President and Founder of the Society

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"On the morning of 27 February 1970 I awoke and found myself famous due to a banner headline across the newspapers — 'Does A Wampyr Walk In Highgate?' — quickly followed by appearances on television and in a host of periodicals." — Seán Manchester, (The Highgate Vampire, page 15)

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Seán Manchester had informed the public on 27 February 1970 that demonic disturbances and manifestations in the vicinity of Highgate Cemetery were vampiric. Shortly afterwards he appeared on television on 13 March 1970 to repeat his theory. The suspected tomb was located and an exorcism performed in August 1970. This proved ineffective as the hauntings and animal deaths continued. Indeed, they multiplied. All manner of people were by now jumping on the bandwagon; including film-makers, rock musicians and sundry publicity-seekers. Most were frightened off. Some who interloped became fascinated by the black arts with disastrous consequences. In the meantime, Seán Manchester and his colleagues pursued the principal source of the contagion at Highgate until it was properly exorcised in the ancient and approved manner. It was a nightmare journey which took them into a nether region inhabited by terrifying corporeal manifestations.

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“Ever since I became aware that Highgate Cemetery was the reputed haunt of a vampire, the investigations and activities of Seán Manchester commanded my attention. I became convinced that, more than anyone else, he knew the full story of the Highgate Vampire.” — Peter Underwood, The Ghost Club Society, London, England“

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I am very impressed by the body of scholarship you have created. Seán Manchester is undoubtedly the father of modern vampirological research.” — John Godl, paranormal researcher and writer, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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“Seán Manchester is the most celebrated vampirologist of the twentieth century.” — Shaun Marin, reviewer and sub-editor, Encounters magazine, England

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“A most interesting and useful addition to the literature of the subject.” — Reverend Basil Youdell, Literary Editor, Orthodox News, Christ the Saviour, Woolwich, England

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“The Highgate Vampire will certainly be read in a hundred years time, two hundred years time, three hundred years time — in short, for as long as mankind is interested in the supernatural. It has the most genuine power to grip. Once you have started to read it, it is virtually impossible to put it down.” — Lyndall Mack (aka Jennie Gray), Udolpho (magazine of the Gothic Society), Chislehurst, Kent, England

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“Seán Manchester, the most authentic vampire hunter in the world today, penetrated the very heart of the mystery whose necrogenic setting has such impressionistic power that within the shades of dark ebon the most disbelieving sceptic will witness something spectral in the ghostly whiteness of moonbeams shining on marble tombs.” — Devendra P Varma, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

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“Seán Manchester is, unsurprisingly, very well read in both classical and more recent sources on vampires and vampirism, and cites them with great authority.” — Joe McNally, contributing editor, Fortean Times magazine, England

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“His lectures at universities and organisations led to my inviting him to address members of the Ghost Club Society which he duly did. We met at that time at the Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury and the President of the Vampire Research Society arrived, suitably attired, and gave a memorable and in many ways remarkable lecture. Certainly we had had nothing like it before and have never had anything like it since; not a few members at the crowded meeting revised their opinion on vampires and vampirism after that evening.” — Peter Underwood, President, The Ghost Club Society, London, England

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“One of the most notable figures to visit the haunted site under cover of darkness was Seán Manchester, who has been called one of Britain’s foremost vampire hunters and exorcists.” — Craig Miller, associate editor, Fate magazine, Minnesota, USA

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“I believe Seán Manchester is this country’s only genuine vampirologist.” — Nicole Lampert, journalist, features department, The Sun newspaper, London, England

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“Seán Manchester doesn’t just acknowledge the possibility; he knows that vampires exist.” — Stephen Jarvis, author and researcher of strange pursuits, England

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“First thrust into the public eye in the Seventies after a spate of gruesome reports about North London’s Highgate Cemetery, Seán Manchester is now acknowledged as a serious vampirologist with a God-given mission.” — Frances Hubbard, features’ writer, IPC magazines, London, England
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“Seán Manchester has been called in to investigate ghoulish visitations at former Liberal leader David Steel’s Scottish castle and an old estate in Yorkshire where a dark, demonic spook is terrifying locals.” — Pam Bentley, features’ writer, Sunday magazine, London, England
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“Seán Manchester has spent a significant proportion of his life pursuing reports of vampiric and necromantic activity. His visceral account of his pursuit and termination of a vampire he discovered entombed in Highgate Cemetery’s Egyptian columbarium in the ‘70s, The Highgate Vampire, even includes a photograph of the staked beast in its death-throes.” — Stevan Keane, features’ writer, City Limits magazine, London, England
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“The shadow of a stone angel stole across Seán Manchester’s face as he laid out the tools of his trade: old Italianate crucifixes, holy water ... Traditional instruments of protection. … Risking life and soul is all part of a night’s work for Manchester … the founding president of the Vampire Research Society.” — Beverley d’Silva, features’ writer, Sunday Times magazine, London, England

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“Seán Manchester, billed as ‘Vampirologist and Exorcist,’ pops up in a graveyard [on London Weekend Television’s South Bank Show] with groovy long hair and crucifix of cinematic proportions.” — Suzy Feay, sub-editor, reviewer and critic, Time Out magazine, London, England
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“Seán Manchester’s Vampire Research Society grew out of his previous leadership role in an occult investigation bureau. The society investigates all aspects of ‘supernatural vampire phenomena,’ a task that has led to a variety of research projects, including the famous Highgate Vampire.” — J Gordon Melton, chronicler of vampire topics, Santa Barbara, USA

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Gerald Isaaman, editor of the Hampstead & Highgate Express in those far off distant days, recently recounted his meeting with Seán Manchester in February 1970: "Manchester arrived at the office wearing a black cloak lined with scarlet silk and carrying a cane." He forgot to mention the top hat and tails that were included with the opera cloak and cane. There was also an accompanying young lady, also not mentioned, who was equally formally-attired. It was late in the afternoon and Seán Manchester had no idea how long the interview would take. He and his lady friend were dressed ready to go on to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from the Hampstead offices of the Hampstead & Highgate Express. He frequently attended the opera in those days and continued to do so whilst he lived in London. The old (now ex-) editor reminisced in Jauary 2009:

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"The story of the Highgate Vampire [in a recently published book about London's folklore] is attributed to 1970 reports in the Ham & High, where I was then the editor. It recalled the fantastic events of a few months that year and the following one, which culminated in a TV programme inviting people to decide for themselves what was going on. That resulted in three hundred people, allegedly armed with home-made stakes and Christian crosses, storming the cemetery that night to kill the demon vampire lurking among the decaying tombs."
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The mass vampire hunt at Highgate Cemetery on 13 March 1970, following reports in local and national newspapers, plus a television interview with various witnesses earlier that evening on British television, led to a spate of amateur vampire hunters inflicting themselves on Highgate Cemetery with home-made stakes, crosses, garlic, holy water, but very little knowledge about how to deal with the suspected undead if they encountered it. The president of the Vampire Research Society had made an appeal on the Today programme at 6.00pm to request the public not to get involved, nor put into jeopardy the investigation already in progress. Not everyone heeded his words. Over the following months a wide variety of independent vampire hunters descended on the graveyard — only to be frightened off by its eerie atmosphere and what they believed might have been the vampire. Some were quickly arrested by police patrolling the area. The public were advised that a full-scale investigation was taking place. Individual efforts by those merely seeking thrills, however, served only to endanger all concerned and frustrate the official hunt.

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Simon Wiles and John White armed themselves with a crucifix and a sharpened stake, and set off to see if they could locate the vampire’s tomb. Like others who followed in their wake, they were arrested by police who found their rucksack and its contents: an eight inch long wooden stake, sharpened to a point. White later explained at Clerkenwell Court: “Legend has it that if one meets a vampire, one drives a stake through its heart.” He was wearing a crucifix round his neck and Wiles had one in his pocket. They were eventually discharged.

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Thus began a trend. A 25-year-old history teacher from Billericay, Alan Blood, also descended on Highgate after seeing the Today report, but he, at least, had the good sense not to enter the infamous graveyard. Though described by the Evening News, 14 March 1970, as a “vampire expert,” Blood, in a later interview given to the Hampstead and Highgate Express, 20 March 1970, admitted that he was no such thing. “I have taken an interest in the black arts since boyhood, but I’m by no means an expert on vampires,” he told them. Following a drink in the local pub, Blood joined a crowd of onlookers outside the cemetery’s north gate, but he did not enter.

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The Society's founding president (on the Today programme, 13 March 1970) warned one particular amateur vampire hunter, who had appeared on the same programme as one of several witnesses, to leave things he did not understand alone. Apparently he had received “a horrible fright” a few weeks earlier when he allegedly caught sight of the vampire by the north gate of Highgate Cemetery and immediately wrote to his local newspaper about the experience, concluding with these words: “I have no knowledge in this field and I would be interested to hear if any other readers have seen anything of this nature.” (Letters to the Editor, Hampstead & Highgate Express, 6 February 1970). In the following month he revealed to the media that he had seen something at the north gate that was “evil” and that it “looked like it had been dead for a long time” (as told by him to Sandra Harris on the Today programme). Seán Manchester gave a warning on television that this man’s declared intention of staking the vampire alone went “against my explicit wish for his own safety.”

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Police searching the cemetery arrested the amateur vampire hunter five months later. He was found to be in possession of a wooden stake and a crucifix. Charged with being in an enclosed area for an unlawful purpose, he was later released because, in the strict sense of the wording, Highgate Cemetery is not an enclosed area. The lone intruder had made his television debut five months earlier, employing on that occasion the name on his birth certificate. Now he adopted a pseudonym which appeared in many (but not all) of the newspaper reports covering his arrest and court appearance. When the American vampire aficionado Donald F Glut came to write his book True Vampires of History (1971) he referred only to "Allan Farrow who was arrested for trespassing in a London Graveyard." Others also innocently employed the "Farrow" nomenclature until it became clear this was not his real name. Ironically, the genuine surname of the lone would-be vampire hunter of 1970 has the same first four letters as "Farrow" and is, therefore, remarkably similar. "Allan" is not even close to his real forename. Even so, forty years ago, he was known locally by the name "Allan."

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There exists a letter on headed prison notepaper from Farrow, prisoner number 087665, which he sent to Seán Manchester. The letter contradicts much later claims made by Farrow whose lone antics heralded worse days ahead for the amateur vampire hunter. It should have ended at that point. Several people had either been cautioned or arrested in the area when discovered to be engaged in freelance vampire hunting. Nothing more was heard of them once they retreated into their former obscurity, but some persisted. Farrow belonged to the latter category. Had he heeded the public warning given by Seán Manchester on Thames Television's Today programme, and also in the Hampstead & Highgate Express, 13 March 1970, he could have probably avoided many of the problems that would blight his life in the following years, including a four years and eight months jail sentence.

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The Hampstead & Highgate Express, 13 March 1970, under the headline "The Ghost Goes On TV," reported: "Cameras from Thames Television visited Highgate Cemetery this week to film a programme ... One of those who faced the cameras was Mr [Farrow], of Priestwood Mansions, Archway Road. ... 'It was tall and very dark grey. But it didn't appear to have any feet. It just glided along.' He intends to visit the cemetery again, armed with a wooden stake and a crucifix, with the aim of exorcising the spirit. He also believes that Highgate is 'rife with black magic.' ... Mr Manchester is opposed to Mr [Farrow]'s plans. 'He goes against our explicit wish for his own safety,' he said. ‘We feel he does not possess sufficient knowledge to exorcise successfully something as powerful as a vampire, and may well fall victim as a result. We issue a similar warning to anyone with likewise intentions'."

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Farrow's arrest in Highgate Cemetery on 17 August 1970 by police searching for black magic devotees was the beginning of the end for him. What the police discovered was a would-be amateur vampire hunter stalking the graveyard with a crudely fashioned wooden stake and a cross. He was acquitted on this occasion because Highgate Cemetery was demonstrably not an enclosed area, but by the end of the year he had abandoned his predilection for hunting the Devil’s undead and adopted what ostensibly appeared to be the trappings of black magic; entering the graveyard again in 1971 to raise the vampire by conducting what to all intents and purposes was a necromantic occult ritual with a naked female in a mausoleum. Photographs discovered by police who raided his flat led to a long trial at the Old Bailey and a prison sentence of almost five years which included such crimes as tomb vandalism and offering indignities to remains of the dead, as well as making black magic threats to witnesses who had received from Farrow voodoo effigies impaled with pins.
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London Secretary (Deceased)

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Diana Wynne Brewester (née Pryce) was born in Neath, South Wales, on 19 July 1944. She began working as a bank clerk, but was drawn to the performing arts and became proficient in dancing. Her father was a policemen, which gave her an interest in crime investigation that developed into a passion for law. He was also a Freemason and this might have had some influence on Diana’s drift into various aspects of the occult in her early years. In the wake of her father’s death, however, she discovered papers amongst his regalia that gave her pause for thought. What she found disturbed her enough to cause her to apply the brakes to her fascination with occultism. She eventually returned to the Church. This all happened after her arrival in London where she worked as a model for various fashion companies. Diana was quite tall with blonde hair and green eyes. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was exceptionally glamorous; an enchantment that remained with her to the end.
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Diana was Seán Manchester's personal assistant and the Vampire Research Society's London secretary throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Seán Manchester felt as close to Diana as any sibling might for a brother or sister. It was the same for her. As their blood relations died off, one by one, they became each other’s family. She grew to know his parents in their last years, and was present at the three most important occasions of Seán Manchester's life: his marriage, his ordination into the sacred priesthood, and his elevation to the episcopate. When the best man’s arrival was delayed at his wedding, it was Diana who immediately stepped in to become “best woman.” A better person on the day could not have been found. Diana’s support was always unflinching. She was undoubtedly one of the most generous people any in the Society have ever met. There was not a mean bone in her entire body. Her love of animals ranged from hamsters to tigers; yet she was afraid of moths. Indeed, the last letter Seán Manchester received from her, dated 21 November 2003, included a reference to this phobia, along with one of her charming drawings of five such creatures; her penultimate sentence being: “Well, ‘looking on the bright side of life,’ at least our cats are moth free, and beautifully bright and shining.” Diana loved her cats.
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Diana also loved the Kenwood Concerts on Hampstead Heath where, on summer evenings with friends, she would take a picnic and listen to the strains of the orchestra across a lake. The one thing that stood out about Diana was her voice. Her spoken voice belonged to a past time when England was far more refined than now. She also sang beautifully, whether singing church hymns or singing along to a piece of music as she cooked. She was a splendid cook, as many of us remember. Her great love of music stemmed from the world of opera. She knew all the arias to Tosca, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème, and many more. She adored Wagner’s music which she listened to ever more toward the end of her life. Religion, too, was an enormous comfort. The one thing that made Diana unique was her sense of humour and ability to effortlessly adapt to any age group and environment. She seldom ever complained about anything; though the worsening air pollution and rise in crime entered her conversation more and more frequently toward the end of the old century. She even spoke of leaving London in the last couple of years. It was not to be. Catholicism became her sanctuary with her sometimes attending Polish Masses for their traditional atmosphere of devotion. Diana would always help people where she could, and in her twilight years she helped her elderly neighbours with errands, and nursing them when they were sick.
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Ironically, she was alone at home when she passed away just before Christmas 2003, having been diagnosed with cancer in the previous September. She restricted this sad news to just three of her loyal friends, and, due to her throat being effected by the cancer, no proper telephone conversation could occur. She could barely speak at all. She allowed none of her friends to visit her during her illness because she was always so glamorous and would not allow anyone to become distressed at seeing her in a bad way. Diana was undergoing radiotherapy treatment until her demise in the third week of Advent. Whatever she suffered, she suffered alone. Yet her letters to her close friends right up to the end were full of good cheer. She looked painfully thin and wan in latter years. But this did not halt her adventures, which included regular visits to Denmark and Germany. In Diana her adopted "brother" found an affinity with someone who shared the same passion for poetry, opera, theatre, art and literature. She accompanied Seán Manchester on a pilgrimage to Newstead Abbey and Hucknall Torkard Parish Church where the poet’s remains are interred. Here was someone who would accompany her closest friends to the ends of the Earth. She was a devoted colleague, a dedicated supporter of the Vampire Research Society and believed totally in the existence of such phenomena. There will never be another like her, and we shall all miss her very much. She has now gone to a place more worthy of her than the one she has left.

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Diana Brewester died on 16 December 2003 and was cremated one month later at 11.00am on 16 January 2004 at Islington & St Pancras Cemetery. Father Hubert Condron of St Joseph’s Catholic Church and Seán Manchester of Ecclesia Apostolica Jesu Christi blessed the coffin with holy water during the funeral service as they both took it in turns to address all those present. Panis Angelicus played as the curtains closed.

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Honorary Vice President (Deceased)

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The Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma, Ph.D., Honorary Vice-President of the Vampire Research Society, on his return trip from delivering a scholarly address at The Undiscovered Country Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at UNC (October 1994), suffered an unexpected stroke and slipped into a coma. Dr Varma finally sustained a massive stroke that took his life on October 24th at 4:30pm New York time. The first of the strokes occurred on October 17th in New York at a colleague's home where he had stopped briefly while returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr Varma's son, Hemendra, and daughter-in-law, Susan, flew from Canada to New York and were present at his sad passing.

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Thus the Vampire Research Sociey lost one of its closest colleagues and one of its most enthusiastic supporters.

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Dr Varma was a retired Full Professor Emeritus from Dalhousie University at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Born in Darbhanga, a Himalayan village overlooking Mount Everest on 17 October 1923 to landed gentry parents, he eventually became a British/Canadian citizen. He was an internationally acclaimed scholar and the author of dozens of major articles and books in the scholarly discipline of Gothic Studies, making him the pre-eminent scholar in the field. His text The Gothic Flame was his way of picking up the torch from Montague Summers, before the flame passed to Seán Manchester in October 1994.

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Professor Varma was the keynote speaker for such major literary bodies as The Byron Society (where, at some considerable length, he reviewed Seán Manchester’s biography of Lady Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron, Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know) and The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, which granted him the Outstanding Scholar Award. Both the British House of Lords and the Japanese Diet invited Dr Varma for major presentations. His latest book, On the Trail of Dracula, was in preparation at the time of his death. Dr Varma was excited at the prospect of his colleague’s proposed sequel to Dracula (Carmel by Seán Manchester, published in 2000 by Gothic Press). Seán Manchester dedicated The Vampire Hunter’s Handbook, published in 1997 by Gothic Press, to the memory of his good friend and fellow vampirologist.
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Dr Varma was decorated Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Caballero Grand Cruz de la Orden de Nuestra Se-ora de Guadalupe) and Knight Officer of the Holy Sepulchre. He held the Order of the Lion and the Black Rose and was a Fellow of the Augustan Society. He addressed the Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at the University of Northern Colorado held October 14th-16th. At the time of his major address, Dr Varma was made a full member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honour Society. He was truly a great scholar and a real gentleman in the European style.
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Seán Manchester’s tribute to his colleague was first published in the Summer 1995 issue of Udolpho (magazine of the Gothic Society). What follows is an edited and much shortened version of Seán Manchester’s original obituary in Udolpho:
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“The terrible news of the Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma’s death came upon the light-bearers of the neo-Gothic revival as an earthquake. I received the news by accident whilst glancing through a journal; it could not have struck me with the idea of a more awful and dreary blank in Creation. Few have been held in my affection as the place reserved for Varma. We existed, like Byron and Beckford, in mutual admiration. That admiration reigned for twenty years since it blossomed in 1975 when we were independently published in Peter Underwood’s anthology The Vampire’s Bedside Companion. Varma’s chapter, The Genesis of Dracula: A Re-Visit, was the perfect compliment to my own about the early days of Highgate Cemetery’s vampire infestation. The empathy shared and enthusiasm shown for a world that was already receding was apparent to us. Inevitably, we collaborated on many projects; sadly, few of these ever saw the light of day in terms of being published. But somehow that mattered less than the collaboration itself. The last short story for an anthology to be edited by Varma was proffered at his request around the time of my work on Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know reaching completion. Titled Aurora, the manuscript remains locked away with his private papers and is now unlikely to see the dawn.
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“Yet it was Varma’s enthusiasm for my biography of Lord Byron’s tortured lover which ensured its appearance in print. This I acknowledge at the front of the book. His generous support of my work knew no bounds. He wrote: ‘Your welcome letter brings the best news for the academic world that your book on Caroline Lamb may be out by early 1991.’ In fact, it was published in mid-1992 with much prompting by Varma who remained inspirational throughout the latter days of the project. His review in The Byron Journal the following year was extremely flattering, but there was never anything sycophantic about Varma as anyone who knew him will amply attest. He always spoke his mind. Nevertheless, his loyalty never faltered. Not once. There are very few people about which the same observation could be made.
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“My biography of Lady Caroline Lamb was to be the last my dear mother, an avid reader, was to enjoy before death came as an assassin and as a ferocious wraith two years prior to Varma’s sudden and unexpected departure. The pictures contained within its covers include one of my mother and I at Newstead where we often stayed in those all too distant days. This was the cherry on the cake for her. The book itself she loved and it somehow brought a twinkle back to her grey-blue eyes — those Byronic eyes. Varma proved to be the kindest of individuals during this period. He wrote: ‘Heartfelt condolences on your bereavement! We share your sorrows!’ He then quoted Scott:
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The light of smiles shall fill again.
The lids that overflow with tears,
And weary hours of woe and pain
And promises of the happy years!

There is a day of sunny rest
In every dark and troubled night
And grief may bide an evening guest
But joy shall come with early light.
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“He ended with the words: ‘We have no response for strokes of Fate — only Faith and Resignation.’ Two years later the same fate would clasp poor Varma in its icy clutch.
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“Like Summers and me, Varma subscribed unreservedly to a belief in the existence of vampires, the supernatural variety, as defined in every dictionary and chronicled in ancient tradition. His knowledge of the lore of the undead was impressive and our correspondence on this subject immense, running to several bulging files over the years. But his hand grew shaky and his most recent letters had an erratic quality that was unfamiliar. Nevertheless, his unbridled passion for those things in which we held a common interest burned brightly to the end.
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“His final letter spoke of us meeting at St Etheldreda’s Church in Hertfordshire where Lady Caroline is entombed in the Lamb Family Vault, but a crowded schedule would deny us this last opportunity.
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“My work The Grail Church: Its Ancient Tradition and Renewed Flowering (published on Ascension Day 1995) is dedicated to the memory of my dear mother. My next book will return to the Gothic genre and be dedicated to my late lamented colleague Devendra Prasad Varma whom I shall ever admire. It only remains for me now to recover the fallen torch, so fatefully dropped in October 1994, and guard its sacred flame until I, too, am no more on this old Earth of ours.
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“Fare the well, dear Varma — dear friend ... ”

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Life-Member and Fellow Associate

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Peter Underwood was born in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, lived for much of his life in a small Hampshire village, and now resides in Surrey. President of The Ghost Club since 1960, and a long-standing member of the Society of Psychical Research, Underwood first entered the Vampire Research Society in 1973, having established a lively correspondence with its founding president Seán Manchester.

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Tom Perrott had already invited the VRS president to address members of The Ghost Club in London. On 16 March 1973, Peter Underwood added: “We have a number of members who are deeply interested in the subject of vampires and I feel sure you would find our members kindly, sympathetic and friendly. I knew Montague Summers and members of The Ghost Club include Eric Maple and Robert Aickman who has written some excellent vampire stories. I hope that we may meet one day.” In 1974, he took part in Daniel Farson’s television documentary on vampires.
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Seán Manchester was made a Life-Member of The Ghost Club, and Peter Underwood, along with life-membership, was to become a Fellow Associate of the Vampire Research Society. Underwood was already a member of the British Occult Society which became defunct in 1988. The following year witnessed their collaboration on an anthology that would include the first published account of events in the early days of the Highgate Vampire case. On 14 October 1974, Underwood wrote: “I am pleased to be able to advise you that I have now passed the proofs and I am very pleased with the way the book has turned out. It will be entitled The Vampire’s Bedside Companion and is due for publication early in 1975 [by Leslie Frewin Books].”

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On 25 July 1975, Peter Underwood wrote to Seán Manchester: “As you know, I possess a medallion, given to me by Montague Summers, that is reputed to have power over vampires. … I am just wondering whether you happen to know of a current vampire infestation where [the medallion] might be tried [and tested]?”

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The Highgate Vampire, of course, had been exorcised a year and a half earlier, but there were other vampires indeed yet to be found. Thus began a comradeship in the field of vampirology that would endure to the present-day. On 15 December 1985, Seán Manchester was invited to give a piano recital of his own compositions on the occasion of Peter Underwood’s quarter of a century service as president of the The Ghost Club, at Berkeley Square, London. Other well-wishers included Dennis Wheatley, Vincent Price, Patrick Moore, Michael Bentine, Sir Alec Guiness and Dame Barbara Cartland — all of whom, with the exception of Patrick Moore, have now sadly passed on.
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In 1990, Peter Underwood retold the events of the Highgate Vampire case (up to the first discovery of the undead tomb in Highgate Cemetery) in his book Exorcism! He commented in chapter six: “The Hon Ralph Shirley told me in the 1940s that he had studied the subject in some depth, sifted through the evidence and concluded that vampirism was by no means as dead as many people supposed; more likely, he thought, the facts were concealed. … My old friend Montague Summers has, to his own satisfaction, at least, traced back ‘the dark tradition of the vampire’ until it is ‘lost amid the ages of a dateless antiquity’.”
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In his earlier book, containing the chapter with photographic evidence from the archive of the Vampire Research Society, written and contributed by Seán Manchester, Underwood wrote: “Alleged sightings of a vampire-like creature — a grey spectre — lurking among the graves and tombstones have resulted in many vampire hunts. … In 1968, I heard first-hand evidence of such a sighting and my informant maintained that he and his companion had secreted themselves in one of the vaults and watched a dark figure flit among the catacombs and disappear into a huge vault from which the vampire … did not reappear. Subsequent search revealed no trace inside the vault but I was told that a trail of drops of blood stopped at an area of massive coffins which could have hidden a dozen vampires.”

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And probably did! In the previous year, two schoolgirls had reported seeing bodies rising from their graves at Highgate Cemetery ...

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Vampire Children

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Four years ago, a would-be vampire (vampiroid) was arrested in the Ukraine after luring street children into her home for their blood.
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Diana Semenuha, 29, believed that drinking blood could fend off a muscle-wasting condition. She kept the children intoxicated on drugs and alcohol and bled them regularly, selling the surplus to other black magic practitioners. When that weakened them, she dumped them back on the streets and lured replacements with the promise of a place to sleep and a hot meal.

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Police raided Semenuha's apartment in the Black Sea port of Odessa after a tip-off.

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Olga Buravceva, a spokesman, said: "The apartment was painted black, with all the windows covered with thick black cloth to stop natural light coming in. The only light came from black candles, and there was a heavy, sickening odour of some sort of incense in the air."

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Detectives found seven drugged children strapped to beds and benches, and a large, black knife and silver goblet engraved with satanic symbols.
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The Ukraine has an estimated 200,000 street children, whose widespread addiction to glue sniffing and alcohol made them easy prey for the woman dubbed the "vampire witch" by local media.
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Semenuha's arrest exposed an occult network in the city. Many claimed to have been taught by Semenuha and said that she would cut herself and let them drink her blood.

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One of the children, named only as Andrei, told police: "She gave me vodka and I sniffed some glue. But than she came up to me with a syringe and asked me to stretch out my hand. I didn't feel any pain because I was too scared. She drew the blood with the syringe and a needle and than put it in her silver bowl and drank it, murmuring in some strange language."

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Semenuha, who when arrested gave her profession as "witch", has admitted holding the children. "I let them sniff glue, but I paid for it and took a small amount of blood in return," she said. "But there was no violence involved, I also fed them and gave them shelter."
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Police fear that she could escape prosecution for corrupting minors and plying them with alcohol because the seven children found at her home have since escaped from care and gone back on the streets.

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Innocent children are meant to be protected by society, their parents, teachers and by adults generally. Hence when children become the victims of vampires or are displayed as vampires in novels, the reader will invariably squirm. This is even more true when it is an adult vampire preying upon a child victim, which made it all the more shocking when Lucy Westenra drank the blood of children on Hamsptead Heath in the novel Dracula. This is the only early vampire fiction to portray young children victimised by an adult vampire. This is surprising in view of the fact that the vampire of folklore is most likely to attack a close family member first, and that children in their total innocence are more likely to let the familiar, albeit undead, figure into the house and all too easily fall prey to it.
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Vampire children is also an unkind term for children with xeroderma pigmentosum, a genetic disease with such extraordinary sensitivity to sunlight that ordinary sun exposure results in the development of skin cancer at a very early age. Children with xeroderma pigmentosum can only play outdoors safely after nightfall. They have been called midnight children, the children of the dark, the children of the night and, perjoratively, vampire children.

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Xeroderma pigmentosum is due to defective repair of damage done to DNA (the genetic material), damage caused by ultraviolet light. Whereas normal persons can repair ultraviolet-induced damage by inserting new bases into the DNA, xeroderma pigmentosum patients lack the normal capacity to repair the DNA damage inflicted by ultraviolet light.
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A person with xeroderma pigmentosum develops severe sunburn and eye irritation within minutes of exposure to sunlight. Other signs of xeroderma pigmentosum include the development of ultradry skin (the word "xeroderma" means extreme dryness of the skin) plus blisters, heavy freckling and dark spots on the skin (the word "pigmentosum" refers to these pigmented areas of skin). Damage to DNA is cumulative; it is additive and cannot be reversed. Recurrent exposure of a xeroderma pigmentosum person to ultraviolet light can cause the rapid development of cancerous and non-cancerous growths on both the skin and eyes. Even children with xeroderma pigmentosum can develop skin cancer. About one in every five xeroderma pigmentosum patients also develops one or more of the following problems: blindness, deafness, mental retardation, poor coordination, spasticity, or retarded physical growth.

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The life span of xeroderma pigmentosum patients varies. Those with undiagnosed xeroderma pigmentosum who regularly expose themselves to sunlight may die young of skin cancer. Those with a diagnosis of xeroderma pigmentosum who protect themselves from sunlight may live a long life. The life expectancy of most patients falls between these extremes.
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Diagnosis requires tests on skin or blood samples. Although the disease itself is incurable, patients can maintain their health by: protecting themselves completely from ultraviolet light; getting frequent skin and eye examinations; and having cancerous growths removed without delay.
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Xeroderma pigmentosum is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait (meaning that the gene for xeroderma pigmentosum is on a non-sex chromosome [an autosome] and that a person must possess two doses of that gene to manifest the syndrome). In actuality, xeroderma pigmentosum is not one disease. A number of diseases clinically paint the xeroderma pigmentosum picture. Genes for xeroderma pigmentosum reside in diverse locations including chromosomes 3p25, 9q22.3, 11p12-p11, and 19q13.2-q13.3.

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The Life and Death of Stubbe Peeter

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The Damnable Life and Death of Stubbe Peeter

George Bores (London Chapbook of 1590)

A true Discourse.

Declaring the damnable life and death of one Stubbe Peeter, a most wicked Sorcerer, who in the likeness of a Wolf committed many murders, continuing this devilish practice 25 Years, killing and devouring Men, Women, and Children. Who for the same fact was taken and executed the 31st of October last past in the town of Bedbur [Bedburg] near the City of Collin [Cologne, Köln] in Germany. Truly translated out of the high Dutch, according to the copy printed in Collin, brought over into England by George Bores ordinary post, the 11th day of this present month of June 1590, who did both see and hear the same.

AT LONDON

Printed for Edward Venge, and are to be sold in Fleet Street at the sign of the Vine.

A most true discourse,declaring the life and death of one Stubbe Peeter, being a most wicked sorcerer.

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Those whom the Lord doth leave to follow the imagination of their own hearts, despising his proffered grace, in the end through the hardness of heart and contempt of his fatherly mercy, they enter the right path to perdition and destruction of body and soul for ever: as in this present history in perfect sort may be seen, the strangeness whereof, together with the cruelties committed, and the long time therein continued, may drive many in doubt whether the same be truth or no, and the rather fore that sundry false and fabulous matters have heretofore passed in print, which hath wrought much incredulity in the hearts of all men generally, insomuch that now of days few things do escape be it never so certain, but that it is embased by the term of a lie or false report.

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In the reading of this story, therefore I do first request reformation of opinion, next patience to peruse it, because it is published for example's sake, and lastly to censure thereof as reason and wisdom doth think convenient, considering the subtlety that Satan useth to work the soul's destruction, and the great matters which the accursed practice of sorcery doth effect, the fruits whereof is death and destruction for ever, and yet in all ages practiced by the reprobate and wicked of the earth, some in one sort and some in another even as the Devil giveth promise to perform. But of all other that ever lived, none was comparable unto this Hell hound, whose tyranny and cruelty did well declare he was of his father the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning, whose life and death and most bloody practices the discourse doth make just report.

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In the towns of Cperadt and Bedbur near Collin in high Germany, there was continually brought up and nourished one Stubbe Peeter, who from his youth was greatly inclined to evil and the practicing of wicked arts even from twelve years of age till twenty, and so forwards till his dying day, insomuch that surfeiting in the damnable desire of magic, necromancy, and sorcery, acquainting himself with many infernal spirits and fiends, insomuch tat forgetting the God that made him, and that Savior that shed his blood man man's redemption: In the end, careless of salvation gave both soul and body to the Devil for ever, for small carnal pleasure in this life, that he might be famous and spoken of on earth, though he lost heaven thereby.
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The Devil, who hath a ready ear to listen to the lewd motions of cursed men, promised to give him whatsoever his heart desired during his mortal life: whereupon this vile wretch neither desired riches nor promotion, nor was his fancy satisfied with any external or outward pleasure, but having a tyrannous heart and a most cruel bloody mind, requested that at his pleasure he might work his malice on men, women, and children, in the shape of some beast, whereby he might live without dread or danger of life, and unknown to be the executor of any bloody enterprise which he meant to commit.
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The Devil, who saw him a fit instrument to perform mischief as a wicked fiend pleased with the desire of wrong and destruction, gave unto him a girdle which, being put around him, he was straight transformed into the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like unto brands of fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body and mighty paws. And no sooner should he put off the same girdle, but presently he should appear in his former shape, according to the proportion of a man, as if he had never been changed.
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Stubbe Peeter herewith was exceedingly well pleased, and the shape fitted his fancy and agreed best with his nature, being inclined to blood and cruelty. Therefore, satisfied with this strange and devilish gift, for that it was not troublesome nor great in carriage, but that it might be hidden in a small room, he proceeded to the execution of sundry most heinous and vile murders; for if any person displeased him, he would incontinent thirst for revenge, and no sooner should they or any of theirs walk abroad in the fields or about the city, but in the shape of a wolf he would presently encounter them, and never rest till he had plucked out their throats and tear their joints asunder. And after he had gotten a taste hereof, he took such pleasure and delight in shedding of blood, that he would night and day walk the fields and work extreme cruelties. And sundry times he would go through the streets of Collin, Bedbur, and Cperadt, in comely habit, and very civilly, as one well known to all the inhabitants thereabout, and oftentimes was he saluted of those whose friends and children he had butchered, though nothing suspected for the same. In these places, I say, he would walk up and down, and if he could spy either maid, wife, or child that his eyes liked or his heart lusted after, he would wait their issuing out of the city or town. If he could by any means get them alone, he would in the fields ravish them, and after in his wolfish likeness cruelly murder them.
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Yea, often it came to pass that as he walked abroad in the fields, if he chanced to spy a company of maidens playing together or else a milking their kine, in his wolfish shape he would incontinent run among them, and while the rest escaped by flight, he would be sure to lay hold of one, and after his filthy lust fulfilled, he would murder her presently. Beside, if he had liked or known any of them, look who he had a mind unto, her he would pursue, whether she were before or behind, and take her from the rest, for such was his swiftness of foot while he continued a wolf that he would outrun the swiftest greyhound in that country; and so much he had practiced this wickedness that the whole province was feared by the cruelty of this bloody and devouring wolf.
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Thus continuing his devilish and damnable deeds within the compass of a few years, he had murdered thirteen young children, and two goodly young women big with child, tearing the children out of their wombs, in most bloody and savage sort, and after ate their hearts panting hot and raw, which he accounted dainty morsels and best agreeing to his appetite.
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Moreover, he used many times to kill lambs and kids and such like beasts, feeding on the same most usually raw and bloody, as if he had been a natural wolf indeed, so that all men mistrusted nothing less than this his devilish sorcery.
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He had at that time living a fair young damsel to his daughter, after whom he also lusted must unnaturally, and cruelly committed most wicked incest with her, a most gross and vile sin, far surmounting adultery or fornication, though the least of the three doth drive the soul into hell fire, except hearty repentance, and the great mercy of God. This daughter of his he begot when he was not altogether so wickedly given, who was called by the name of Stubbe Beell, whose beauty and good grace was such as deserved commendations of all those that knew her. And such was his inordinate lust and filthy desire toward her, that he begat a child by her, daily using her as his concubine; but as an insatiate and filthy beast, given over to work evil, with greediness he also lay by his own sister, frequenting her company long time, even according as the wickedness of his heart led him.
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Moreover, being on a time sent for to a gossip of his there to make merry and good cheer, ere he thence departed he so won the woman by his fair and flattering speech, and so much prevailed, that ere he departed the house, he lay by her, and ever after had her company at his command. This woman had to name Katherine Trompin, a woman of tall and comely stature of exceeding good favor and one that was well esteemed among her neighbors. But his lewd and inordinate lust being not satisfied with the company of many concubines, nor his wicked fancy contented with the beauty of any woman, at length the Devil sent unto him a wicked spirit in the similitude and likeness of a woman, so fair of face and comely of personage, that she resembled rather some heavenly Helfin than any mortal creature, so far her beauty exceeded the choicest sort of women; and with her, as with his heart's delight, he kept company the space of seven years, though in the end she proved and was found indeed no other than a she-Devil.
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Notwithstanding, this lewd sin of lechery did not any thing assuage his cruel and bloody mind, but continuing an insatiable bloodsucker, so great was the joy he took therein, that he accounted no day spent in pleasure wherein he had not shed some blood, not respecting so much who he did murder, as how to murder and destroy them, as the matter ensuing doth manifest, which may stand for a special note of a cruel and hard heart. For, having a proper youth to his son, begotten in the flower and strength of his age, the first fruit of his body, in whom he took such joy that he did commonly call him his heart's ease, yet so far his delight in murder exceeded the joy he took in his son, that thirsting after his blood, on a time he enticed him into the fields, and from thence into a forest hard by, where, making excuse to stay about the necessaries of nature, while the young man went forward, incontinent in the shape and likeness of a wolf he encountered his own son and there most cruelly slew him, which done, he presently ate the brains out of his head as a most savory and dainty delicious mean to staunch his greedy appetite: the most monstrous act that ever man heard of, for never was known a wretch from nature so far degenerate.
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Long time he continued his vile and villainous life, sometime in the likeness of a wolf, sometime in the habit of a man, sometime in the towns and cities, and sometimes in the woods and thickets to them adjoining, whereas the Dutch copy maketh mention, he on a time met with two men and one woman, whom he greatly desired to murder, and the better to bring his devilish purpose to effect, doubting by them to be overmatched and knowing one of them by name, he used this policy to bring them to their end. In subtle sort he conveyed himself far before them in their way and craftily couched out of the sight; but as soon as they approached near the place where he lay, he called one of them by his name. The party, hearing himself called once or twice by his name, supposing it was some familiar friend that in jesting sort stood out of his sight, went from his company toward the place from whence the voice proceeded, of purpose to see who it was; but he was no sooner entered within the danger of this transformed man, but incontinent he was murdered in the place; the rest of his company staying for him, expecting still his return, but finding his stay over long, the other man left the woman and went to look him, by which means the second man was also murdered. The woman then seeing neither of both return again, in heart suspected that some evil had fallen upon them, and therefore, with all the power she had, she sought to save herself by flight, though it nothing prevailed, for, good soul, she was also soon overtaken by this light-footed wolf, whom, when he had first deflowered, he after most cruelly murdered. The men were after found mangled in the wood, but the woman's body was never after seen, for she the caitiff had most ravenously devoured, whose flesh he esteemed both sweet and dainty in taste.
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Thus this damnable Stubbe Peeter lived the term of five and twenty years, unsuspected to be author of so many cruel and unnatural murders, in which time he had destroyed and spoiled an unknown number of men, women, and children, sheep, lambs, and goats, and other cattle; for, when he could not through the wariness of people draw men, women, or children in his danger, then, like a cruel and tyrannous beast, he would work his cruelty on brute beasts in most savage sort, and did act more mischief and cruelty than would be credible, although high Germany hath been forced to taste the truth thereof.
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By which means the inhabitants of Collin, Bedbur, and Cperadt, seeing themselves so grievously endangered, plagued, and molested by this greedy and cruel wolf, who wrought continual harm and mischief, insomuch that few or none durst travel to or from those places without good provision of defense, and all for fear of this devouring and fierce wolf, for oftentimes the inhabitants found the arms and legs of dead men, women, and children scattered up and down the fields, to their great grief and vexation of heart, knowing the same to be done by that strange and cruel wolf, whom by no means they could take or overcome, so that if any man or woman missed their child, they were out of hope ever to see it again alive, mistrusting straight that the wolf had destroyed it.
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And here is to be noted a most strange thing which setteth forth the great power and merciful providence of God to the comfort of each Christian heart. There were not long ago certain small children playing in a meadow together hard by the town, where also some store of kine were feeding, many of them having young calves sucking upon them. And suddenly among these children comes this vile wolf running and caught a pretty fine girl by the collar, with intent to pull out her throat; but such was the will of God, that the wolf could not pierce the collar of the child's coat, being high and very well stiffened and close clasped about her neck; and therewithal the sudden great cry of the rest of the children which escaped so amazed the cattle feeding by, that being fearful to be robbed of their young, they altogether came running against the wolf with such force that he was presently compelled to let go his hold and to run away to escape the danger of their horns; by which means the child was preserved from death, and, God be thanked, remains living at this day.
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An that this thing is true, Master Tice Artine, a brewer dwelling at Puddlewharfe in London, being a man of that country born, and one of good reputation and account, is able to justify, who is near kinsman to this child, and hath from thence twice received letters concerning the same; and for that the first letter did rather drive him into wondering at the act then yielding credit thereunto, he had shortly after, at request of his writing, another letter sent him, whereby he was more fully satisfied; and divers other persons of great credit in London hath in like sort received letters from their friends to the like effect.
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Likewise in the town of Germany aforesaid continual prayer was used unto God that it would please Him to deliver them from the danger of this greedy wolf.
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And, although they had practiced all the means that men could devise to take this ravenous beast, yet until the Lord had determined his fall, they could not in any wise prevail: notwithstanding, they daily continued their purpose, and daily sought to entrap him, and for that intent continually maintained great mastiffs and dogs of much strength to hunt and chase the beast. In the end, it pleased God, as they were in readiness and provided to meet with him, that they should espy him in his wolfish likeness at what time they beset him round about, and most circumspectly set their dogs upon him, in such sort that there was no means of escape, at which advantage they never could get him before; but as the Lord delivered Goliath into the hands of David, so was this wolf brought in danger of these men, who seeing, as I said before, no way to escape the imminent danger, being hardly pursued at the heels, presently slipped his girdle from about him, whereby the shape of a wolf clean avoided, and he appeared presently in his true shape and likeness, having in his hand a staff as one walking toward the city. But the hunters, whose eyes were steadfastly bent upon the beast, and seeing him in the same place metamorphosed contrary to their expectation, it wrought a wonderful amazement to their minds; and, had it not been that they knew the man so soon as they saw him, they had surely taken the same to have been some Devil in a man's likeness; but for as much as they knew him to be an ancient dweller in the town, they came unto him, and talking with him, they brought him by communication home to his own house, and finding him to be the man indeed, and no delusion or fantastical motion, they had him incontinent before the magistrates to be examined.
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Thus being apprehended, he was shortly after put to the rack in the town of Bedbur, but fearing the torture, he voluntarily confessed his whole life, and made known the villainies which he had committed for the space of 25 years; also he confessed how by sorcery he procured of the Devil a girdle, which being put on, he forthwith became a wolf, which girdle at his apprehension he confessed he cast it off in a certain valley and there left it, which, when the magistrates heard, they sent to the valley for it, but at their coming found nothing at all, for it may be supposed that it was gone to the Devil from whence it came, so that it was not to be found. For the Devil having brought the wretch to all the shame he could, left him to endure the torments which his deeds deserved.
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After he had some space been imprisoned, the magistrates found out through due examination of the matter, that his daughter Stubbe Beell and his gossip Katherine Trompin were both accessory to divers murders committed, who for the same as also for their lewd life otherwise committed, was arraigned, and with Stubbe Peeter condemned, and their several judgments pronounced the 28 of October 1589, in this manner, that is to say: Stubbe Peeter as principal malefactor, was judged first to have his body laid on a wheel, and with red hot burning pincers in ten several places to have the flesh pulled off from the bones, after that, his legs and arms to be broken with a wooden ax or hatchet, afterward to have his head struck from his body, then to have his carcass burned to ashes.
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Also his daughter and his gossip were judged to be burned quick to ashes, the same time and day with the carcass of the aforesaid Stubbe Peeter. And on the 31st of the same month, they suffered death accordingly in the town of Bedbur in the presence of many peers and princes of Germany.
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This, Gentle Reader, have I set down the true discourse of this wicked man Stub Peeter, which I desire to be a warning to all sorcerers and witches, which unlawfully follow their own devilish imagination to the utter ruin and destruction of their souls eternally, from which wicked and damnable practice, I beseech God keep all good men, and from the cruelty of their wicked hearts. Amen
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After the execution, there was by the advice of the magistrates of the town of Bedbur a high pole set up and strongly framed, which first went through the wheel whereon he was broken, whereunto also it was fastened; after that a little above the wheel the likeness of a wolf was framed in wood, to show unto all men the shape wherein he executed those cruelties. Over that on the top of the stake the sorcerer's head itself was set up, and round about the wheel there hung as it were sixteen pieces of wood about a yard in length with represented the sixteen persons that was perfectly known to be murdered by him. And the same ordained to stand there for a continual monument to all ensuing ages, what murders by Stub Peeter was committed, with the order of his judgment, as this picture doth more plainly express.
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Witnesses that this is true:

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Tyse Artyne.William Brewar.Adolf Staedt.George Bores.
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With divers others that have seen the same.

_______________________________________________

Source: Montague Summers, The Werewolf (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1934), pp. 253-259. Spelling has been modernised but grammatical inconsistencies remain unchanged. Montague Summers' source is a black-letter pamphlet printed in London in 1590. Only two copies of this pamphlet are known to exist, one in the British Museum and the other in the Lambeth Library. Peeter (also spelled Peter). Stubbe's family name is variously recorded as Stub, Stubbe, Stube, Stump, or Stumpf.

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The Werewolf (as distinct from Vampire)

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A composite portrait of a werewolf can be sketched from centuries of stories. In human form they had bushy eyebrows that met over the bridge of the nose. Their blood-red fingernails were long and almond-shaped; mouth and eyes were always dry and thirsty. Long and narrow ears were laid back against the head. Their skin was rough, scratched and hairy with yellowish, pinkish or greenish cast. In addition to such physical features, the werewolf also displayed certain psychological traits. They generally preferred the night and solitude, had an inclination towards visiting the graveyards and were known to dig up corpses and occasionally feast upon them.

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The transformation was achieved by any of the following methods:

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Curse: An ill fated man could become victim of witchcraft or fall under curse of evil spirits. The person then would involuntary turn into werewolf.

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Bitten by Werewolf: Another common belief was that any one could become one if saliva of a werewolf could find a way into blood stream; perhaps from a bite or scratch.

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Putting on Wolf Skin: The easiest way of becoming werewolf. However, there have been debates concerning effectiveness of the method. An evil minded person could put on the hide of a dead wolf and appear to become a werewolf. In case the complete skin was unavailable, a belt or girdle of wolf hide would supplement it.

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Diabolism: A thoroughly wicked individual could worship the Devil who would grant him the power to become a werewolf. In some cases it could be any evil spirit answering.

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Magic Salve or Ointment: A good number of recorded cases mention a potent salve or ointment with which the potential werewolf would rub their bodies for transformations. The compositions of those ointments were different, but generally contained plant ingredients such as deadly nightshade (belladonna) and henbane. Pig fat, turpentine and olive oil were used as solvent for them. Later, when the distillation of spirits was perfected, alcohol served the purpose.

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Rituals: Evidence of ceremonial rituals are often mentioned in werewolf cases. The rituals were mainly any combination of the voluntary methods of becoming a werewolf. First the afflicted man would locate an isolated place and trace a large circle on the soil. In the centre of that circle he made a fire and prepared his magic ointment. After rubbing his body with the ointment he would wear the wolf hide and concentrate on an evocation to the Devil. At the end of the process the man turned into a wolf and ran in search of prey.

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Montague Summers reveals in one of his books that "the lycanthropist is liable to become a vampire when he dies," and the logic in that can be seen. I would make the distinction, however, between the medical disease of lycanthropy and the affliction of werewolfism in this regard. Men attacked with this madness where they become like ravening wolves are not automatically destined to become vampires. What both vampire and werewolf share in common is the apparent ability to shape-shift.
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The vampire, whether the corporeal host was formerly someone afflicted with werewolfism or not, retains the power of metamorphosis. The vampire can metamorphose as a wolf, but the werewolf is not necessarily doomed to become a vampire. The lycanthropist/werewolf is a living person with a terrible affliction; sometimes hereditary, sometimes acquired; which evinces as a horrible pleasure born of the thirst to quaff warm human blood.

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Summers reveals that "a werewolf is a human being, man, woman or child (more often the first), who either voluntarily or involuntarily changes or is metamorphosed into the apparent shape of a wolf, and who is then possessed of all the characteristics, the foul appetites, ferocity, cunning, the brute strength, and swiftness of that animal. This shape-shifting is for the most part temporary, of longer or shorter duration, but it is sometimes supposed to be permanent. The transformation, again, such as it is, if desired, can be effected by certain rites and ceremonies, which in the case of a constitutional werewolf are often of the black goetic kind. The resumption of the original form may also then be wrought at will."

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The Devil's Scourge

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The Devil's Scourge: Exorcism During the Italian Renaissance (1576) was reprinted in 2002. Girolamo Menghi's work written in Latin is a worthy addition to the shelves of the Vampire Research Society's extensive library.

Girolamo Menghi (1529-1609) provides the reader with much information about the Devil and the complex rites of exorcism deemed necessary to combat and expel demons. We must never lose sight of the fact, as the preface to this book reminds us, that when Peter blocked the mission of Christ by physically defending him, Our Lord remonstrated: "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an obstacle in My path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as man thinks." (Matthew 16: 23).

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So even our brother may exercise a diabolical function if he sets up an obstacle in our path toward God.
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Menghi opens with the words:

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"Devil, evil, sin. These words keep reappearing in our thoughts, our speech, our readings, our experience."

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Well might such thoughts have reverberated in sixteenth century Italy. Perhaps if we were more cognisant of them today the world would not so swiftly drift into the darkness of Satan's embrace?

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Nosferatu: Origin and Definitions

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Nosferatu: Romania. Also nosferat. A decidedly lustful species said in local folklore to be the illegitimate child of illegitimate parents. Shortly after its burial, the creature stirs, leaves its grave, and not only sucks blood but also engages in sexual contact with the living. According to some beliefs, the male is thought to be able to impregnate women whose children are destined to become moroii.
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Other definitions of Nosferatu:

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Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is a German Expressionist film by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was in essence an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel (for instance, "vampire" became "Nosferatu," and Count Dracula became Count Orlok).

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In 2007, Kino International released Nosferatu: The Ultimate Edition, derived from a new high-definition transfer of the film. This double-disc collection presents the film with the original German intertitles as well as with newly-translated English intertitles. Accompanying the film is a 52-minute documentary by Luciano Berriatúa which provides a detailed account of the production and explores the film makers' involvement in the occult.

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The original meaning of the word nosferatu is difficult to determine. There is no doubt that it achieved popular currency through Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, and Stoker identified his source for the term as the nineteenth century British author and speaker Emily Gerard who introduced the word into print in a magazine article, Transylvanian Supersitions, 1885, and in her travelogue The Land Beyond the Forest, 1888. Internal evidence in Dracula suggests that Stoker believed the term meant "not dead" in Romanian, and thus he may have intended the word undead to be a calque of it. This idea is demonstrably false, since the word nosferatu in this form has no known meaning (aside from that introduced by the novel and the films) in any historical phase of Romanian.

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Peter Haining identifies an earlier source for nosferatu as Roumanian Superstitions, 1861, by Heinrich von Wlislocki. However, Wlislocki seems only to have written in German, and according to the Magyar Néprajzi Lexikon, Wlislocki was born in 1856 (died 1907), which makes his authorship of an English-titled 1861 source doubtful. Certain details of Haining's citation also conflict with David J. Skal in Hollywood Gothic, 1990 & 2004, so this citation seems unreliable. Skal identifies a similar reference to the word "nosferat" in an article by Wlislocki dating from 1896. Since this postdates Gerard and has a number of parallels to Gerard's work, Skal considers it likely that Wlislocki is derivative from Gerard.

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A leading alternative etymology is that the term originally came from the Greek "nosophoros" (νοσοφόρος), meaning disease-bearing. This derivation could make sense when one considers that amongst Western European nations, vampires were regarded as the carriers of many diseases. F. W. Murnau's classic film Nosferatu strongly emphasizes this theme of disease, and Murnau's creative direction in the film may have been influenced by this etymology or vice-versa.

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However, several difficulties with this explanation should be noted. Gerard clearly identified the word as Romanian and proponents of the "nosophoros" etymology (as well as most other commentators) seem to have little doubt that this is correct, even though Gerard's limited familiarity with the language gives her little authority on that point. If this Romanian identification is taken to be correct, the first objection to the "nosophoros" etymology is that Romanian is a Romance language. While Romanian does have some words borrowed from Greek, as do most European languages, Greek is generally considered to be only a minor contributor to the Romanian vocabulary — absent any other information, any given Romanian word is much more likely to be of Latin origin than Greek. Second, while νοσοφόρος would be a regular compound according to the conventions of Greek morphology, the word itself is not known in any historical phases of the Greek language. That is to say, the word νοσοφόρος simply is not known to have ever existed in Greek, which would seem to make the burden of proof rather high for proposing it to have been the original form of another word in an entirely different language. A single instance of a Greek word similar to νοσοφόρος, νοσηφόρος ("nosēphoros"), is attested in fragments from a second century AD work by Marcellus Sidetes on medicine, but the supporting evidence for a relationship between this apparently very rare medical term and nosferatu is still very weak.

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It is also possible that Gerard's nosferatu was not Romanian at all, but it becomes even more difficult to justify the etymology of a word if its language is not even known. In either case, the glaring difficulty with the νοσοφόρος etymology is that no source has ever presented an argument for it any more substantial than that the two words, one of which may not have even existed, are vaguely similar in sound and meaning. No derivation has been proposed that would accord with a regular derivational process, and no citations of any intermediate forms in primary sources have ever been presented.

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In some versions of the "nosophoros" etymology, an intermediate form nesufur-atu or sometimes nosufur-atu is presented, but both the original source for this and the justification for it are unclear. This form is often indicated to be Slavonic or Slavic, but these terms do not correspond to the commonly recognised names for any language, and it is likely that either Old Church Slavonic or the proto-language Proto-Slavic is intended. As with νοσοφόρος, this supposed Slavonic word does not appear to be attested in primary sources, which severely undermines the credibility of the argument.

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Another common etymology suggests that the word meant "not breathing," which appears to be attempting to read a derivative of the Latin verb spirare ("to breathe") as a second morpheme in nosferatu. Skal notes that this is "without basis in lexicography," viewing all these etymological attempts with similar scepticism.

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A final possibility is that the form Gerard gave is a well-known Romanian term without the benefit of normalised spelling, or possibly a misintrepretation of the sounds of the word due to Gerard's limited familiarity with the language, or possibly a dialectical variant of the word. Two candidate words that have been put forth are necurat ("unclean", usually associated with the occult) and nesuferit ("insufferable"). The nominative masculine definite form of a Romanian noun in the declension to which both words belong takes the ending "-ul", so the definite forms necuratul and nesuferitul are commonly encountered (translatable as "the Devil" and "the insufferable one," respectively).

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