Seán Manchester (born Patrick Sean Manchester, 15 July 1944) is a British author and self-described exorcist, best known for originating the vampire theory behind the Highgate Vampire case of the early 1970s and for his long-running public rivalry with fellow investigator David Farrant.[1]
Early life
Manchester was born near Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England.[1]
The British Occult Society and the Highgate Vampire
Manchester was president of an occult investigation team within the British Occult Society.[2] In late February 1970, he told the Hampstead and Highgate Express that he believed reported hauntings around Highgate Cemetery were the work of a "King Vampire of the Undead" — a medieval Wallachian nobleman he claimed had been transported to England in a coffin in the early 18th century and buried at the site, later awoken by modern occult activity.[3] Manchester appeared on Thames Television on 13 March 1970 to restate this theory, a broadcast that prompted a large crowd of amateur "vampire hunters" to gather outside the cemetery that same night.[3] He led a formal exorcism attempt at the cemetery in August 1970, and stated in his own later published account that he ultimately located and destroyed the vampire in 1973 through a stake, decapitation, and burning of the remains.[1]
Vampire Research Society and religious orders
Manchester founded the Vampire Research Society, an offshoot of the British Occult Society, on 2 February 1970, and continues to serve as its president.[4] For its first two decades the society had open membership and grew to around 300 members, before restricting membership in 1990 to concentrate on practical research; it investigates only claimed paranormal manifestations and has no ties to the wider vampire subculture, blood-drinking practices, or people wishing to become vampires.[4]
He entered the minor order of exorcist in 1973, before entering the diaconate and priesthood in 1990 and being elevated to the episcopate on 4 October 1991, the feast of St Francis of Assisi.[5] He describes himself since as a bishop of the Old Catholic Church, and has stated that only a bishop may authorise a solemn exorcism.[6] He has specialised in the ministry of exorcism for over three decades and is described by supporters as one of Britain's foremost authorities on demonology, including vampirology.[6]
Published works
Manchester's books include The Highgate Vampire (1985, revised 1991), his best-known account of the case, alongside From Satan to Christ (1988), Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: The Life of Lady Caroline Lamb (1992), The Grail Church (1995), The Vampire Hunter's Handbook (1997), the novel Carmel: A Vampire Tale (2000), Stray Ghosts: A Memoir of Shades (2003), and Confronting the Devil: At the Periphery and Beyond (2007).[2]
Rivalry with David Farrant
Manchester's account of the Highgate case has been publicly disputed by David Farrant since 1970, with both men disputing key details of the case and each other's credibility for decades, including a proposed "magical duel" on Parliament Hill in 1973 that was ultimately called off. The dispute continued through print, broadcast media, and online until Farrant's death in 2019, and Manchester has continued to address the case and its critics in various forms since.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Seán Manchester."RationalWiki.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Bishop Seán Manchester."Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The strange tale of the Highgate vampire."Far Out Magazine.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Vampire Research Society."The Free Dictionary (The Vampire Book, 2nd ed., 2011).
- ↑ "Seán Manchester."The Vampirologist.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sean Manchester."Coast to Coast AM.