Mini update…and some Vampire stuff

*does the ‘Hey! I actually managed to find things’ dance*

I’m quite happy with myself…I found the piece of missing yellow ribbon that I knew I should of had left…So now all I have to do is measure it out properly and sew the second ends, and my yellow tank top will be done. *grins* Still haven’t done anything on the blue one today. BUT…I did find the black ‘pipping’ that I’ll need for the red corset…Plus they eyelets! On top of that, I’ve got a skirt cut out and pinned together out of the same red shiny material, and I’ve got an idea involving eyelets for it’s fastening as well. Plus I’ve got a green skirt cut out and pinned as well. I found the ‘pearls’ for the teal-ish corset…not the orginal kind I was going to use (as I was going to use tiny round ones, but instead I’ve got bigger oblong ones, which I think will go well with it). I’ve got to see how the silver shirt lays again, but I might use eyelets on it as well, if it’ll work, and if the silver cording I found will fit through them.

I swear I need a better organization system for all my things…plus to go through my closet and actually see what I do have.

Not much else going on…Didn’t hear about my Jeep at all today. *pouts*

The following comes from  The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters  by Rosemary Ellen Guiley.  It’s three entries on vampire related stuff.  I’ve got a lycanthropy one typed up as well…but as it is quite long on it’s own (being the actual entry on lycanthropy) It’ll have to wait til later…plus I want to see what is listed in the werewolf entry as well.

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Coventry Street Vampire (1922)

Vampire care in London. On the night of the full Moon in April 1922, an enormous black Bat-like creature with a six-foot wingspan was reported flying around West Drayton Church in London. Several people said they witnessed it dive down into the cemetery and prowl about the tombs. Two policemen gave it chase, causing ti to emit a blood-curdling screech and fly away. An old man opined that the creature was a spirit of a vampire who, in the 1890’s, had murdered a woman by drinking her blood.

Later, on April 16th around 6 A.M., a man walking down Conventry Street in London’s West End felt himself seized by an invisible presence and bitten on the neck. He felt as though his blood were being sucked out and he fell unconscious. When he awakened in Charing Cross Hospital, doctors said he appeared to have been stabbed with a thin tube.

Two and a half hours later, a second unconcious man was brought to the same hospital; he was bleeding heavily from the neck. When he regained consciousness, he also told of being attacked by an invisble presence while walking down Coventry Street. Later in the evening, a third victim with teh same story and wounds was admitted to the hosptial. All three said they’d been stabbed at exactly the same spot.

Rumors of a vampire on the loose circulated; the police had no apparent leads. Another rumor circulated that the police had hired a Vampire Hunter, who had tracked the creature down and taken it to the Highgate cemetery, where he drove a stake through its heart. That rumor apparently orginated in a Covent Garden pub.

It is not known whether the mystery of the Coventry Street Vampire was ever solved, but the attacks apparently stopped.

 

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 1970’s, but reports of vampire activity continued for years.

Consencrated in 1839, Highgate Cemetery is famous for it’s Victorian crypts and tombs, which lend it a spooky atmosphere. Rumors 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 Februaury 1970, the local press speculated on the presence of a vampire, and suddenly hte "Highgate Vampire" was a sensation.

A mass vampire hunt by self-proclaimed Vampire Hunters was organized for the night of Friday, March 13, 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.

As lurid stories fuled more intrests, vampire hunters and the curious continued to enter the cemetery at night. In 1974, a group of vampire hunters clamied they had found the vampire and had destroyed it but others dispute this.

In October 1975, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery was formed to protect the intrests of Highgate Cemetery as a national monument and historical burial ground, to represent the intrests of grave owners, to secure public access to the grounds and to sponsor conservation of the cemetery. To disclose occult activity and vandalism, the cemetery was closed at night abd access was severly restricted.

From 1977-1980, 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.

 

Finding Vampires

Means for identifying unknown vampires. In some cases the idenity of a vampire may be known to its victims or others who can identify characteristics and appearances. If the idenity in not known, certain procedures can be followed to locate the right grave. In southerin Europe, the seach is best done on a Saturday, because taht is the only day of the week that vampires are obliged to lie in their graves. Professional vampire hunters such as the Dhampir may be employed. Various ways of finding and identifying vampires are

1) Foot prints. Ash or salt scattered about graves will reveal the imprint of the vampires feet.

2) Horse sense. Find a white horse and lead it around the graves. Horses are sensitive to spirts and the supernatural; thus, the horse will refuse to step over the grave of a vampire. The best equine canidates for the job are ones that have never stumbled. I

deally, a virgin boy should ride the horse The purity in both boy and horse will recoil in horror in the presence of the evil of the vampire.

3) Blue Light. A vampire’s grave may give itself away by the presence of an eerie, bluish flame at night. In Eupropean folklore, the blue glow is the soul.

4) Grave oddities. Other telltale signs are graves that have holes in them, graves that are sunken and graves that have crooked crosses or tombstones. All of these indicate that a vampire is dwelling underneath. In Greek lore, a vampire grave has a hold about the size of two cupped hands, located in the area of the head or chest. Those who are brave enough to look into the hole will see the vampire’s gleamin eyes.

5) Random digging. Without obvious signs, vampire hunters are forced to randomly dig up graves and exmaine corpses.