2. A vampire panic in 1970s London saw numerous arrests and a body burned
In 1970, David Farrant told a local newspaper he’d seen a tall, grey figure in London’s Highgate Cemetery. Other people wrote in saying they’d seen similar ghosts in the same place. One correspondent, a self-proclaimed vampire hunter and (alleged) bishop, Sean Manchester, said it was a vampire. In the lunacy that followed, a mob of vampire hunters broke into Highgate despite the police’s best efforts. A charred and headless corpse turned up one morning. Police later arrested Farrant, armed with a crucifix and wooden stake, at Highgate. Don’t worry, though: ‘Bishop’ Manchester exorcised the vampire the same year. Phew.
