in August, carrying a crucifix and a wooden stake. He was arrested, but when the case came to court it was dismissed. A few days later Manchester returned to Highgate Cemetery. He claims that this time he and his companions forced open the doors of a family vault (indicated by his psychic helper). He says he lifted the lid off one coffin, believing it to have been mysteriously transferred there from the previous catacomb. He was about to drive a stake through the body it contained when a companion persuaded him to desist. Reluctantly, he shut the coffin, leaving garlic and incense in the vault. Aftermath There was more publicity about Farrant and Manchester when rumours spread that they would meet in a "magicians' duel" on Parliament Hill on Friday 13 April 1973, which never occurred. Farrant was jailed in 1974 for damaging memorials and interfering with dead remains in Highgate Cemetery—vandalism and desecration which he insisted had been caused by Satanists, not him. Farrant and Manchester wrote and spoke repeatedly about the Highgate Vampire, each stressing his own role to the exclusion of the other. Each attempted to control the narrative around the vampire, resulting in ongoing animosity and rivalry between the two. Their feud continued for decades, marked by insults and vindictiveness, until Farrant's death in April 2019. In popular culture According to author Bill Ellis, the Hammer Horror film Dracula AD 1972, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, was inspired by the Highgate Vampire. The Highgate Vampire appears as a villain in the Dark Horse comics series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine. The Highgate Vampire is revealed to be, not a vampire, but an insectoid demon that feeds off its victims' emotional trauma. Rupert Giles had nearly been killed by the creature in 1972. The Highgate Vampire became a minion of Drusilla when it returned in the 2010s. Il vampiro di Highgate (Highgate Vampire) is the title of 45th issue of Italian horror comic book series Dampyr. The Highgate Vampire was covered on episode 388 of The Last Podcast On The Left. References Further reading Barlay, Nick. (10 July 2004) The Times "Zzzzz London;Z is for...;A-Z;London Life" Section: Features; Page 31. Beresford, Matthew. From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth (London: Reaktion Books, 2008), 175-92. Campbell, Ramsey. "The Strange Case of Seán Manchester" in Ramsey Campbell, Probably (PS Publishing, 2002, ). The