Awaiting A Suitable Treatment With Integrity

Fumes, Funereal Flowers, Fence-sitting — Farewell?

Parallelograms, Options and Extensions

After the production company formed with Aimee entered its own peculiar limbo, approaches by various people with an angle persisted. I eventually settled on optioning the rights to the book annually, which led to working alongside Parallel who continued to take up the Option from 2011.  

Each time I renewed the option on The Highgate Vampire for a further twelve months, outside interest would emerge but, of course, was thwarted by the existence of the Option. Hammer Films showed interest, but could not be persuaded to work in tandem with Parallel, or indeed anyone else. This eventually led to me deciding not to renew the Option; so that I am free to entertain the right people.

And that is where we are today. The only involvement I insist upon is advisory and consultative. The project still remains shrouded in the same amount of mist-laden uncertainty as it ever did. Waiting ...

Professor Varma - Gentleman and Scholar

Like Peter Underwood's support both before and after the first edition of The Highgate Vampire, I received equally enthusiastic support from Devendra P Varma. Many individuals connected to film production had contacted me following the first appearance of my book in 1985, but upon the arrival of the enlarged and completely revised edition half a dozen years later, bids seemed to flood in.

While Highgate Vampire Productions was up and running I ignored what was proffered, and in the wake of Aimee's unexpected death I was a little too shaken to entertain seriously anything suggested.

In the meantime, I had the enthusiastic support of my friends and colleagues, not least my London Secretary, Diana Brewester, fellow researcher Peter Underwood, vampirologist Devendra P Varma, now all sadly deceased, and a great many others. Yet it was Professor Varma's enthusiasm for everything I did in this field which now gives me pause to reflect on the remarkable impact he had.

The Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma, Ph.D., Honorary Vice-President of the Vampire Research Society, on his return trip from delivering a scholarly address at The Undiscovered Country Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at UNC (October 1994), suffered an unexpected stroke and slipped into a coma. Dr Varma finally sustained a massive stroke that took his life on October 24th at 4:30 pm New York time. The first of the strokes occurred on October 17th in New York at a colleague's home where he had stopped briefly while returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr Varma's son, Hemendra, and daughter-in-law, Susan, flew from Canada to New York and were present at his sad passing.

 

Dr Varma was a retired Full Professor Emeritus from Dalhousie University at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Born in Darbhanga, a Himalayan village overlooking Mount Everest on 17 October 1923 to landed gentry parents, he eventually became a British/Canadian citizen. He was an internationally acclaimed scholar and the author of dozens of major articles and books in the scholarly discipline of Gothic Studies, making him the pre-eminent scholar in the field. His text The Gothic Flame was his way of picking up the torch from Montague Summers, before the flame seemingly passed to myself in October 1994. Dr Varma was the keynote speaker for such major literary bodies as The Byron Society (where, at some considerable length, he reviewed my biography of Lady Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron, Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know) and The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, which granted him the Outstanding Scholar Award. Both the British House of Lords and the Japanese Diet invited Dr Varma for major presentations. His latest book, On the Trail of Dracula, was in preparation at the time of his death.

Dr Varma was excited at the prospect of my proposed sequel to Dracula (Carmel: A Vampire Tale, published in 2000 by Gothic Press), and I dedicated The Vampire Hunter’s Handbook, published in 1997 by Gothic Press, to the memory of my good friend and colleague.

He was decorated Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Caballero Grand Cruz de la Orden de Nuestra Se-ora de Guadalupe) and Knight Officer of the Holy Sepulchre. He held the Order of the Lion and the Black Rose and was a Fellow of the Augustan Society. He addressed the Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at the University of Northern Colorado held October 14th-16th. At the time of his major address, he was made a full member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honour Society. He was truly a great scholar and a real gentleman in the European style.

My tribute to Professor Varma was first published in the Summer 1995 issue of Udolpho (magazine of The Gothic Society). What follows is an edited and much shortened version of my original obituary from Udolpho magazine:

“The terrible news of the Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma’s death came upon the light-bearers of the neo-Gothic revival as an earthquake. I received the news by accident whilst glancing through a journal; it could not have struck me with the idea of a more awful and dreary blank in Creation. Few have been held in my affection as the place reserved for Varma. We existed, like Byron and Beckford, in mutual admiration. That admiration reigned for twenty years since it blossomed in 1975 when we were independently published in Peter Underwood’s anthology 'The Vampire’s Bedside Companion.' Varma’s chapter, 'The Genesis of Dracula: A Re-Visit,' was the perfect compliment to my own about the early days of Highgate Cemetery’s vampire infestation. The empathy shared and enthusiasm shown for a world that was already receding was apparent to us. Inevitably, we collaborated on many projects; sadly, few of these ever saw the light of day. But somehow that mattered less than the collaboration itself. The last short story for an anthology to be edited by Varma was proffered at his request around the time of my work on 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know' (Gothic Press, 1992). Titled "Aurora," the manuscript remains locked away with his private papers and is now unlikely to witness the dawn, or indeed publication.

“Yet it was Varma’s enthusiasm for my biography of Lord Byron’s tortured lover which ensured its appearance in print. This I acknowledge at the front of the book. His generous support of my work knew no bounds. He wrote: ‘Your welcome letter brings the best news for the academic world that your book on Caroline Lamb may be out by early 1991.’ In fact, it was published in mid-1992 with much prompting by Varma who remained inspirational throughout the latter days of the project. His review in 'The Byron Journal' the following year was extremely flattering, but there was never anything sycophantic about Varma, as anyone who knew him will amply attest. He ‘always’ spoke his mind. Nevertheless, he loyalty never faltered. Not once. There are not so many people about which the same observation could be made.

“My biography of Lady Caroline Lamb was to be the last my dear mother, an avid reader, was to enjoy before death came as an assassin and as a ferocious wraith two years prior to Varma’s sudden and unexpected departure. The pictures contained within its covers include one of my mother and I at Newstead where we often stayed in those all too distant days. This was the cherry on the cake for her. The book itself she loved and it somehow brought a twinkle back to her grey-blue eyes - those Byronic eyes. Varma proved to be the kindest of individuals during this period. He wrote: ‘Heartfelt condolences on your bereavement! We share your sorrows!’ He then quoted Scott:

The light of smiles shall fill again.

The lids that overflow with tears,

And weary hours of woe and pain

And promises of the happy years!

There is a day of sunny rest

In every dark and troubled night

And grief may bide an evening guest

But joy shall come with early light.

“He ended with the words: ‘We have no response for strokes of Fate - only Faith and Resignation.’ Two years later the same fate would clasp poor Varma in its icy clutch.

“Like Summers and I, Varma subscribed unreservedly to a belief in the existence of vampires, the supernatural variety, as defined in every dictionary and chronicled in ancient tradition. His knowledge of the lore of the undead was impressive and our correspondence on this subject immense, running to several bulging files over the years. But his hand grew shaky and his last letters had an erratic quality that was unfamiliar. Nevertheless, his unbridled passion for those things in which we held a common interest burned brightly to the end.

“His final letter spoke of us meeting at St Etheldreda’s Church in Hertfordshire where Lady Caroline is entombed in the Lamb Family Vault, but a crowded schedule would deny us this last opportunity.

“My work "The Grail Church: Its Ancient Tradition and Renewed Flowering" (published on Ascension Day 1995) is dedicated to the memory of my beloved mother. My next book will return to the Gothic genre and be dedicated to my late lamented colleague Devendra Prasad Varma whom I shall ever admire. It only remains for me now to recover the fallen torch, so fatefully dropped in October 1994, and guard its sacred flame until I, too, am no more on this old Earth of ours.

“Fare the well, dear Varma - dear friend in a friendless world!”

Requiem for Aimee

As my transient association with the film industry began to draw to a close, prior to leaving that world behind to concentrate on other commitments, Aimee Stephenson emerged whom I shall always remember with affection and fondness. She read The Highgate Vampire and wanted to make a film dramatisation of the book. Initially inviting me to participate in a film documentary about the dangers of the occult, our working together revealed a bond and shared vision from an artistic perspective. We formed a production company for the purpose of making the definitive film, and became co-directors of Highgate Vampire Productions before setting about casting, choosing locations, deciding the practical elements of what could be filmed, and producing a pre-production treatment.

It was unbearably hot on that spring day when I made the occult documentary with Aimee  ― always cool, collected and beautiful ― but there was snow on the ground when we went into pre-production for the Highgate Vampire cinematic film treatment. I was the only character cast who was actually playing himself. I was happy to do this at the pre-production stage, but it was not our intention to continue with me playing myself. Aimee felt that mine might be a challenging rôle for an actor. Even so, the French had managed it with their television film version of my book where actors were used. They employed a quintessentially English actor to play me, plus much dramatic licence for Sur les Traces du Vampire, which was first transmitted in France on 11 March 1994 by Sygma. I narrated this adaptation, briefly appearing on screen from time to time as myself. The barely audible English narrative issuing from me was obviously over-dubbed into the French language.

Following the first week’s intensive filming, Aimee organised a lavish dinner party at her London home in my honour. It was a wonderful surprise, and one that I shall not forget. When I later entered the priesthood (she is situated on the left in the image above) she took some exceptional photographs at the ordination ceremony. She could always find a dramatic angle from where to catch the moment on film. This was probably because Aimee had started out as a model and actress before turning to directing and producing films. The more I worked with her, the more I would discover her kindness — she was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. The 1980 Roxy Music album Flesh and Blood has her of the sleeve. She is the nearest of the two girls on the album cover (below).

She spent considerable time in America to benefit from the techniques used by the Roger Corman Studios and to prepare her for work on our project. My work was done, having written the book and advised on the screenplay. It was now for Aimee to do her work. Sadly, this would be cut short by circumstances that ended all hope of the definitive screen adaptation being made under her direction; circumstances that would leave the project seemingly frozen in time.

Aimee travelled to Peru for yet another project. She was seated on a bus when a box of smuggled fireworks exploded under the seat directly in front of her. She suffered third-degree burns to her arms, legs, face and trunk, requiring urgent hospital medication, but was forced to wait more than a day for specialist treatment because paramedics claimed they could only take Peruvians with private medical insurance to hospital. A local doctor drove the couple one hundred miles on a desert track the following morning. Aimee was flown back to England a week later due to her deteriorating condition, but died following a skin graft in a specialist burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital. At the inquest, it was recalled by another person how flames were seen “leaping up” under a seat. It was thought that the first explosion might have ignited more fireworks and gunpowder hidden in the luggage hold. David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. He said: “Aimee did not die as a result of an accident. If this had happened in Britain there would have been a prosecution for manslaughter. It was a most dangerous and illegal act to transport these sort of manufactured fireworks in this way.” She was forty-five ― yet appeared considerably younger. We were all deeply shocked by her death, and our memories of Aimee now belong to a world removed from the one in which we find ourselves. Indeed, they dwell in another century when hope still had a place to dream.

One of the last places we visited during the preparation for the filming of my book was the eerie scene of the exorcism of the primary source in the Highgate Vampire case. The original neo-gothic mansion had been demolished in the wake of the disturbing incidents that led to it being dubbed a house of evil, and in its place twelve flats were built for active elderly people. Yet a ruin façade from that earlier haunted dwelling still stands as some terrible reminder of the final chapter to those events in the early 1970s. I remember Aimee feeling a chill as we stood atop the steps and peered through the wrought iron portal once filled by an oak door. We all felt cold as soon as we passed over its threshold ― even though the sun shone brightly that day ...

The Farrow Matter

Lest there be an elephant in the room, I shall deal with the Farrow matter and then forget about him.

He wrote what later transpired to be a bogus letter to a local newspaper in February 1970 in the hope of duping its readers into believing he had seen a ghost. He was not alone, and eventually roped others into his hoax so that their names and addresses could be used on equally bogus correspondence to the same editor. As with most things this man does, he chose a location already steeped in rumours about the supernatural, rendering his publicity stunt utterly pointless. He might not have genuinely seen a spectral figure himself, but plenty of others in previous years certainly felt they had. Farrow merely confused matters with his non-ghost, which doubtless was inspired by various tales he heard about supernatural phenomena at Highgate Cemetery in the pubs he frequented. 

Circumstances had reduced him to living in the coal cellar of an acquaintance, and this is where I first encountered him in order to ascertain what he had witnessed following his published letter in the Hampstead & Highgate Express. What immediately struck me was his shifty manner and scruffy appearance. Also, he had a pronounced stammer, slight nervous tic, and an obsequious demeanour.

He introduced himself as "Allan" (a name everyone knew him by), and proceeded to light a cigarette (a habit that would remain with him throughout his life) while stuttering and stammering some incoherent story about "a tall figure that hovered and floated" just inside the graveyard. He offered to show me the spot of exactly where it happened. By that time I had proffered my own viewpoint at the editor's invitation in the Hampstead & Highgate Express. Unfortunately, Farrow attempted to board what he clearly perceived to be a publicity bandwagon. He merely had a short letter published, while I was invited to the offices of the newspaper and given headline coverage on the front page. There was no mention in the article of Farrow whom I did not regard as a particularly relevant figure in all this. He was a local tramp-like individual who had a tendency to latch onto people wherever he could.

Following my revelations about the true nature of the haunting at Highgate Cemetery, Farrow insisted that he would take it upon himself to destroy the vampiric presence. This he announced on 6 March 1970 in the Hampstead & Highgate Express. I warned against such ill-advised behaviour in the following week's issue, and also on a television programme, Today, transmitted on the same day.

I was ignored, and the rest is history. Farrow was arrested around midnight in Highgate Cemetery by police who found him to be in possession of a stake, crucifix and rosary. He was held on remand at Brixton Prison. While there he wrote a bizarre letter in which he begged me to assist him:

speak for me. I don't know if they have [missing words, top line, below]

The Daily Express, 19 August 1970, reported that Farrow told the court: "My intention was to search out the supernatural being and destroy it by plunging the stake [found in his possession] in its heart."

I did not respond in writing, but I did visit Farrow at Brixton Prison to make clear that I would not countenance his shenanigans, nor did I appreciate my name being dragged into his publicity-seeking.

He soon discovered the press tiring of his lone cavorting, and found it necessary to embroider further his fraudulent claims to hold their interest. He ditched vampire hunting for black magic threats and nude rituals with nubile girls. When these involved mausoleums and satanic symbols the game was up. Farrow was found guilty of indecency in a churchyard. Two years later he appeared at the Old Bailey where he was convicted of graveyard vandalism, tomb desecration and the issuing of black magic threats in the form of witchcraft dolls impaled with pins. He was sentenced to almost five years imprisonment. Disreputable and down at heel as ever when he eventually emerged from prison, he went on to spend the remainder of his life in a dingy bed-sit situated in Muswell Hill from where he continued to spread malice and mayhem, self-publishing libellous pamphlets; attempting to regain his infamy of old. Those foolish or desperate enough to lend him credibility or assistance themselves became social pariahs. They never amounted to more than a handful of people, and, notwithstanding the inevitable tabloid hacks looking for some cheap sensationalism, comprised largely individuals with an axe to grind (especially against someone like myself), eg atheists, degenerates and diabolists.