INTERVIEW WITH THE
REAL VAMPIRE HUNTER

David Farrant is not a man to avoid controversy . Most famous for his involvement in the case of the 'Highgate Vampire', Farrant now prefers to describe himself as a psychic investigator; nonetheless, it's in his role as the modern day equivalent of a vampire hunter that he is perhaps best known.

BITE ME: You were the original vampire hunter - what would you describe yourself as now?

DAVID FARRANT: I have never really described myself as a vampire hunter - more a psychic investigator. The term 'vampire hunter' was one that was really attributed to me by the police (and subsequently the press) back in 1970 when I was arrested in Highgate Cemetery one night and taken to court for 'hunting a vampire'. It's a long story, but basically, what happend was that in late 1969, the British Psychic and Occult Society (BPOS) began investigating local reports about a 'tall dark figure' with 'glaring red eyes' that had been spotted in Highgate Cemetery, that was supposedly a 'vampire'. I personally interviewed many of these witnesses and was convinced that they were telling the truth. Then one night in December 1969, I witnessed this apparition myself just inside the north gate of Highgate Cemetery. I'm not sure exactly what it was, except that the surrounding area turned icy cold and I saw a tall dark figure with 'hypnotic red eyes' that seemed to exude an impression of intense evil. Following this, the BPOS decided to conduct a seance in the cemetery using a 'psychic medium' to make 'psychic contact' with this entity. Unfortunately, this seance was interrupted by the police and I was taken to court charged with 'vampire hunting' Incredibly perhaps, the name of the magistrate was Christopher Lee. (Seriously, this is not a joke). I was acquitted on that occasion after explaining my presence within the cemetery was because I was leading an official investigation into the sightings of this apparition. But because of the world-wide publicity this case attracted (thanks to the police who insisted on taking me to court) vandalism at Highgate Cemetery increased to an alarming degree and in the eyes of the cemetery authorities and the police, I was held directly responsible. The situation was not helped because prior to this, I had already acquired a reputation as a 'white witch' because of my involvement with certain magical rituals. (I guess the persecution of witches is just as prevalent nowadays as it was in the Middle Ages).

BITE ME: Have you abandoned your vampire hunter role totally or are you more interested in general psychic investigating?

DAVID FARRANT: I have always been interested and involved with investigating psychic phenomena in general. Indeed, in this respect, I continue to investigate cases of ghostly phenomena all over the country. Unfortunately, the Highgate Cemetery case got slightly out of hand and I am usually associated directly with that, including being a 'vampire hunter'!

BITE ME: How would you define the role of vampire hunter in this millenium? Is it still all stakes and traditional methods?

DAVID FARRANT: I was asked this question on satellite TV last year (about investigating vampires) and I answered that 'you can't really investigate something that you don't really believe in. May I qualify this, as I believe my answer might have confused some peoplen, not least one or two of my critics ... it is true that I do not believe in vampires in their commercialised sense i.e. the sort of vampire that has stepped straight out of a Hammer film, sleeps in its coffin by day and goes around sucking people's blood by night and which can only be destroyed by being 'staked through the heart'. I have frequently said in the past that this sort of vampire is pure fiction. But this does not mean, however, there there do not exist psychic entities that take on vampire-like characteristics in that they remain 'earthbound' and posses the capability to attack unsuspecting victims, psychically leading some people to believe they have become 'possessed'. But this is an entirely different matter. Such cases are, in fact, quite common, and this particular type of supernatural phenomenon would almost certainly explain the so-called Highgate 'vampire'. But 'staking' the is, I'm afraid a point that is totally academic. If 'vampires', as such, only exist as a potent form of psychic energy (and I refer to cases where these have been experienced outside their glamouriesed film image), then it is not possible to dissipate (or 'exorcise') such energy with a sharpened piece of wood.

BITE ME: What aspects of vampirism interest you most? What is your concept of a vampire?

DAVID FARRANT: I find the whole concept of vampirism quite fascinating, probably because to me such concepts say much more about human nature than they do about any supernatural entities: the 'hypnotic' sexual element, the craving for power and control, a gory obsession with the spilling of blood (physical violence) and not least the quest for immortality, all denote traits in the human psyche which are made visibly apparent. As for my concept of a vampire, it is necessary to mention the existence of the incubus and succubus, male and female demons respectively (I prefer to call them psychic entities) that visit sleeping people by night and supposedly have sex with them. Reports about the existence of these phenomena date back for centuries and the symptoms of the visitations are invariably the same. People are suddenly awakened in the night to find themselves completely paralysed, often with a tremendous pressure on their chest that 'pins' them to the bed. They are unable to move, even scream, and can only lie helpless completely subject to the entity's will. These visitations often occur with persistent frequency and victims often find themselves growing physcially weaker, becoming anaemic and developing an aversion to bright sunlight. They also become prone to bouts of sleep-walking either soon before, or not long after, the 'attacks'. I am quite convinced that stories of vampirism actually derived, or were based upon reports about the well known existence of these malevolent phenomena; in fact, it is highly likely that Stoker himself could have been aware of such accounts when he wrote his fictional novel, Dracula

BITE ME: What does being a psychic investigator involve?

DAVID FARRANT: A great deal of work! But seriously, the first thing I always do when investigating cases of unexplained phenomena - or 'ghosts' - is to look for some logical explanation. If none is forthcoming, we will frequently hold vigils at reputedly haunted sights with the purpose of detecting the presece, or witnessing a given psychic manifestation. Obviously, there are certain methods employed to do this, but these are really outside the scope of the question.

BITE ME: What sparked your interest in the paranormal?

DAVID FARRANT: My interest almost certainly sprang from my mother's involvement in spiritualism. I was very young at this time, but even so sensed that there must lie some other meaning beyond this drab material world. When I left school, I decided to pursue this 'intangible interest'; well before that actually as even my school was reputedly haunted!

BITE ME: Does the new millenium have any special significance for you?

DAVID FARRANT: No. Time as such (that is, 'man-made' time) means little to me, only in the sense that it serves as a guide to the limitations of material existence. Nobody can deny that in that sense, it is necessary. But in reality (and I am talking from an esoteric point of view), to be bound by time with all its obligatory dates and other such limitations, is to exist in a world where freedom from it is not possible.

BITE ME: How many cases have you investigated over the years?

DAVID FARRANT: If you take every single case, including the ones where no satisfactory explanations have been forthcoming (and there are quite a few of those), and allow for the numerous correspondence and copious notes on file about cases that have been logged but for some reason or another have never been investigated more fully, the figure over the years must run into hundreds. I have never actually counted them all up, but there are a significant number.

BITE ME: Tell us a bit about the most memorable/frightening/puzzling cases ...

DAVID FARRANT: One of the more memorable ones involved a nightly vigil inside a reputedly haunted cottage (in ruins) at the base of Snowdon in 1985. Strange lights in the sky and on the mountainside had been reported in the vicinity as well as a tall dark figure (some said a cowled monk) that had been witnessed disappearing into the cottage by locals. Eight people were present including myself and a medium. It was a freezing night and to keep warm (and for the purpose of 'natural light'), we lit a log fire in a disused fireplace. Suddenly, the interior of the room was lit by a brilliant white light passing overhead. It made no sound but its dazzling reflection was clearly visible through the broken rafters of the cottage. Slightly apprehensive, we nevertheless decided to proceed with the seance: cameras as ever at the ready should the apparition choose to manifest. the medium spoke aloud requesting the entity (or whatever it was) to make its presence known and after a short interval, an eerie 'wailing sound' echoed around the interior, fading slightly then getting louder as though it was moving around the cottage. When it reached our room, it abruptly stopped, and at the same moment piles of soot crashed down the disused chimney putting out the fire and filling the room with dense smoke. We struggled for the entrance, torches scarcely having any effect in the dense smoke. ONce in the open, it seemed our troubles had only just begun, for we were apprehended by two police officers out on patrol. They had seen the firelight inside the ruins but after leaving their car, both admitted to having seen a large 'ball of light' which had moved across the sky and had hovered momentarily over the cottage. We were not charged under any local bylaw, but advised not to return as 'strange things' had been repored in the area at night ...

BITE ME: Has your opinion towards vampires changed over the years?

DAVID FARRANT: I have never accepted the existence of 'blood-sucking vampires' in their literal sense even when I was younger. Naturally, my understanding towards some type of psychic phenomana has changed over the years, but if anything, this was all part of a 'learning process' from my investigations and experiences 'on the ground'. The unexplained apparition I witnessed at Highgate Cemetery back in 1969, remains simply as that: an unexplained entity but one which could be said (at least, going by local reports at the time) to take on 'vampire-like' characteristics.

BITE ME: How has the Highgate incident affected your life?

DAVID FARRANT: It has affected it in that it has brought me into contact with people from all over the world interested in the Highgate case (a case which admittedly, I inadvertently 'started'). In 1997, I formed the Highgate Vampire Society (mainly to act as some 'organised forum' to cater for all this interest) and this in turn has had an influence on my contacts and acquaintances; not to mention leading me to write a book (Beyond The Highgate Vampire) on the subject. Apart from this perhaps, one adverse effect is that it has forced me to keep away from Highgate Cemetery where I am now most decidedly unwelcome.

BITE ME: What advice would you give to anyone attempting to do what you did at Highgate today?

DAVID FARRANT: Don't.