Seán Manchester's comment on Sarah Bartlett's Supernatural:
On August 19th I wrote the following correspondence to Sarah Bartlett. She has not responded:
Dear Sarah Bartlett,
Allow me to introduce myself: I am the author of The Highgate Vampire about which dozens of documentary films have been made. I am uncertain as to whether you read my book before writing your entry about Highgate Cemetery (page 56) in Supernatural (2014), but somehow I doubt it.
The fact is that almost everything in your entry is incorrectly attributed and erroneous. I thought I should contact you first.
I would prefer, if you will permit me, to outline the factual inaccuracies in your book's entry via e-mail, as the list is quite comprehensive; failing which I shall have to employ this method.
I am naturally unhappy with so much of what I did four and a half decades ago being wrongly attributed to somebody else. How it was ever possible is rather difficult to imagine, as the person in question would certainly deny and dismiss all that is alleged in his name.
I shall await your response (hopefully with an e-mail address) before continuing. Then we can proceed to sort fact from fiction.
Sincerely,
†Seán Manchester
Allow me to introduce myself: I am the author of The Highgate Vampire about which dozens of documentary films have been made. I am uncertain as to whether you read my book before writing your entry about Highgate Cemetery (page 56) in Supernatural (2014), but somehow I doubt it.
The fact is that almost everything in your entry is incorrectly attributed and erroneous. I thought I should contact you first.
I would prefer, if you will permit me, to outline the factual inaccuracies in your book's entry via e-mail, as the list is quite comprehensive; failing which I shall have to employ this method.
I am naturally unhappy with so much of what I did four and a half decades ago being wrongly attributed to somebody else. How it was ever possible is rather difficult to imagine, as the person in question would certainly deny and dismiss all that is alleged in his name.
I shall await your response (hopefully with an e-mail address) before continuing. Then we can proceed to sort fact from fiction.
Sincerely,
†Seán Manchester
Sarah Bartlett is unlikely to explain her actions because there is no explanation.
ReplyDeleteThe other party, meanwhile, was prompted to make the following comment in which he unconvincingly implies that Sarah Bartlett sent him a complimentary copy of her book:
"Another new book titled Supernatural: The World Guide to Mysterious Places was sent to me by airmail a week and a half or so ago. It was written by Sarah Bartlett, an occult author who these days lives in France. I was surprised to read Sarah’s little joke within the pages, and in all the many books I have been sent which mention myself in relation to the Highgate ‘vampire’ case I have to say that I have never read ONE which manages to get things so spectacularly wrong." - David Farrant (24 February 2014)
Farrant then quoted himself, albeit falsely attributing it to somebody else, with a phrase he has been found using a great many times over the decades in the past:
"The only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity!"
Seán Manchester succinctly deals with this notion where occultists are concerned:
"According to the tenets of occultism, the practitioner is obliged to possess knowledge, daring, volition and silence. ... Silence forbids any disclosures to those who have not reached the practitioner's level; it especially prohibits the exhibition of magic. The braggart, therefore, cannot be a bona fide ritual magician. ... A genuine occultist, moreover, would never reveal that he is a practitioner to those outside the occult environment in which he operates. ... Hence, a true adept of magic, or the arcane, would shun publicity at all times. These preconditions certainly disqualify [John] Pope, [Jean-Paul] Bourre and [David] Farrant."
(The Vampire Hunter's Handbook: A Concise Vampirological Guide, Gothic Press, 1997, page 66)