The Vampire Research Society

Have any of you ever considered starting a vampire research group? You wouldn’t be the first. Nope, in fact on February 2, 1970 the Vampire Research Society was founded by Sean Manchester (pictured above).

At the time of its founding, Manchester was the director of an occult investigation bureau, which is now non-operational. For the first 20 years this new society was around, it had an open membership and had 300 members. However, in 1990 the research society decided to restrict membership and concentrate on practical research. This group only focuses on paranormal investigations; it stays out of larger vampire subculture. The society is unconcerned with medical disorders, people that want to be a vampire, and non-conventional behavior (like blood drinking) associated with vampires.

Sean Manchester is a bishop and the primate of the Catholic Apostolic Church of the Holy Grail. He takes vampirism very seriously as supernatural occult phenomena and tends to have very little with the average vampire enthusiast, who he feels are playing with fire and promoting evil (Author’s note: I must be promoting a looooot of evil then). The press, often not understanding this man’s faith and his own view on the vampire problem, have turned him into a media personality, although coverage of him is usually tongue and cheek.

This society and Manchester came under public scrutiny a few times due to Manchester’s investigations into the Highgate Vampire at London’s Highgate Cemetery. He did write a book about his investigations, which spans 13 years. More recently, he investigated the Kirklees vampire in West Yorkshire.

The Vampire Research Society is the official United Kingdom advisory service on all matters that have to do with vampires. Membership is by invitation only.

I bet most of us didn’t even know societies like this existed. While most love vampires because of a favorite book or movie, we love the romanticism; others look at vampires in a totally different way, a more logical or even theological way. This group isn’t interested in how hot Edward is though, but rather investigating vampires and destroying them.

– Moonlight

By Moonlight

Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about, read about and learn about everything pertaining to vampires. You will most likely find her huddled over a book of vampire folklore with coffee in hand. Touch her coffee and she may bite you (and not in the fun way).

8 comments

  1. Pingback: vampires
  2. Ok, I wanted to be in this group until I heard it will DESTOY them. That’s a big “no no” in my book (and my book is law in my book!!). Vampire Section of My Book (shortened): 1. They are real. 2. NEVER (and i repeat NEVER) kill them. 3. Keep in contact with them. 4. Don’t fource them into changing you. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR SAFTEY: 5. Stay aware of there excistence; They may be around the corner in that ally.

  3. are there any runic symbols symbolizing blood or vampire like creatures? i found one for wolf and in a nordic mythology book i found a reference to wear-wolves. ive found suposed ancient japanese and chinese charectors for vampire which are very simaler to each other. im looking for nordic/celtic/viking lore or realted symbols for vampire.
    the closest thing i found to blood drinking was in the same book i read referencing wearwolves in nordic lore. the reference was to do with dwarves who drained the blood of some man and mixed it with mead, this was in referece to the mead of poetry. im wondering if r.i. page’s book runes and runic inscriptions mentions more on this subject. this book has gone missing from my local library.

  4. Hello,
    I’ve been looking for a certain book about vampires that I owned maybe 40 to 45 years ago. I was barely a teenager then and can only recall a few scant parts of the book.
    It was a black cloth hard-cover, and appeared to be a treatise or horror essay (not an anthology of stories). If ONLY I could remember the title or the authour I’d find it fast enough on-line, but the only thing that stands out in my mind are parts of two sentences “. . . frozen wagon wheel ruts” and “. . . trees denuded of leaves . . .”
    “The woods were gray with denuded trees, and the frozen wagon ruts in the mud of the road as cold and hard as iron.” (???)
    There was mention of vampires but also mention of werewolves as well. It might have been published in the early 50s, or 40s, or maybe earlier.
    Might you have an inkling of this book?

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