SCARY SIGHTS IN THE CEMETERY PART I

Many years ago, a young man by the name of David Farrant achieved a degree of notoriety when, with a group of colleagues, he visited the somewhat dishevelled Highgate Cemetery in London due to their interest in the occult. What later became known as the Highgate Vampire affair made headlines across the world. On December 21, 1969, Farrant and his colleagues actually spent a night in the cemetery, but one of the truly shocking highlights of the case occurred a few days later. Whilst walking past the graveyard on Christmas Eve, David saw a spectral figure which from his perspective was obviously of paranormal provenance. Further witnesses then came forward with their own accounts of things they’d experienced in or near the cemetery and the nearby Swains Lane. Numerous ghost-like figures had been espied, including a tall man dressed in black, a woman in a white gown and, bizarrely, a phantasm riding a bike.

The belief that a vampire was running amok at Highgate seems to have had its origins in the Victorian era, and the notion that a stereotypical blood-sucker – as depicted in horror movies – lurked among the gravestones does not seem to have originated with Farrant himself. However, something distinctly malign was present within its walls, he believed.

Later, Farrant was jailed for a number of offences which he was alleged to have committed at Highgate, including vandalism and desecration. He has consistently and passionately denied that he was responsible for these occurrences, and in a lecture at which he was present he gave a credible account of what he says really happened.

My previous perception of David Farrant had been thoroughly poisoned by reports in the press.

However, having listened to him speak I became convinced that he had been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. After the lecture was over, I had the opportunity of talking with David at length. I have to confess that I couldn’t spot so much as a trace of the demented grave-desecrator that I’d envisioned.