Highgate Horror (Part I of II)

IN SEARCH OF THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE (1997)

The Pond Squire Ghost Chicken

Opened in 1839, Highgate Cemetery stands on redeveloped grounds from the manor and estate of Sir William Ashurst, Lord Mayor of London and director of the Bank of England. Renowned for its Romantic-Gothic architecture and Egyptian-style catacombs, the location was utilised by Hammer (TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL) and Amicus (as opening credits for TALES FROM THE CRYPT and FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE).  

VAMPIRE myths are thick in Slavic lore, yet British bloodsuckers are more anaemic. The most notable homegrown example is the vampire of Highgate Cemetery in Swain's Lane, North London. Sightings of a tall, dark, leyline-loving figure in the Borough of Camden have been reported since the Victorian era, but came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the press proclaimed the culprit as undead, after reports of a floating, black-cloaked entity with hypnotic red eyes. And as we entered the Satanic Seventies, rumours circulated of witchcraft ceremonies within the cemetery grounds, and dead foxes drained of blood. 

Paranormal investigator and President of the British Psychic and Occult Society (BPOS), David Farrant, was a leading protagonist amongst the tombstones. IN SEARCH OF THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE - its title clearly riffing on the pseudo-American documentaries and television series of the 1970s - was produced and directed by BPOS stalwart Dave Milner, under his Darkhouse Productions banner. This thirty-six minute video documentary is infused with a camp Goth aesthetic, and presented by Farrant himself. Seated throughout, he delivers his account laboriously and without any real insight, although there is a theory that the black magic rituals reinvigorated the legend into something much darker. Purely a BPOS puff piece, it does not mention Farrant's prison sentences for grave desecration and sending voodoo effigies to the police. A typically stilted conclusion is laughably nondescript: "as to the question of whether a vampire still exists at Highgate Cemetery, well, I can only say, yes."

David Farrant helped The Highgate Vampire to become one of London's most enigmatic urban legends, which has been exaggerated by collective hysteria, misidentification and hoax. Highgate Cemetery is also said to be haunted by a spectral cyclist, a faceless man and a floating nun.

Despite his reputation, Farrant comes across as shy, effeminate, and somewhat ethereal. Without naming names, he dismisses the involvement of another investigator, who is undoubtedly Sean Manchester. A Bishop of the Old Catholic Church, Exorcist and general defender of the faith, Manchester stated that the vampire was a Romanian nobleman, of whom he eventually banished in 1973 in another location altogether, in Crouch End. Most infamously, The Bishop declared he would hold an exorcism at Highgate on Friday 13th March 1970, which was covered on Thames television. Soon the grounds were overrun with makeshift vampire hunters, despite the best efforts of the police.

The feud between Farrant and Manchester lasted until David's death in 2019. This was not just a war of words, metaphysical confrontations were also planned (branded occult "duels to the death" or "psychic combats") though never realised. Essentially IN SEARCH OF THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE is as shallow as the facts of the case, barely touching on the real meat of the matter: that of two individuals who were unable to accommodate the same consecrated ground.

Just when you thought Highgate has enough paranormal activity, consider the case of Sir Francis Bacon's otherworldly frozen chicken. This oddity sets up a variety of humourous tags, such as poultrygeist, chilling ghost and phantom foul. The chicken appears to run in wild circles before disappearing into the ether or, on one occasion, through a wall. The above is an illustration from The Evening News of December 10th, 1957.

The vampire flap seemed to have quashed the appearance of the area's other leading phantom, the frozen chicken of Pond Squire on Highgate Hill. In 1626, philosopher and statesman Sir Francis Bacon's notion of preserving food through freezing was indeed correct, but resulted in his premature demise and the creation of the apparition. Bacon acquired a plucked and gutted chicken then stuffed it with snow, but caught pneumonia and died soon after. Over the years there have been sightings of the distressed bird running around and maniacally flapping its wings, sometimes shrieking, sometimes silent. One of the last encounters was in 1970, when a courting couple's amorous actions were interrupted, the ghost chicken dropping from a tree branch onto their bench.

The Hammer Vampire and Batman

Detective Comics - Heart of a Vampire (1976)

The undead and Gotham City's favourite son: The Dark Knight depicted by Gene Colan for the splash page of Batman #351 (September 1982).

IN 1970, artist and historian Jim Steranko wrote in The Steranko History of Comics: "Heavily steeped in Teutonic atmosphere, Batman conjured up visions of vampires with his black cloak, grim visage and white slit eyes. He moved through cubist backgrounds of warped perspectives and paranoiac tilt shots, of shadows and silhouettes that gave credence to the thought that he was more bat than man."

There is undoubtedly a subliminal connection between the vampire myth and the original specification of Batman. In an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of criminals and become a creature of the night, one of The Caped Crusader's inspirations was Bela Lugosi in Universal's 1931 DRACULA. Indeed, an initial foe was The Monk - a red suited vampire and hypnotist - that shows even during the early years the notion was firmly in play. Similarly Neal Adams - whose dynamic style restored Batman to his dark roots - cited Christopher Lee and the use of his cape as a major influence. In 1968, when the artist began his approach to the character, Lee was making his third appearance as The Count for Hammer with DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.

In the Detective Comics story Heart of a Vampire, after being dismissed from medical school, Gustav DeCobra continued his unorthodox experiments by robbing graves, which unfortunately included the resting place of a bloodsucker. 

The most literal merging of these two pop culture icons occurred in Detective Comics #455 (January 1976). Heart of a Vampire - written by Elliot S. Maggin and illustrated by Mike Grell (from uncredited thumbnails by Bernie Wrightson) - begins with Alfred and Bruce Wayne's car overheating miles outside of Gotham. When they enter a boarded-up house to find water for the radiator, they discover a coffin and vampire Gustav DeCobra. Batman puts a wooden stake through Gustav's chest, but hasn't penetrated the heart. A former doctor, DeCobra's research was in heart transplants, and Batman realises that he may have surgically moved his organ elsewhere. To find it, Bruce fights Gustav vigorously and listens for a rapid heartbeat; Batman notices that the grandfather clock gets louder as the confrontation progresses and grabs a wooden bow and arrow. Shooting the clock where the vampire had placed his heart, DeCobra dies as his corpse turns to a skeleton at the break of dawn.

Using photographic reference, Grell draws DeCobra as Christopher Lee, though the artist reluctantly changed the hair style and nose (and added a scar) at the insistence of editor Julie Schwartz. In addition, Heart of a Vampire references Hammer design and narrative: the house interior resembles the 1958 DRACULA (the tale also mimics the climactic battle), and a closeup of the coffin's padlock - dropping onto the floor without opening - is a direct lift from the non-Lee BRIDES OF DRACULA.