Sean 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.
Early life
Manchester was born near Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England.
The British Occult Society and the Highgate Vampire
Manchester served as president of the British Occult Society from 1967 to 1988. 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. 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. 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.
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. He entered the minor order of exorcist in 1973, before entering the diaconate and priesthood in 1990 and being consecrated a bishop on 4 October 1991, describing himself since as a bishop of the Old Catholic Church. He has stated that only a bishop may authorise a solemn exorcism, and has described himself as one of Britain's foremost authorities on demonology and vampirology.
Published works
Manchester's books include The Highgate Vampire (1985), 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), and the novel Carmel: A Vampire Tale (2000).
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.