David Farrant

[[File:Farrant.jpg|thumb|right|165px|David Farrant, "occultist"]]
{{Paranormal}}
'''David Farrant''' {{lived|1946|2019}} was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[occultism|occultist]] and [[author]] best known for his connection to the nationally-publicized "Highgate Vampire sightings" in London, England during the 1970s. He served a [[prison]] sentence for desecrating Highgate cemetery and mailing [[voodoo]] effigies to the [[police]].<ref>http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jBacMogGLfo/T3ltmNorMSI/AAAAAAAAEBw/vol3LIHHg84/s1600/VoodooDollsENews3.7.74.jpg News clipping</ref>

==The Highgate vampire==
[[File:Tombs in Highgate West Cemetery - geograph.org.uk - 1691914.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The cemetery in question]]
In the early 1970s reports of supposed supernatural activity at London's Highgate cemetery triggered a "media sensation". Farrant, along with self-proclaimed [[Exorcism|exorcist]] and vampire-hunter [[Sean Manchester]] appeared in the press and on television, each claiming the exclusive "discovery" of a [[vampire]] they said was lurking in the graveyard. After one ITV broadcast, a mob of thrill-seekers swarmed the cemetery and climbed over the gates despite police efforts to control them. The British tabloid press of the era featured regular coverage of Farrant's misadventures and clashes with authorities. Over the years, Manchester and Farrant continued their rivalry. Both wrote separate books on the topic of the Highgate Vampire and sometimes publicly challenged each other to "magical duels".<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire The Highgate Vampire</ref>

Highgate and the surrounding area, Hampstead, long known for its bohemian, arty population, were around 1970 at the centre of both the boom in occultism in London and the newly-legal gay scene (both the cemetery and nearby Hampstead Heath were popular gay cruising sites). So even without the supernatural, it's likely you could see some interesting things happening in the area. In addition, Highgate cemetery was in 1970 used for filming Andy Milligan's low-budget vampire movie ''The Body Beneath'', shot a few months before the reports of the Highgate vampire emerged, and advertised as "Filmed in the graveyards of England".<ref>''The Bodies Beneath'', Vic Pratt, William Fowler, Strange Attractor Press, 2019</ref>

==Beliefs==
Although he cheerfully posed for newspaper and TV cameras in the early 1970s holding a cross and stake while affirming his intentions to hunt down and destroy the Highgate Vampire, Farrant apparently tempered his views of the affair in later years. He claimed not to believe in vampires, and said that a "dark figure" or some kind of "psychic entity" was to blame for the Highgate hysteria. He didn't even like the word "[[ghost]]s," preferring instead to call them "images replayed from the past."<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aw_7JUts9g</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20071011005401/https://davidfarrant.org/faq.html</ref> Despite not believing in vampires, he was the head of the "Highgate Vampire Society."<ref>http://www.davidfarrant.org/about/index.html</ref> On at least one blog entry he referred to himself as a "[[witch]]" (albeit in quotation marks).<ref>http://davidfarrant.org/TheHumanTouch/?p=536</ref> According to one UK [[tabloid]], Farrant founded a number of [[occult]] or [[Satanic]] circles, putting in particular effort to recruit young women, saying, "They are all over 18 and we don't initiate them if we believe they are just coming along for the [[sex]]."<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article69185.ece The SUN &mdash; Witch orgy to take virginity] (From Wayback Machine)</ref>

==Prison==
When London police found Farrant naked beside a plate of glowing embers in an abandoned house in 1973, he told them he was conducting a [[Wiccan]] ceremony to rid the place of hauntings. Hauled before a judge and jury, he was exonerated and let go with a warning. Police detectives had roughly interrogated a friend of his, so he mailed them [[voodoo]] dolls with threatening messages attached. A few months later he was back in court, this time suspected of grave desecration after police discovered a headless corpse propped in the front seat of a local resident's car. Someone else came forward and admitted they'd put the body in the car as a joke, but thanks to some photos of vandalized graves found in his possession, Farrant was found guilty of damaging Highgate Cemetery and sending voodoo dolls to authorities. The judge sentenced him to more than four years in prison.<ref>Bill Ellis [http://books.google.com/books?id=oLcqlypMCe8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Farrant+trial+jail&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5as6UcrdC46v0AGz-4GIBQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=farrant%20prison&f=false Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media] University Press of Kentucky</ref> Farrant admitted to sending the voodoo dolls, but insisted the vandalism and desecration was caused by Satanists, not him.<ref>http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VO4O4a5g0aw/TLbgJsxxynI/AAAAAAAAAGY/nRnROmeD6Z8/s1600/MaryFarrantTestimony.jpg News clipping</ref>

==Feud with [[Sean Manchester]]==
[[File:Dfarrant2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Farrant toasts longtime rival bishop [[Sean Manchester]]'s "head." On a silver platter. With cookies.]]
Farrant's rivalry with Manchester may have stemmed from their history as competing "authorities" on the Highgate Vampire, or the latter's status as a "bishop," and Farrant's status as an "[[Occult|occultist]]." The pair quarreled publicly over the years, taking part in mock "occult duels" and endless debates on Internet forums. Farrant distributed a series of satirical comic books called ''The Adventures of Bishop Bonkers,'' which portray Manchester as a delusional [[paranoia]]c whose [[evil]] plans are humorously undone by Farrant's apparent charm and guile.<ref>http://bishopbonkers.blogspot.com/p/order-details.html The Adventures of Bishop Bonkers</ref> Farrant also expressed his intense dislike of Manchester with satirical YouTube videos. In one blog<ref>http://kevin-chesham.blogspot.com/2012/02/betrayal.html Apparently one of Manchester's other feuds with a guy named Kevin Chesham</ref> Manchester complains that ''"a video made by and featuring David Farrant at Christmas 2011 culminates with the decapitation of my head in effigy. It can be viewed at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYUr15UwO7A this link.]"'' 

Manchester responded on various of his blogs by creating oil paintings that depict Farrant as a [[demon]].<ref>http://seanmanchester.blogspot.com/2009/02/demoniac.html Seanmanchester.blogspot.com</ref> Manchester also accused Farrant of having "[[narcissistic personality disorder]]s", and alleges he was deliberately peddling a line of defamatory "anti-Bishop Manchester merchandise" such as T-shirts, drinking glasses, and mugs.<ref>http://friendsofbishopseanmanchester.blogspot.com/2010/10/david-farrant.html Friends of Bishop Sean Manchester</ref>

==Feud with Anthony Hogg==
[[File:Who-needs-to-be-employable-when-you-can-be-a-vampirologist.jpg|thumb|right|200px|One of the "Cousin Hoggy" cartoons distributed by Farrant]]
An [[Australian]] vampire enthusiast<ref>http://doaav.blogspot.com Hogg's ''Diary of an amateur vampirologist''</ref> named Anthony Hogg<ref>Hogg would like it a lot if vampires were real. He refers to the Highgate Vampire as a "case" he's investigating. He's scornful of the antics of Farrant and Manchester, but his skepticism is mostly based on lack of "scriptural" support for vampires in the Bible. [http://www.skepreview.com/2013/03/fortean-radio.html]</ref> writes blogs critical of both Farrant and Manchester. He has accused Farrant of depicting him as a pig in ''The Adventures of Bishop Bonkers'' comics.<ref>http://dawwih.blogspot.com/2010/02/freedom-of-speech-and-highgate-vampire.html Freedom of Speech and the Highgate Vampire, Anthony Hogg</ref> As evidence, Hogg cites a cartoon character named 'Cousin Hoggy' who is shown ascending to heaven after being butchered for a fictional Farrant-Manchester Christmas dinner.<ref>http://dawwih.blogspot.com/2011/07/sigh-another-impersonator.html Sigh. Another impersonator, Anthony Hogg</ref> Caricatures of Hogg also appear in Farrant's satirical YouTube videos. In one video, "Hoggy" travels from Australia to England to question Farrant, who promptly shoots him dead. In another, the deceased "Hoggy" is discovered [[Ghost#Types_of_hauntings|haunting]] Farrant, who orders him captured in a 'ghost trap' and given to [[extraterrestrial|aliens]] for sexual experimentation.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0MLpMxUojQ ''A Hoggy Halloween''</ref> 

The unfortunately-named Hogg is also subjected to the online condemnation and weird photoshop stylings of bishop [[Sean Manchester]] who (typically speaking in the third person) complains that Hogg is "doing precisely what Mr Farrant wants, i.e. violating Bishop Manchester.".<ref>http://friendsofbishopseanmanchester.blogspot.com/2010/10/anthony-hogg.html</ref> Manchester [[Se%C3%A1n_Manchester#Internet_activities|or one of his Internet aliases]] also expresses his contempt for Hogg via a blog entitled "Hoggwatch".<ref>http://hoggwatch.blogspot.co.uk Hoggwatch</ref> 

In 2013, Hogg demanded that Farrant contribute money to Highgate cemetery's upkeep and maintenance, saying that Farrant was responsible for the 1970s press hysteria that led to a wave of vandalism.<ref>[http://www.kentishtowner.co.uk/2012/10/31/wednesday-picture-highgate-cemetery-and-the-tale-of-the-highgate-vampire/ Highgate Cemetery – and the Tale of the Highgate Vampire] Kentish Towner</ref>

==Feuds with anyone else==
Farrant had a habit of declaring "thaumaturgical war" on anyone who disagreed with him, including people he'd never met who wrote letters to [[pagan]] newsletters disagreeing with him.<ref>Including [[User:Arkady|one RationalWikian]].</ref> These declarations were greeted with hilarity by pretty much all recipients.

==Paranormal theme park?==
In 2012, Farrant sought to turn a private estate in Yorkshire reputed to be the site of Robin Hood's grave (where he claims to have exorcised evil spirits years earlier) into a "paranormal tourist attraction." Sketches posted to his blog reveal plans to move the grave (guaranteed to stir up those restless spirits again) to make way for an IMAX theater, a restaurant, and a golf course on the property.<ref>http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/local/more-local-news/grave-to-be-tourist-attraction-1-4945883 Grave to be tourist attraction?'' The Dewsbury Reporter, 21 September 2012</ref><ref>http://davidfarrant.org/TheHumanTouch/almost-an-open-secret/ Robin Hood's Grave commercial development mapdavidfarrant.org</ref>

==External links==
*[http://davidfarrant.org/TheHumanTouch/ His blog]
*[http://www.talkaboutstrange.co.uk/?s=David+Farrant Righteous Indignation interview]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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Categories: Authors, British people, Paranormal, Living people, Religious leaders