Rosemary Ellen Guiley first met Seán Manchester in June 1990. They met again during the following month. Visiting Highgate Cemetery in the company of Seán Manchester's and his London secretary, Guiley obviously discussed the Highgate Vampire case. Two of Seán Manchester's books were already in Guiley's possession. The following year Guiley wrote a book of her own - Vampires Among Us - about which Seán Manchester commented six years later in The Vampire Hunter's Handbook (page 42):
"Vampires Among Us misinforms, misleads and gently mocks."
Guiley claimed to quote Peter Underwood in her book where it is stated that Seán Manchester's chapter in Underwood's anthology The Vampire's Bedside Companion was printed "without any editing." Yet Peter Underwood insists that no conversation with Guiley took place. Why did she allege otherwise in Vampires Among Us?
Thirteen years after publication of Vampires Among Us (1991), Guiley had anothe stab at the Highgate Vampire by including it as an entry for The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters (2004) which effort might serve as a warning on how important it is to rely wherever possible on first-hand material and not regurgitated second-hand sloppy journalism.
Her entry for the Highgate Vampire case in The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters is interpolated with responses from the Vampire Research Society:
"Highgate Vampire - Episodes of alleged vampire activity reported in Highgate Cemetery in north London. The case reached a peak in the media in the early 1970s, but reports of vampire activity occured for years.
"Consecrated in 1839, Highgate Cemetery is famous for its Victorian crypts and tombs, which lend it a spooky atmosphere. Rumours of ghosts and dark figures moving about the cemetery at night are a permanent part of its history.
"The Highgate Vampire case began around 1967 with reports of a phantom figure seen gliding about the older, western side of the cemetery at dusk. Dead animals, mostly foxes and other nocturnal creatures, began to appear in nearby Waterlow Park and the cemetery. The animals reportedly were lacerated around the throat and drained of blood. In February 1970, the local press speculated on the presence of a vampire, and suddenly the 'Highgate Vampire' was a sensation.
"A massive vampire hunt by self-proclaimed vampire hunters was organized for the night of Friday, March 13, 1970."
The mass public vampire hunt of hundreds of people was not organised at all. It was entirely spontaneous due to a television transmission about the suspected vampire infestation at 6.00pm on the evening of 13 March 1970.
"Hundreds of vampire hunters invaded the cemetery, armed with wooden stakes, garlic and crosses. No vampire was found, but the cemetery suffered vandalism and theft damages amounting to £9,000 to £10,000. The vandals left behind graffiti and the exhumed remains of a female corpse, and stole lead from coffins."
VRS response: The cemetery suffered no vandalism whatsoever as a result of the mass vampire hunt and subsequent vampire hunts. In fact, vandalism decreased from March 1970 onward as a direct consequence of the attention the cemetery was receiving. The female corpse which was disinterred in August 1970 had nothing to do with vandals or vampire hunters. The police correctly treated it as an act of black magic ceremonial attributed to Satanists who were probably disturbed before they could hide all the evidence. Nobody at the time regarded the outrage as anything to do with vampire hunting or just vandalism.
"As lurid stories fueled more interests, vampire hunters and the curious continued to enter the cemetery at night. In 1974, a group of vampire hunters claimed they had found the vampire and had destroyed it, but others disputed this."
VRS response: By 1972 there was no vampire at Highgate Cemetery and it certainly was not exorcised in the cemetery.
"In October 1975, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery was formed to protect the interests of Highgate Cemetery as a national monument and historical burial ground, to represent the interests of grave owners, to secure public access to the grounds and to sponsor conservation of the cemetery. To discourage occult activity and vandalism, the cemetery was closed at night and access was severely restricted."
VRS response: The cemetery had not previously been open at night. It always closed by 5.30pm in the summer and 4.30pm in the winter. Access was only restricted in the daytime because safety could not be guaranteed and FoHC, who had taken on the responsibility from Camden Council who had bought the graveyard for fifteen pence from the private cemetery company who owned it during the vampire infestation, could not accept the liability of people walking about with gaping holes in the ground and trees falling all around. The person who wrote this "encyclopedia" should be taken to task over all these misleading claims.
"From 1977 to 1980, mysterious animal deaths were reported in the areas near Highgate Cemetery. The bodies of pets and various small wild animals were found with wounds in their throats. It was speculated that dogs or wild animals were the culprits, but the "vampire theory" also stayed in circulation."
VRS response: The mysterious deaths of animals attributed to vampiric activity had moved away from Highgate by that time. They were now centred elsewhere.
Seán Manchester wrote in The Vampire Hunter's Handbook (page 40):
"Why was Guiley so interested in our research? Any why was she so cautious about publishing obvious falsehoods which could be traced back to the 'Count Dracula Fan Club' [now called 'Vampire Empire' but still run by Jeanne Keyes Youngson to whom Guiley dedicated Vampires Among Us]?"
Jon King, editor of UFO Reality, was to provide one possible answer. In June 1996 he published the following revealtion in his magazine:
"Using techniques developed in the Seventies and Eighties (as part of the 'psychic warfare' programme) a clandestine working group, comprising high-ranking officials from various US intelligence departments - CIA, DIA, NSA, Military Intelligance etc - was formed to undermine any serious research into [paranormal] phenomena. At the same time this group was authorised to gather as much intelligence as its operatives were able to glean. ... This group is still active today. It is allegedly known as Aviary."
King identifies Guiley as an Aviary operative, code name Oriel or Morning Dove.
"In the early Nineties [when she met Seán Manchester] Guiley was fully operational in the Aviary's attempts to ridicule and undermine civilian ... research. ... Her mission was to learn what they knew about the phenomenon, and to establish full listings of 'who was who' within said research fraternity. This was achieved, for the most part, by sexual advance and intimate dialogue situations. Guiley was eventually rumbled three years into her mission, immediately following which she 'disappeared' back to the USA."
The full account of King's revelations can be read on pages 40-41 of Seán Manchester's The Vampire Hunter's Handbook.
