Forty-four Years On ...

CHAT #44 (30 October 2014, pages 48-49)

Over 44 years since the case went public and still they get it wrong!

Seán Manchester's comment on Natasha Wynarczyk's article:

"I really cannot understand why Chat magazine has to mention me when it gets so much wrong. Natasha Wynarczyk did not contact me and certainly did not quote accurately from my book The Highgate Vampire (which, of course, she does not mention), assumIng, that is, she has ever read it in the first place, which I seriously doubt. Unfortunately, wrong attributions and unnecessary inaccuracies permeate the article from start to finish.

"There is a picture of a crucifix and stake which are part of a vast collection of vampirological accoutrements held by me (the Stock Photo archive would have identified this fact, but Chat magazine did not for some mysterious reason) which was published alongside and across an image of David Farrant who is captioned 'vampire expert' when he is nothing of the sort and, moreover, does not claim any expertise in that subject.

"I am accused of 'decrying' Farrant's 'expertise' which is palpable nonsense. What 'expertise,' one might wonder? Farrant once claimed to be a witch and is nowadays closer to an atheist/agnostic. I am a traditionalist and have always held strong Christian beliefs. As we each subscribe to entirely different belief systems, his modus operandi and mine are entirely different. He does not believe in the existence of vampires, something he makes very clear on his website and in interviews he has given down the years. Yet he is apparently a 'vampire expert.'

"Dates and descriptions of alleged incidents and facts are all over the place in Natasha Wynarczyk's sensationalist article, rendering it no more than entertainment for Hallowe'en, albeit misinforming readers of what really occurred, and little else. I would very much rather future reference to me be omitted, but we know that is just not going to happen. It would be a little difficult in view of the fact that I am the person who led the investigation into the case and finally exorcised the vampiric entity just over forty years ago (not mentioned, of course, in Wynarczyk's article). The bottom line is that I steer clear of publicity, whereas the other fellow does not. Thus Chat is content to cobble together whatever they can lay their hands on without a care for the facts, resulting in the travesty we end up with in Natasha Wynarczyk's article."