wrought by World War 2, Mr. Manchester saw fit to lay the blame not on the Nazis who initiated the war, but a place closer to home: "Had Great Britain not declared war on Germany in the wake of a conveniently manufactured agreement with Poland that was designed to be violated, perhaps the sixty million people killed, which was over 2.5% of the world population, might for the most part have survived? Hitler certainly did not want a war with Great Britain on whose Empire he modelled his Third Reich. My country's action resulted in the worst and deadliest military conflict in history. It should have been avoided by every measure available."

History begs to differ.

Notes

my response to Mr. Patrick Sean Manchester's claims about me: Hogg, "Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), December 27, 2020, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2020/12/response-to-patrick-sean-manchesters.html.

"* 'far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism": Manchester [pseud. The Cross & The Stake], "* 'far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism," Facebook, December 28, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/2177265469071575.

"The room was not a Nazi room": [Manchester], "Alleged 'Nazi' Room," Kevin Chesham Q & A (blog), May 30, 2019, https://kev-chesham.blogspot.com/2019/05/alleged-nazi-room.html.

a cursory scan of the room's contents: see photos in  "Kevin Chesham - The Autobiography - First Extract," Kevin Chesham - Triathlete, accessed December 27, 2020, http://kevchesham.blogspot.com/p/kevin-chesham-autobiography-first.html.

a tabletop features a silver framed article cut-out: Hogg, "Ja, mein Bischof!," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highate? (blog), March 5, 2012, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2012/03/ja-mein-bischof.html.

which promoted Holocaust denialism: Wikipedia, s.v. "Gerald L. K. Smith," last edited December 1, 2020, at 23:47, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_L._K._Smith.

Celtic cross symbol in Manchester's armband: "Let's Play Dressing Up!," Kevin Chesham - Triathlete, accessed December 28, 2020, http://kevchesham.blogspot.com/p/lets-play-dressing-up.html; and "Celtic Cross," ADL, accessed December 28, 2020, https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/celtic-cross.

"Had Great Britain not declared war on Germany": Manchester, "Detractors," "The struggle can take many turns and directions." — Kevin Chesham (Dec 2009) (blog), April 8, 2012, http://kevin-chesham.blogspot.com/2012/04/detractors.html. For further analysis of Mr. Manchester's use of racist sources and Nazi apologetics, see Hogg, "Rebutting the Nazi Room," Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (blog), April 9, 2012, https://dawwih.blogspot.com/2012/04/rebutting-nazi-room.html.

Response to Patrick Sean Manchester's Remarks About My Political and Religious Views, and Purpose of My Facebook Group

The author posing with Drew Sinton (left), former proprietor of The Haunted Bookshop, Melbourne, at The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, Melbourne, on September 21, 2019, posted on The Anthony Hogg Fan Group. Patrick Sean Manchester pinched this photograph for an overtly hostile diatribe against me on his Facebook group, The Cross & the Stake. Picture: Anthony Hogg/The Anthony Hogg Fan Group.

I would like to take this opportunity to address several remarks made about me on Patrick Sean Manchester's Facebook group, The Cross & the Stake.

Anthony Hogg supports the Marxist terrorist groups Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA, and, while unconvincingly pretending to be a non-conformist "Protestant," is actually an atheist sympathetic and supportive of Satanists, eg Drew Sinton and others. Sinton was a senior member of the Church of Satan, but resigned because it was not extreme enough. 

Lots to unpack here.

First, I don't support any terrorist groups. I support the Black Lives Matter movement and I support anti-fascist movements. Who wouldn't? Mr. Manchester, unfortunately, mischaracterizes both: neither Black Lives Matter or ANTIFA are "terrorist groups"; they are decentralised movements that, yes, have extremists within them. Like any movement. 

I suspect Mr. Manchester's remarks stem from his own extremist, far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism.

On the claim that I am atheist; that is false. I am a non-denominational Christian. Mr. Manchester would do well to remember Exodus 20:16: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

Regarding Mr. Sinton, Mr. Manchester has taken the matter out of context: the "support" I gave him were multiple efforts at averting the closure of The Haunted Bookshop, an establishment Mr. Sinton ran in Melbourne for twenty-two years (closing in 2019). I supported him for two main reasons: 

1. nostalgia: my non-fiction vampire book collection was stocked by many books purchased from Mr. Sinton's shop many years ago, even though I had since moved onto buying books mostly online
2. principle: after facing closure from higher rent, Mr. Sinton pursued another prospective shop front in Melbourne, only to be turned away on religious grounds (citing his his Satanist beliefs). In our home state, Victoria, turning away prospective tenants on religious groups is illegal. I'm Christian, but I'm also an advocate for social justice.

I know little of Mr. Sinton's background with the Church of Satan, so I'm not sure where Mr. Manchester has gotten that information from, or whether it is accurate. Regardless, unless Mr. Sinton was engaging in illegal activity, I don't see the relevance: I was trying to help prevent the closure of a Melbourne institution, not summoning the Dark Lord with him.

The other support I gave Mr. Sinton (represented in a photograph I did not give Mr. Manchester permission to reproduce) was attending "Tonight! Haunted Bookshop Wake + The Narcoleptor 12" launch," an event held at The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, Melbourne, on September 21, 2019 to commemorate the closure of the shop. 

Before the shop closed, I also bought a batch of books for my non-fiction vampire collection, for old time's sake and to give a little financial support for the shop's closure.

But why Mr. Manchester conflates support and Satanism to me may be a switch and bait tactic intended to distract group members from Mr. Manchester's own background with Satanism—for a "spell" in the 1970s, Mr. Manchester dubbed himself "Lord Manchester" and identified as a Satanist, as documented in Jean-Paul Bourre's Messes rouges et romantisme noir (1980).

Hogg of Melbourne, Australia, is also an infamous troll, as well as being a Facebook friend of Jamie Farrant, the latter being a member of Hogg's FB group Did A Wampyr Walk In Highgate, which exists for one purpose, ie to stalk and troll †Seán Manchester. The group's title is poached from a newspaper headline, 27 February 1970, featuring †Seán Manchester. Hogg was not born at the time of that headline. Jamie Farrant would have been less than three years' old when it was published.

While it's true I have a reputation as a "troll" in some circles (specifically among people who's views on vampirism and politics I have criticised), the remaining portion of Mr. Manchester's post is a pitiful attempt at orchestrating a conspiracy.

I am a Facebook friend of Jamie Farrant, the late David Farrant's son, but his membership on my group—and Mr. Manchester's characterisation of the group itself—is patently false. 

My Facebook group, Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate? (https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks), is an offshoot of my blog of the same name (the one you're reading now). Its intent is the same as this blog's: to provide a neutral platform for those interested in the Highgate Vampire case, and to critically examine and discuss the events documented and claims made by people associated with it. Indeed, I have invited Mr. Manchester to join on multiple occasions—an offer that does not extend to me. 

In fact, Mr. Manchester claims that not only am I banned from his Facebook groups (which doesn't stop him from repeatedly making hostile, negative remarks about me), but anyone who is also my friend on Facebook is also banned—further evidence of Mr. Manchester's extremist leanings.

As to the group's/blog's title it is, indeed, a reference to the headline article, "Does a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?," Hampstead & Highgate Express, February 27, 1970. Which, sadly, is only one of two accurate statements made in the post. 

The other accurate statement is the timeframe of my birth; it is true I was not born at the time the event was reported, but I also wasn't born when the Titanic sunk. That doesn't stop me from being aware of it or commenting on it. Indeed, Mr. Manchester does not seem to level this criticism on people who believe his claims about hunting a vampire at Highgate Cemetery (for which there is no reliable evidence), suggesting this reference was intended to be an attempt at undermining my research and commentary on the case, but only succeeds as an own goal.

Notes

several remarks made about me on Patrick Sean Manchester's Facebook group: Manchester [pseud. The Cross & The Stake], "Anthony Hogg supports the Marxist terrorist groups," Facebook, December 24, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/2173670736097715.

neither Black Lives Matter or ANTIFA are "terrorist groups": See Ashley Cole, "Black Lives Matter: Decentralised Leadership and the Problems of Online Organising," The Conversation, July 15, 2020, https://theconversation.com/black-lives-matter-decentralised-leadership-and-the-problems-of-online-organising-140897; and Stanislav Vysotsky, "What – or Who – Is Antifa?," The Conversation, June 9, 2020, https://theconversation.com/what-or-who-is-antifa-140147.

far-right nationalist leanings and Nazi fetishism: As documented in "Kevin Chesham - The Autobiography - First Extract," Kevin Chesham - Triathlete, accessed December 27, 2020, http://kevchesham.blogspot.com/p/kevin-chesham-autobiography-first.html.

turning away prospective tenants on religious groups is illegal: For further information on this case, see Josephine Winter, "Melbourne’s Haunted Bookshop Lease Not Renewed Because of Landlord’s ‘Spiritual Beliefs,’” Wild Hunt, July 11, 2019, https://wildhunt.org/2019/07/melbournes-haunted-bookshop-lease-not-renewed-because-of-landlords-spiritual-beliefs.html.

an event held at The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar: Hogg, "Went to Tonight! Haunted Bookshop Wake + The Narcoleptor 12" launch yesterday," Facebook, September 22, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/groups/AnthonyHogg/permalink/2410407639202469. This is the post Mr. Manchester took the photo from, sans credit.

but anyone who is also my friend on Facebook is also banned: Manchester [pseud. The Cross & The Stake], "IF ANYONE IS FOUND TO BE A FB FRIEND OF ANTHONY HOGG," Facebook, December 25, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VampireResearchSociety/posts/2174647759333346.

for which there is no reliable evidence: Erin Chapman, "5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn't Walk in Highate," Vamped, February 27, 2015, https://vamped.org/2015/02/27/5-reasons-why-a-wampyr-didnt-walk-in-highgate-cemetery.

Death Threats and Stalking and Vampiroids—Oh My!

Sylvia Raven Nagel aka Sylvia Maria Capringo aka Lady S. Raven Nagel, a self-identified witch and vampire who has stalked me for several years, made multiple death threats against me and even posted pictures of what she thought was my house—in the hope that I be bashed or murdered. Patrick Sean Manchester has shared the same photos on various blogs and Facebook groups. Seen here after a 1998 arrest. Picture: The Forrest Gump of Witchcraft.

On the DAWWIH Facebook group, I recently discussed a member of Angie May Watkins' group, Sylvia Raven Nagel, making death threats against me. Instead of evicting Nagel from her group, Watkins evicted me instead.

Nagel, who identifies as a vampire, has obviously seen my post mentioning her and responded with this:

Hello little troll!! I made tons of death threats. I’m still waiting for you, Tania Liddle and others to bring International charges against me, over comments made about you!! You really think that the authority of law gives two shits about you or me? Apparently so, if after all these years you just HAD to throw that line in. 😂😂😂 and it seems that your still running in fear. I can’t tag you to this post, it’s a public post, can’t get you connected at all. Those settings are on your end dumbass Troll!! Wait until I go unto the cloud I have more pictures to take a trip down memory lane with you. 😂😂😂 No worries someone will gladly let you know this is here. An you won’t have to search for pictures. I will tag the ones Kate [Gallwey] sent to me all those years ago. I believe Lady CG got a hold of them some how and they were eventually given to me, because I fear nothing or no one. Damn right I will post it. An now again!! Wimpy Vampirologist!! 😂😂😂 just put a plastic bag over your head and breathe deeply. That will help solve the dumb ass you are. LOL

Nagel accompanied this post with a series of overhead shots of someone's house. I'm not sure whose house it is, but it's not mine.

For added clarity, Nagel's post refers to two other self-identified vampires: Kate Gallwey (Being a Psychic Vampire, self-pub., CreateSpace, 2015) and Barbara Kammerer aka "Lady CG" (Practical Vampyrism for Modern Vampyres, self-pub., Lulu, 2005).

In 2016, both colluded to stalk me and share my personal information online so that I may befall physical harm or death from irate self-identified vampires—because I have expressed skepticism at their claim to be vampires. Indeed, Gallwey claimed to be be acting under the auspices of a shadowy organisation called Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC) (http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/vvc.html).

Although Gallwey's claim was denied by the website's administrator, Merticus, Gallwey's membership was unaffected.

Interestingly, Patrick Sean Manchester, has shared the same photos, via Nagel, on his Facebook groups and blogs. This, despite his own pronouncements on self-identified vampires like Nagel:

Some [vampiroids] actually believe themselves to be vampires, but, of course, they are not. How could they be when the definition of a vampire, upon examination, is revealed to be a dead body that issues forth from its tomb in the night to quaff the warm blood of the living, whereby it is nourished and preserved? Vampiroids, therefore, cannot be re-animated corpses with an awful supernatural existence beyond the grave. People who either believe themselves to be vampires, or want to become vampires and affect what they construe to be vampiristic lifestyles, even when this is taken to extremes, are invariably vampiroids.
.
But it is not even as simple as that because there are various categories of vampiroid, ranging from harmless poseurs to dangerous psychopaths. The former may be benign, but the latter are capable of murder. Thus the vampiroid is not a supernatural being, but a human who embraces what he or she assumes to be a lifestyle commensurate with vampirism as largely depicted in fictional films and literature. Whereas the true vampire partakes of the dark natures and possesses the terrible qualities of both apparition and demon, assuming the form of a dead body to suck the blood of the living.

So, what is Manchester, a self-professed "vampire hunter," and alleged bishop, doing playing along with a "vampiroid" (his words) and one who clearly fits Manchester's "dangerous psychopath" category? Sounds like collusion to me.

Now, when these photos were shared several years ago via the method Nagel described, I did pretend they were mine—to throw Manchester, and the other stalkers involved, off the scent. After all, would you want them knowing where you live?

But, clearly, that was a mistake on my part and I shouldn't have done it. Which is why I told them, multiple times, it wasn't my residence.

That hasn't stopped them from sharing these images, though.

Notes

Instead of evicting Nagel from her group, Watkins evicted me instead: Anthony Hogg, "My former friend . . .," Facebook, May 30, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/groups/awampyrwalks/permalink/10163819392550494. Watkins' group is HIGHGATE! HIGHGATE! HIGHGATE!. I am uncertain if it's still active.

"Hello little troll!": Nagel, "Hello little troll!!," Facebook, May 30, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/sravennagel/posts/3537745086239121.

Although Gallwey's claim was denied by the website's administrator: See Anthony Hogg, "How the VVC Handled a Complaint About Members Cyberstalking Me," Facebook, February 9, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.2735341733219344&type=3.

Patrick Sean Manchester, has shared the same photos, via Nagel, on his Facebook groups and blogs: An example can be found in Manchester [FoBSM, pseud.], "Hogg's Trolling Days Are Numbered," Portals to the Truth (blog), October 31, 2016, https://fobsm.blogspot.com/2016/10/hoggs-trolling-days-are-numbered.html.

Some [vampiroids] actually believe themselves to be vampires: Patrick Sean Manchester [Vampirologist, pseud.], "Vampiroidism aka False Vampirism," Vampire Research Society (blog), February 21, 2009, http://vampireresearchsociety.blogspot.com/2009/02/vampiroidism-aka-false-vampirism.html.

Files

Anthony Hogg, "Sylvia Raven Nagel Admits to Death Threats Against Anthony Hogg, Facebook, May 30, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/download/preview/1605658612923044 (PDF).

Staking the Highgate Vampire

Manchester's story is just as theatrical and filled holes. Illustration from a 1917 issue of Punch. (Photo: Yankee Skeptic)

I'm very pleased with the outcome of Erin Chapman's "5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn't Walk in Highgate" (Feb. 27, 2015): it was Vamped's most popular post for March and it's currently our site's second-most commented post.

What you probably didn't know, is that the article took three months to write; there were many facts to confirm in order to bring a watertight case against Manchester's erroneous claims about the Highgate Vampire's movements in the cemetery. That's why we can conclusively say: he got it all wrong.

But that article, itself, was actually a spin-off: there was much more we unearthed. So much, we had to refine the entire article's final subject because it wasn't always intended to specifically focus on Manchester's topographical errors. For more on the "making of," read Erin's blog post "Cemetery Logistics: How I Tracked the Highgate Vampire" (April 4, 2015).

Her post doesn't just present the behind-the-scenes story of writing that article; you'll also see and appreciate the amount of work that went into it—and maybe pick up a few pointers along the way.

I'm also happy to report that our other findings won't be staying on the cutting room floor: there's going to be a sequel to "5 Reasons," so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, happy digging!

Outfoxing the Vampire Hunter

Don't worry, Basil's still with us. (Photo: City Varieties)

Forty five years ago, Sean Manchester and David Farrant made the Hampstead & Highgate Express's front page with a question readers didn't even know they'd asked: "Why Do the Foxes Die?" (March 6, 1970).

That question will be explored further in an upcoming article for my website, Vamped, which also features an article Erin Chapman and I worked on together called: "5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn't Walk in Highgate" (Feb. 27, 2015).

In it, Erin and I discovered that Manchester had little to no clue about Highgate Cemetery's geography, which means he's either a grossly incompetent investigator (at the time, he was supposedly President of the British Occult Society), or a grossly incompetent fraud who couldn't get his story straight. Take your pick.

Coincidentally, the article was finished in time for the 45th anniversary of Manchester broadcasting his vampire theory through the Hampstead & Highgate Express's cover story: "Does a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?" (Feb. 27, 1970).

We can count that date as the Highgate Vampire's birthday; after all, there was no reliable record of any vampire hauntings in the cemetery prior that date. Which I guess also makes Manchester its daddy. They certainly look alike, but that might not be so coincidental.

Podcast radio host, Don Ecker, relates the following account told to him by an unidentified person, told by another unidentified person, who knew the "in's and out's" of the case, explaining how Manchester was able to create the "decomposing vampire" shots featured in his 1985 book, The Highgate Vampire and the 1991 revised edition (Ecker n.d., [20–1]):

Well David [Farrant] has maintained all along that it's Manchester himself under the make up, but he didn't know how the effect was created. This new witness explained that when he had asked Manchester back in the 70's with a lot of praise for the effect, Manchester explained how he did it. Now it's important that you realize that Manchester had a photographic studio at the time; something he brags about given the chance and a knowledge of photography.

The film is basically time lapse photography played in reverse.
Manchester had a watery flour mixture on his face and a heater & fan set up nearby.The heat source melted the mixture and the fan blew it off of his face.Once the time lapse photography was finished, the effect was played in reverse.

As the frame rate was so stilted, you wouldn't be able to see the blow off effect but simply a very basic face morph.

It is a set a 3 pictures from his home movie, that made their way into his book and on his own website.
3 very grainy pictures from someone who is supposed to be a professional photographer. The reason that they are so small, is that blowing up a cine film still, would leave too many artifacts in frame that would give the game away as to their origin.

It's also why he refuses to allow people to host these pictures and threatens them with legal action (copyright) if they do not remove them from their websites.

Chilling Effects, a website that houses online copyright notices, testifies to Manchester's proclivity for reporting people either under his own name, or the name of his vanity publisher, Gothic Press. Yet Manchester sees no double standard flagrantly stealing creative works from other people, as his penchant for plagiarism reveals.

In the meantime, can view a version of the photos from Manchester's website, which he's partially obscured with terribly distorted Photoshop effects ("Highgate Vampire Picture Gallery" n.d.).

I'd share the image itself here, but Manchester's particularly keen on suppressing criticism, as demonstrated by his recent actions against Erin Chapman's article "Seeking Vampires in London" (Nov. 16, 2014), where he contacted my website's host and forced the removal of two photos that prove he had misidentified two Highgate Cemetery locations. Erin and I have challenged Manchester's claim on "fair use" grounds (Hogg 2014).

Fair use gives you "the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords," which is considered "fair" under certain contexts "such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research" (U.S. Copyright Office n.d.)

Manchester also recently tried to force Faustian Circle, who writes a blog of the same name, to remove two posts from his site after Manchester had been rumbled by commentators for using his "B.O.S." alias and in the wake of a series of incriminating phone transcripts between Manchester and Farrant, which were posted by Farrant on the blog. Faustian Circle wrote (2015):

We have received a message from Sean Manchester requesting that we remove both articles: "THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE HUNTERS" and "THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE HUNTERS: READER'S COMMENTS - PART 2".

We replied: "Wouldn't it be better to respond to the articles and comments about yourself in the comments section of the articles, as you or your representative 'B.O.S.' (British Occult Society) have done so far? In the interests of free speech and debate we are extremely reluctant to remove the articles in question."

If the articles are removed due to a DNS action via the internet, readers of this blog will know why.

Further transcripts have followed, Sean "B.O.S." Manchester has not added any further comments, clearly crestfallen that his usual suppressive tactics have not worked this time. Score one for free speech!

References

Chapman, Erin. 2014. "Seeking Vampires in London." Vamped (blog), Nov. 16. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://vamped.org/2014/11/16/seeking-vampires-in-london/.

———. 2015. "5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn't Walk in Highgate." Vamped (blog), Feb. 27. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://vamped.org/2015/02/27/5-reasons-why-a-wampyr-didnt-walk-in-highgate-cemetery/.

Ecker, Don. n.d. "My Inquiry into the Highgate Vampire Case." The Paracast. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://www.theparacast.com/darkmatters/borisdocument.pdf.

Faustian Circle. 2015. Comment on "The Highgate Vampire Hunters: Reader's Comments - Part 2," by Faustian Circle, February 17, 2015 at 13:53. The Faustian Circle, Feb. 4. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://faustiancircle.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/the-highgate-vampire-hunters-readers.html?showComment=1424210004133#c5870166592858357355.

"Highgate Vampire Picture Gallery." n.d. English Gothic. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://www.gothicpress.freeserve.co.uk/Highgate%20Vampire%20Picture.htm.

Hogg, Anthony. 2014. "'Vampire Hunter' Hammers Stake Through Article." Vamped (blog), Nov. 27. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://vamped.org/2014/11/27/vampire-hunter-hammers-stake-through-article/.

U.S. Copyright Office. n.d. "Fair Use." Copyright.gov, reviewed June 2012. Accessed March 6, 2015. http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.

Shady Pagan Shenanigans?

On Friday, December 13, 1973, David Farrant and John Pope were arrested at an abandoned neo-gothic mansion in Crouch End locally known as the "House of Dracula." An article the week before spoke of "strange goings-on at night and mysterious noises and flickering lights in upper windows." It goes on to mention:

Later this week, Highgate Police appealed to anyone who sees anything suspicious in the deserted house or people entering, particularly at night, to call them. They promise they will act on the information immediately. (Simpson 1973)

Interestingly, Farrant mentions "a series of 'mysterious witchcraft ceremonies' that took place in a deserted gothic mansion house in Crouch End, North London" that "began to unnerve the local residents." He adds that he and another coven member [John Pope], were there "conducting a magickal ceremony", specifically, a "Ritual to summon the nature God Pan" (Farrant n.d.). Elsewhere, he explains the mysterious "flickering lights" and the reason for their arrest:

We used a biscuit tin to make a small fire for heat and light, and there was an old people’s home opposite the house. I am not sure if they saw the flickering lights, or if the police had been tipped off, but all of a sudden there was a stampede coming up the stairs and the police burst in and charged me with arson. (quoted in Gough n.d.)

The charges didn't stick, though. Farrant and Pope "were later acquitted by High Court Judge Bruce Campbell, but warned to be careful in future as they were certainly acting in a manner that could have provided unwanted police attention." (Farrant n.d.)

What Farrant doesn't mention in those passages is that someone else accompanied their summoning rites—a woman Sean Manchester identifies as "Deborah Davis - a Californian blues singer . . . high on cocaine" who "did not participate in the third ritual because she was "so petrified by the past attempt that she refused to enter the house again."" (2009a). His blog post features a photograph of the trio, captioned "Farrant (centre) with Deborah Davis and Pope at the demon-raising ritual." (Manchester 2009a)

In that shot, they're clothed, but apparently, nudity was "essential" to the ritual, according to Farrant. "Yet Pope confirms that throughout these rituals Farrant failed to disrobe. Pope was not so coy and stood completely naked throughout the ceremony." (Manchester 2009a) Indeed, other pictures of the event in Manchester's blog feature Pope in the buff and Farrant fully-clothed. (Manchester 2009b)

So with Farrant conducting the ceremony and Pope getting his kit off for the cause, why did they need Davis? And for that matter, if all three were photographed while seated who was taking the photos? Pope recently had some interesting things to say about the event, Davis' presence there and the identity of the photographer, on my Facebook group, "Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?" On June 12, 2014, 9:08pm, he said:

i was doing a rite from crowleys [sic] book to conjur [sic] up pan but I went into trance instead., I didf [sic] banish it after. but I think we had not started when Police arived [sic]. we had hyme [sic] to pan and banishing rite of the pentergram [sic]. it was all painted with crowlian [sic] symbols. I dont [sic] know for sure who did that. I never felt any thing sinnister [sic] there. but my rituals may have left something, of the pull of the other side. as gateway to other realms was opened.

I sought further clarification from Pope and decided to address a rumour I'd heard about the photographer's identity (June 12, 2014, 9:010pm):

The gist of the story seems to be that the place was already haunted and that's why you and David were there in the first place. Also, there was a lady with you too. Oh, and apparently Manchester photographed the ritual. Is that right?

Pope responded and added something that caught me off guard (June 13, 2014, 8:52pm):

yes a french women friend of davids [sic], we were hopeing [sic] for soe [sic] fun but she was not up for it, I forget here name, she looked like a famouse [sic] acrtess [sic].

He added (June 13, 2014, 9:00pm):

it was a funny case cops in court were asked by jury for evidence, and they said look at the photos jury said we understood house was bombed in war are you saying mr pope and farrent [sic] burnt it down, cops screamed just look at flameing [sic] photo, ie [sic] burnt out house, hence we found not guilty.

I wanted John to elaborate a little on certain things, so I asked (June 14, 2014, 12:25am):

"We were hoping for some fun" - are you saying you guys had her there, not so much to play an active role in the ceremony, so much as to get a "bit" from her? The tale of the vampire there seems mainly to have come from its nickname, "The House of Dracula." The Hornsey Journal report doesn't actually mention any vampiric activity in it, but something more akin to a standard haunting.

Pope later provided the clincher (June 20, 2014, 9:17pm):

It's not the first time I've been made aware of a sordid angle to Farrant's rituals (Hogg 2012), so I can't say I'm too surprised by Pope's claim.

Pope's reference to "a french women friend of davids" in lieu of the "Californian blues singer" Manchester mentions is possibly muddled,¹ but his later reference to "a full frontal of me sqoting [sic] holding a knife and my weding [sic] tacvkle [sic] for all to see" (June 23, 2014, 10:36pm) during the event is backed up by a photograph Manchester captioned "John Pope during a demon raising ritual in which Farrant participated" on his blog (2009b)—which indeed shows a nude Pope holding a knife to his rude bits.

So what of the photographer? Manchester's blog features a picture he's captioned "Pope and Farrant summon dark forces in December 1973" (Manchester 2009b), but the telling caption comes from the picture, itself, which has actually been lifted from an issue of City Limits. 

The caption reads "Farrant (facing camera) in the picture"—but the rest of the caption has been conveniently blurred out. That's because the original reads: "Farrant (facing camera) in the picture sent in by his rival"; his rival, of course, being Manchester.

Notes

¹ Though I have asked him for further clarity: "So, in short - what begins as a story of summoning Pan, turns out to be a story of nookie, with Manchester happily snapping away in yet another publicity stunt. Fair assessment, John?" (June 24, 2014, 7:24am) and "Oh, and are you sure the lady was French?" (June 24, 2014, 10:44pm)

References

Farrant, David. n.d. "What Goes on at the ‘House of Dracula’? – Hornsey Journal, Dec 7th 1973." David Farrant - Psychic Investigator. Accessed June 24, 2014. http://davidfarrant.org/vintage-press-reports/what-goes-on-at-the-house-of-dracula-hornsey-journal-dec-7th-1973/.

Gough, Andrew. n.d. "17 Questions: David Farrant." Andrew Gough's Arcadia. Accessed June 24, 2014. http://andrewgough.co.uk/17q_farrant.html.

Hogg, Anthony. 2012. "The American Magazine." Did a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?, February 8. Accessed June 24, 2014. http://dawwih.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/american-magazine.html.

Manchester, Sean. [B.O.S., pseud.]. 2009a. "Hymn to Pan." In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire:  The Life of a Lack-lustre Luciferian Layabout, February 13. Accessed June 24, 2014. http://thehighgatevampire.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/one.html.

———. 2009b. "Source of Falsification." In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire:  The Life of a Lack-lustre Luciferian Layabout, February 13. Accessed June 24, 2014. http://thehighgatevampire.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/five.html.

Simpson, Roger. 1973. "What Goes on at the 'House of Dracula'?" Hornsey Journal, December 7.