Chambers of the Occult - EP# 20 Tortured Souls and Graveyard Terror: The Sylvia Likens murder and The Highgate Vampire

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

In this episode of Chambers of the Occult, Kai starts us off by delving into the heartbreaking true crime case of Sylvia Likens, a young girl whose life was cut short by unimaginable cruelty at the hands of those meant to protect her. Kai explores the disturbing details of this tragic story, uncovering the abuse and injustice Sylvia faced.J follows up by taking us across the pond to delve into the lore of the Highgate Vampire. This infamous tale of a shadowy figure haunting a London graveyard in the 1970s captivated the public's imagination, with sightings of a vampiric entity sparking fear and supernatural intrigue.Join us as we share these tales of tortured souls and graveyard terror, blending true crime and the paranormal into one haunting episode.Send us a text

Chambers of the Occult may contain content that might not be suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised. Hello. Welcome back. Hey. Welcome. This is a... Oh, Episode 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20.

20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20.

20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. Hey, welcome. This is a cool episode. 20. 20 or. Yeah.

Yeah, we've made it to the 20. Yeah, that's awesome. And we've also made it to video 20. Yeah, we've got our cameras on. So if you're watching this on YouTube, I'm Jay. Hey, I'm Kai. Hey, I'm Kai. Oh my God, you have faces now. Yeah, they have faces.

That's crazy. Wow, dude, did you expect us to look like this? Let us know in the comments. I don't think so. Whenever I find like the faces of like people, I listen to their podcasts. They never look what I like, what I imagine them to be. And I think it'll be the same with us. Not a bad thing. Well, technically this isn't our like face reveal. We've been posting the TikToks.

True, true. So like if you followed our TikToks for the past like week, then yeah, you know what we look like. Yeah. So if you haven't, check out our TikToks. And also. There's some summaries of some of our early cases. We're going to be working on getting all of our cases

out eventually. Also let us know if you want us to post like other things on TikTok, like trends or stuff like that. Cause yeah, just interact with us and we'll interact back. We need some ideas. It doesn't, I probably expect both of our backgrounds to be like changing because I just moved into this room or like I switched rooms. And then Jay is like in a hotel.

I am currently traveling. Yeah, I, this is not my place. I'm quite grateful for it though. It looks nice on the outside on the inside. It's like a 7 out of 10 maybe But yeah next week I'll be back in my place you'll get to see a mess and a half But yeah have we got some stories for you, right? All right

Well, I'm gonna get started off with our true crime case for today and then Jay will take over. That was my phone. Let me silence that real quick. I don't know if you heard it. I've also got my dogs in my room with me and these guys really want to play but we cannot play right now. Sorry about that guys. All right. Okay. So. Go ahead. Today's case takes us to Indianapolis, Indiana. To

be honest, I'm almost reluctant to talk about this, to cover this case of because of how horrifying that it is. We're starting the 20 strong. Yeah, yeah, we are. Like, I know I know we've covered all sorts of like the worst things that humans are capable of doing, right? That is most of our cases on here. as most of our cases on here. But I think torturing a child will always be one of the worst. Okay. So that is the trigger warning right there.

That is. Yeah, of course, viewer discretion advised. Yeah. I shouldn't have advised. Yeah. So it's 1965 and the torture murder of Sylvia Likens becomes one of the most disturbing and tragic events in Indiana history. So Sylvia Likens, she was not too different

from any other 16 year old girl in 1965. She lived a relatively simple life. That was until she and her younger sister Jenny moved into the home of Gertrude Benazewski. The woman who would be their caretaker for it was supposed to have been the next four months I Said it was supposed to have been yeah, because unfortunately Sylvia only made it to three months do we have Yeah, the the endless torture that she experienced while under the care of Gertrude would prove

to be fatal. Sylvia, she was born on January 3rd, 1949 in Lebanon, Indiana, as the third child of five. So her parents were traveling carnival workers, which is kind of unusual, but kind of fun. Father was Lester Lykins, mother was Elizabeth Francis. So Sylvia had four other siblings. Her two older siblings were Daniel and Diana. They were fraternal twins.

So they were both two years older than Sylvia. And her younger siblings were Benny and Jenny. Also fraternal twins that were one year younger than Sylvia. Yeah. So she had two sets of fraternal twins around her. So she literally was the middle child of the family. She was also what I would consider maybe like an outcast when it came to the siblings. In a way. No, yeah, she was just her. Like they had the twins, but it was just

her. Yeah, I don't know, interesting family. I think that's kind of crazy, like having two sets of twins. I don't know what the statistics of that are or whatever. But, so her parents' marriage, Lester and Elizabeth, it wasn't always the most stable, and neither was their income, right? You know, they worked with traveling carnivals. So it wasn't always going

to be year round or it wasn't, you know, giving them the most money. They would work the carnival stands, you know, selling goods and just trying to find a means to get by. Okay. I thought when you said carn no, no. So fair. I see. I didn't really know. Like, I know that they did work on stands to like sell like snacks and getting merchandise and goods and stuff. But I think they also were involved in the shows in some capacities as well. Not entirely too sure. Um, but yeah tried to find a way to get by and they did get by. They weren't super struggling. They weren't on the brink of being homeless type of thing.

So they did have a decent bit of income. And that was thanks in part to the kids' help as well. Oh, that they also work at the carnival? So they would only bring the carnival? Yeah. So they would only bring the sons though, Daniel and Benny. The sons would travel to help their parents work in the stands and stuff like that. But the daughters weren't allowed to come with them. They were barred from doing that.

Out of concern for their safety, I guess they were little girls in the 1960s. But they also wanted the girls to get a good education. They didn't want them to have to abandon schooling just to help out with the family goods at the carnivals. So they would stay back. They typically would stay with their grandparents or some other relatives that they had. So because of this, the girls grew up with a lot of responsibility.

Everyone did. The family did. But Sylvia, I guess, did grow up with a lot as well because of her being the middle child. Daniel, the oldest, Benny, the youngest sons were gone. And then it was just Diana, the older sister, who was sort of off doing her own thing as far as I could find from my research. There's not really too much documented on her. But it seems like since she was older she just, yeah.

Seems like she moved out pretty early or something like that. Not sure. But then the younger sister, Jenny, was the one who was there. Jenny was born, I guess, pretty, she was born, suffered from polio, and so her legs were pretty weak, one of her legs especially, so she actually had to have to wear like a brace on her leg, and she walked with a limp throughout her life. Okay.

So, Jenny, the younger sister, needed more more care and that's sort of where Sylvia came in. She was very close, very protective of her younger sister Jenny. And so Sylvia, she went around, she got babysitting jobs or other jobs throughout the neighborhood and she would help her family. She would send that money and help supplement her parents' income with the income that she was making. And so she was, Sylvia was a lively, confident young girl. She is also said to be a very beautiful young girl as well. And so she was living pretty decently. But in June of 1965, so it'd go on just a little bit, He was living pretty decently.

But in June of 1965, so it'd go on just a little bit, things were still good starting out. The kids were living with their parents in Indianapolis. The parents were back home. But it was on July 3rd when their mother was arrested and jailed for shoplifting. Oh, so they didn't really had it so going so well. No, yeah. So like, once again, they were struggling, like they found a way to get by, but

it wasn't enough. It still did eventually have to resort to things like shoplifting and such. And I'm not exactly sure what she stole or what she took. I was going to ask if that was the first time she got caught shoplifting. I believe so. I believe that was the first time they got caught. But yeah, she was arrested, jailed for it. And so she was locked away for just a little bit of time. It wasn't long, but it was

enough to make a disruption in the family. You know, they didn't have their mom for a time. But while their mother was away, it was also time for their father and the boys to start traveling again for the carnival. So mom was gone. once she got out of jail she would later join them in their travels. But mom was gone, dad was about to leave and they needed a caretaker for the Lykens girls. For Sylvia, for Jenny. And so he needed to find a caretaker. And that's where Gertrude Banazewski would come in.

So Gertrude was the mother of Paula and Stephanie Banazewski. They were two girls that went that the Lycan sisters had recently become acquainted with at their school, Arsenal Technical High School there, where they went. So Gertrude was to watch them from July until the parents return in November. So roughly about four months. And Lester, the father, agreed to pay Gertrude about $20 a week, or $20 a week. In today's money, 2024, that's $196.63 a week.

That's not bad. About $200 a week. $200 a week to care for two girls full-time though, like living in your house. Yeah. Like that's, I wouldn't do that. I don't know. Times were, I mean, times were tough for them.

So I can see why she probably took the job. Times were tough. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure. Yeah, $20 a week. Shortly after the 4th of July weekend, the girls moved into 3850 East New York Street with Gertrude and her family. The initial two weeks living there were just fine for the girls. Pretty normal living for the Lykins girls until the weekly payments started to show up late. Okay. And that's when things take a turn. So not only were they being like underpaid and overworked, but then the money that they relied on was not showing up in time.

Yeah. It would consistently show up, you know, one, two, three days late, which doesn't really seem like that much. But when you don't have a big income, you need your money to show up on time at the agreed upon time, which is valid. Yeah, it's the whole living paycheck to paychecks. Exactly.

Gertrude wasn't getting her money when she was supposed to be getting her money, and she began venting her frustration on the Likens girls. Started out spanking them with a paddle among other things. She even made statements like, quote, well, I took care of you two little bitches for a week for nothing. And she probably said that when the money didn't come in on time.

Wow. That's exactly what it was. And so the beatings got worse. On the children, basically. 100%. Yeah, she completely was. And the beatings just got worse. They were fueled by accusations by the the the Banaszewski girls their sisters such as you know, Paula accusing

The the Liken sisters of eating too much food at church supper stuff like that So they would get extra beatings because of these accusations that were made. Hey, you want doubles? Sure. No, want doubles? Sure. No. I don't know, I'm thinking like, if you want extra food, you'll get an extra baby. Kind of, yeah. But I mean, like, a lot of it was based off of like,

I guess a theme of like gluttony or greed, because Gertrude was a very religious woman. Okay, now I see where that's coming from. Exactly, and especially of like a church supper, right? Yeah. Yeah. But, like, where did this sudden aggression and sadism come from out of Gertrude? You know, she was seen as a sweet lady.

She actually, by like some neighbors, she was seen as a sweet lady. She actually by like some neighbors. She was described as being in theory like a great caretaker for the like and sisters. She was a nice lady. During this time. Let me look for that. She was born. I'm just trying to figure if she was like a senior lady taking care of them. She was 37. Oh, she was quite young. I believe. 36, 37. Yeah. Okay.

Somewhere around there. Yeah. Well, so, you know, like, you know, the aggression, sadism, it really was hidden under the surface all along, just waiting for a time to be let loose, right? So Gertrude, you guessed it, she had a complicated life growing up. Because don't we all? As with everybody, right? And that totally justifies her actions. Yeah, it really does, of course.

No, it doesn't. So, Gertrude, she was born September 19th, 1928 in Indianapolis to Hugh Marcus Van Fossen Sr. That was her father. And Molly Myrtle, her mother. Myrtle. So yeah. Gertrude was the third of six children. She was 11 years old when she saw her father die of a sudden heart attack. He just dropped, pretty much. Six years later, at the age of 16, she dropped out of high school to marry an 18-year-old named John Banuszewski. So she got married at 16, dropped out of high school.

Did they stay married? And John, her husband... Mmm, it's a little complicated. So John, he had a pretty volatile temper, occasionally beating Gertrude. It wasn't super consistent, it wasn't a lot and I hate it, but you know occasional beatings of your wife back in the 1960s was normal So she would get beaten occasionally by her husband John Yet during this time they had four children throughout the span of their marriage

It was about ten years. So even with all the beatings, they did stay married for about 10 years until their first divorce. Okay, first divorce. Okay, this is about to get interesting. Yeah, that's why it gets a bit complicated. So Gertrude, shortly after that divorce, she married a man named Edward Guthrie, whom she did have a child with as well, which is very quick to have that child, because their relationship only lasted three months until they got divorced.

Did she have the child before the divorce or after the divorce? I imagine so. I imagine, you know, she got pregnant before the divorce and then it all happened afterwards. Got it. Um, so yeah, that relationship, it only lasted three months. They got divorced. I wonder if they got married because she was pregnant. And then they're like, you know what? That's a very good point, actually. And then they're like, you know what? That's a very good point actually. That's a very good point. I mean, seeing as how she's very religious,

you know, like sex before marriage type of thing, that's a good point. Anyway, yeah, they got divorced, Edward and her. Shortly after that, Gertrude and her first husband John got back together. They remarried. Yeah. They remarried, but they divorced again later in 1963.

Did they have another child during that marriage, second marriage? Um, yes, I believe they did have another child after that six kids now, right? Yep. Wow. Um, they got divorced after this divorce. She then began another relationship with a man named Dennis Lee Wright. He was 20 years old and she was 36 at the time. Oh, talk about an age gap. So yeah, she was 37, 38 during. Yeah, so he was 20, she was 37, 38 during it. Yeah, so he was 20, she was 36, but Dennis, he did physically abuse her a lot as well.

And so, yeah, that relationship, she did have one child with Dennis as well. So now we're up to seven kids. And no. So by 1965. I was gonna be like, seven kids and no man. Pretty much, yeah. By 1965, she had seven children.

Paula, 17. Stephanie, who was 15. Paula, 17. Stephanie, who was 15. John, who was 12. Mary, who was 11. Shirley, who was 10. James, who was eight. And Dennis Jr., who was one year old.

Abuse was all Gertrude had known, right? Struggle was all she had known. Is it one of those cases where the abuse becomes the abuser? The abuser, yeah. It's what she had known, but that does not excuse the fact that she is a horrible person. Of course not. That she is evil because, you know, that trauma would eventually be passed down in the worst way to not only the Lichen sisters, but also to her own children as well. So, Gertrude, where a lot of this stemmed from was because Gertrude was just jealous of Sylvia's

youth, her appearance and such, you know, her potential, her responsibilities. She was a beautiful young girl who had things so good unlike her. And so the abuse started out small, like I mentioned, just spakings with a paddle. But eventually after accusations of, you know, eating too much food, she got beaten on the back 15 times with that same paddle. It eventually got to worse beatings. It eventually moved on to starvation. Forcing Sylvia to eat leftovers or other spoiled food. And so at this point in time, Gertrude's shift, Gertrude's abuse shifted from both of the Lichen sisters,

Sylvia and Jenny, to pretty much just focusing on Sylvia. Okay. Because of all of this. She's not her target. So like I mentioned, you know, she was the in and tortured for being gluttonous, for eating too much food, other small things. She was humiliated at home and at school for doing things with boys because it was a sin.

Right? Oh, does she? Is she speaking from experience? She was called a prostitute. Things like that. I guess so, right? Just saying. Gertrude. Like Gertrude, you're the one with seven kids from three different guys.

Who's the prostitute here? Sorry. You know slut shame, but I'm just saying. I mean, she's like a murderer, but still, yeah, like not to slut-shame. Yeah, yeah. But... We're picking on her because she's a bad person. That's why we're picking on her.

We're picking on her because she murdered a child and tortured two children, yes. So the abuse was terrible. There was an occasion, it happened in August of 1965. Sylvia, she claimed to have a boyfriend in Long Beach, California. She said she met him in the spring of 1965 when her family went on a visit there. And that's when the whole thing of like doing things with boys happened. So Gertrude asked Sylvia if she'd ever done anything with a boy. But Sylvia didn't really know what that meant.

So she replied, I guess so. Saying that, you know, she went to like the park on the beach with him. Or she went skating with him and his friends, not, like... Yeah, yeah. Innocent things. Gertrude was just, you know, not being direct with the questions, and of course, Sylvia didn't know what she meant. She's like, yeah, we've done things, like, gone to the park, yeah.

The worst thing Sylvia said she did was that she laid under the covers with her boyfriend. Just laid there. Like, what? Gertrude said, quote, why did you do that, Sylvia? And Sylvia replied, I don't know. Days later went by, it was still on Gertrude's mind apparently and so Gertrude said quote you're certainly getting big in the stomach Sylvia it looks like you're going to have a baby and Sylvia said yeah it sure is getting big I'm just gonna have to go on a diet so banter like that, that would I guess turn into more because I guess that awoken something in Gertrude and she began to tell the other girls in the house that whenever they did

something with a boy, they would have a baby. And because of I guess Gertrude's, you know inner feelings towards the things that she had done her religion as well You know beatings happen because of that. She would kick Sylvia in the genitals But it wasn't just Gertrude Paula started to join At this point in time Paula was actually three months pregnant herself But she was jealous of Sylvia's appearance and such like that So she started to participate in the attacking of her as well, those beatings, knocking her off of a chair. Okay, so at this point it was just because they didn't like her, not necessarily because of her behavior.

Yeah, it was just because they didn't like her. Other things like force-feeding Sylvia. Making her vomit and then later consume what she had just vomited. So it's a 180, we're gonna starve you, then we're gonna, you know, stuff you, and when you throw up, we're gonna feed that to you. Yeah. Okay. And at this point, that's when Paula, the daughter,

and even other people got involved Paula Took part in you know overfeeding her there was a neighborhood boy named Randy Lepper But Randy I guess was a one-off thing that happened Eventually rumors started being spread at their high school, right, You know Paula spread the rumors that Sylvia was a prostitute That she She was a prostitute Because she was getting singled out But then Sylvia switched it she started spreading rumors about Paula and Stephanie the van Isuseki system saying that

spreading rumors about Paula and Stephanie, the Vanazuski sisters saying that they were prostitutes. Okay, so she wasn't going down without a fight? No. No, like I mentioned, she was that confident girl who was ready to stick up for herself and her sister. So she didn't want to go down with a fight. And she tried. She really did try, but it eventually got even worse because it wasn't Gertrude or Paula anymore.

It was also Stephanie, the other Banaszewski sister. It was Stephanie's boyfriend, a 15-year-old named Coy Hubbard, who also joined in on these beatings. So at this point, it's just normalized. They would punch. Yeah. Yeah. Because of all these rumors blowing up, the sisters, Paula and Stephanie, they started

to join in on punching, beating, kicking Sylvia, banging her head against the wall, throwing her onto the ground. And of course, you know, Stephanie's boyfriend, Koi, he would join in on these beatings as well. Gertrude would find out. She just added onto it. She would continue to beat Sylvia with a paddle. She's not gonna punish other people

for doing what she's doing. Yeah. Like things, it was so intense that, there was one time when Paula Banuszewski, she actually beat Sylvia so hard that she broke her own wrist in the process and she had to get a cast on her wrist. And did they blame it on Sylvia? Yep. I don't know what the doctors

or whatever was, but then Paula came home and she started beating Sylvia with the cast on her wrist because of how hard it was. Oh god. So, lots of, um, lots of beatings and lots of people that joined in on these things. Yeah, no, it sounds like there's just a list of people. Including Sylvia's own sister Jenny. Jenny! But it wasn't because she wanted to, It was because she was forced into it. You know, she was intimidated by it. Gertrude would literally, you know, like force Jenny to hit her own sister Sylvia.

She would beat Jenny as well if Jenny didn't comply with it. beat Jenny as well if Jenny didn't comply with, they, um, quote, sometimes used her as a practice dummy in violent judo sessions. Like they would literally beat her. How old was Sylvia at this point? Lacerations, burning. She was still 16. Yeah. She was severely injured.

It even got worse. She was a teenage girl being beaten by teenage boys. And some of that was, I guess, sexual in nature. I don't feel like I need to go into detail on that. I mean, I figured that when you said that the rumors started to spread that she was a slut, I'm pretty sure the boys just took that and ran with it. Yeah.

Eventually Gertrude stopped Sylvia from going to school. She forbade her from going to school. Was it because she was so bruised that it was physically showing or something like that? Partially, but also because Sylvia stole a gym suit, like some clothes from school, because Gertrude refused to buy her new clothes Right. Yeah, and so Gertrude was just like I don't want you like you don't even deserve to be out anymore type of thing So for this Sylvia got whipped

and Once again started whipping her started kicking her more in the genitals because you know, religion and the evils of sin and premarital sex, things like that. So these these beatings happened... Sylvia was still functioning at the time I guess. Which is surprising. I'm surprised like she didn't shut down by this point. Right yeah and on the first hand it's like it's a good thing. They can reach out for help. Sylvia and Jenny, the sisters... No. As with most all violence cases in a home, domestic violence, the abuse, the victims are never going to come forward because they're too scared it's going to make things worse.

It's going to... it's gonna make things worse, it's gonna, you know, lead to more beatings, lead to things escalating and getting worse. So they never were able to reach out to anybody about what had been happening. And so Jenny tried because she was given more freedom. She could still go and hang out with girls in her neighborhood at school, whatever. And you know, she tried to allure to it in lots of ways, but she would come home and it would just lead

to more beatings by Gertrude. Got it. As well. Okay. So their parents though, Lester and Elizabeth Likens, within this couple months, like July, August, they did actually come to visit a couple of times. And was there no like, signs that something was wrong? No.

I guess so, but I mean, not enough that the parents noticed. Those one account, them visiting on October 5th. And so by October 5th, they would have already probably showed signs of abuse, right? But apparently neither Sylvia nor Jenny exhibited any actual visible signs of distress to their parents. So their parents just...

Assumed everything was fine. Didn't do anything. Yeah. Yeah. You know, they left and it continued. Now they had an older sister who was still around, right? Diana. She was kind of...

Yeah, that's what I was going to mention. Didn't you say that she was just doing her own thing? Yeah. One time, the sisters Sylvia and Jenny, they actually ran into Diana at a local park. And they told Diana about the abuse that they were facing. But Diana didn't really take their claim seriously. She thought they were exaggerating. Also, because they never actually told her the address of where she was staying at.

So Diana, you know, let it go through. So a few things contributed to her not doing anything. Exactly. And so, you know, there were a few times when they were able to reach out to people around, such as Diana, such as one of the neighbors. His name was Michael Monroe. Michael Monroe, he actually, he called Arsenal Technical High School to anonymously report that at Gertrude's home, at the Banaszewski household, there was a girl with open sores and wounds across her body

that would be seen entering and leaving. So the school, they sent over a school nurse to check it out. But since Sylvia hadn't been to school and they had her kind of locked away, Gertrude was like, she ran away weeks ago, we haven't seen her, she was out of control, her personal hygiene was never good and that's why she had all of these open sores on her body.

So the nurse left and the school didn't investigate further. Because she wasn't present at the address, quote unquote, present. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, and I mean, like, what could the school have done? I mean, they should have done that. Yeah. But also-

I also feel like at that point, at least- But also they didn't want to get themselves involved in that. Yeah, I'm sure. The nurse should at least report, like, you know what? Like she ran away, but I don't know. Right, yeah. I don't know what the laws were back But I think one of the worst

Cases of like negligence of neighbors came when there was a couple Raymond and Phyllis Vermillion they were a neighbors They actually saw, like, they would come over to say hi, and the neighbors literally watched, like, Sylvia get abused by either Paula or Gertrude. She had a black eye when she came, but they actually even described Sylvia as in somewhat of a zombified nature when they were there.

Yet, they never reported anything. Yeah. Of course. I want to know how they validated in their mind that that was okay. Right? No, so how do you see that and not do anything about it? Yeah. Because it was...

I don't get it. Like it was not just like a single neighbor, it was two of them, right? Yes. So how do you... It was a couple. Like I am sure that they've talked each other out of it, but at the same time it should have been the other way. Like you two should have encouraged each other to take it to the police or someone

No, seriously and like There was a later on like something during the trial there was like somebody who Who came forward with some info from the trial? They said that there was one night when they heard like in the the middle of the night, just like some wailing, like screaming, and they went to investigate where the sound was coming from and they found that it was coming from the basement of the Banaszewski household. This screaming and these cries, but the screaming eventually stopped at around 3 a.m.

So they didn't report it to the police. They thought it was fine. No, because that's totally normal, you know, as long as it stops, you know, yeah 100% like, you know screaming crying coming from a basement down the street whatever you know It's crazy Okay, yeah Like it makes me angry. Yeah. No, it makes me angry. Yeah, no, it definitely does.

Or like, completely unrelated case, but like, John Wayne Gacy, you know? Serial killer. Like, he literally had so many of his neighbors literally said that they would see him bring like little boys into his house and then later that night they would hear like the screams and the cries for like weeks and they just never reported anything. Like how? Like what the fuck? Like that is so insane. How are you just letting that happen? I don't know. They talk themselves out of putting themselves in an uncomfortable situation with the cops, I imagine. I don't know.

Crazy. But anyway, the beatings escalated. The torture escalated. It got worse. The frequency, the brutality of it all. Eventually, Sylvia was just denied access to using the bathroom at any time, so she would constantly wet herself or, you know, where some-

Was she like in that bedroom, or was she like permanently moved to the basement? Do you know? So for initially, she was just like in her bedroom or like Just throughout the house type of thing. She wasn't really like locked up in a way But As punishment for like wetting herself and creating a mess. That's when she was locked down in the basement Yeah, so wetting herself and creating a mess that's when she was locked down in the basement. Yeah so that's when she was tied up down there she was pretty much kept naked, starved, deprived of water. She was like tied up so high that

like she was essentially hanging like her feet barely were able to even touch the ground type of thing. So yeah, that's when it happened. They locked her down in the basement. There was even more cases of even more disgusting cases of abuse. You know, they would rub like the contents of the one year old baby's diapers like on to her. They would give her bowls of soup to eat with just her fingers, but as soon as she could finally have the strength to hold onto that bowl, they'd pull it right away. And so there was so much malnourishment, so much dehydration. Yeah. And during this time, Jenny, her sister, would go down to the basement

to visits to try to, you know, sneak her a glass of water or a little cases of branding. She would make her brand herself. She would have things carved into her. This poor 16-year-old girl. She actually had, with a heated needle, Gertrude began carving the words, I'm a prostitute and I'm proud of it, onto Sylvia's stomach, abdomen area. Oh my god. This girl can't even go out.

She is stuck in this place 24-7 at this point. Yeah. And it was. And it got so bad. It got so bad that Sylvia was on the brink of death. And she could feel it. I'm sure that's probably what she hoped for at some point. That's probably what she hoped for at some point. You know, she was...

Like I said, branded, burned, carved into, beaten... Question. ...slammed against the ground, walls, tied up. Parents visited on October 5th, you said? When they visited in October, was that the last time they visited them? before Okay, yeah So

It was October 23rd roughly when that happened. And... It was roughly October 23rd when the branding happened, and later that night, Sylvia actually confided in Jenny, her sister, and she said, quote, "'Jenny, I know you don't want me to die, but I'm going to die. I can tell it.'" Oh... End quote. So... You don't want me to die, but I'm going to die. I can tell it." So the next day came by.

She couldn't. I mean, she tried, but there was nothing she could do. The next day, October 24th, Gertrude forced Sylvia to write a letter to mislead parents and her parents and any other authorities that... Was it like a runaway? Sylvia had run away. Yeah. Run away.

So... And then it... also to write to blame that a group of like local boys were the ones that had inflicted all of this abuse and mutilation and sexual acts onto her. And then eventually, so later, yeah, and then later that day, pretty much, Sylvia overheard Jenny or overheard Gertrude sorry saying her plan of blindfolding Sylvia and Jenny and then taking them to a nearby like the nearby woods and just leaving them here to die. Wait, what about both of them? Is it just because they were related? Was it both of them?

Sorry, no, not both of them, just Sylvia. The plan was that she was going to have Jenny blindfold her sister and then use her to take her out to the woods. That's a different level though. That's what the plan was. That's like, I'm gonna have you be responsible for your sister dying in the forest. Mm-hmm. So night of October 24th she was tied back up down in the basement.

October 25th comes around and this is when Sylvia tries to escape. She knows her death is impending. So after overhearing that conversation of her being abandoned to die, she tried to break free, she fled to the front door of the house, but because of how malnourished and how weak and how injured she was, she was not moving fast. She was caught before she could even leave. She was brought back down. Gertrude tried to force feed crackers to her to give her some strength, but she was so malnourished, so dehydrated, she couldn't get anything down. Because of this, Gertrude got angry. She took a curtain rod and she just beat Sylvia

over the head with it. It's actually described that she beat her so much that sections of the curtain rod were bent into 90 degree angles from the force of hitting her with it. Okay. She eventually got beat until she was unconscious, then dragged back down into the basement. Sylvia tried to plead for help later that night when she came back to, she screamed

for help, hit the walls, and that's how I mentioned there was those neighbors that heard the banging and screaming from the basement. And that's how I mentioned there was those neighbors that heard. Yeah. Was that, was that one of those nights that they just heard it and didn't do anything? They heard it. Yep. But they said, you know, it stopped at 3 AM. So they didn't report it to the police. Maybe it stopped at 3 AM because something bad happened.

It could have been her chance for escape. She was so close. Um, and it was her her chance for escape. She was so close. And it was her last chance at escape. Because the next day, October 26th, 1965, is when Sylvia would pass away. From her injuries. Oh, was it down in the basement? Actually, no. So, that morning she couldn't speak, she couldn't move, coordinate her limbs.

She was already gone, pretty much. She actually moved her up into the kitchen. Gertrude moved Sylvia up to the kitchen to try to feed her, give her some milk. But then Gertrude got mad once again. It bothers me so much that this woman Gertrude is purposely starving this child, beating this child to the brink of death. And then is trying to like feed her to keep her alive just so she can keep beating her. I don't know, it just bothers me. Yeah. No, um...

Yeah, it's disgusting. It's... Um... There was one of the like the lead investigators for the case. He literally defined it as like the most diabolical case in Indiana history. And I don't really know much about Indiana history, but I think I have to agree. Sylvia was brought back down to the basement after she couldn't, she was delirious, moaning, mumbling. She couldn't even recite the first four letters, beyond the first four letters of the alphabet. She couldn't lift herself. She could barely move. In one of her, it said Um...

In one of her... It said that it got to the point where like a bunch of her tormentors, I guess, came down to the basement to sort of watch her in a way and with her last bits of energy she like almost tried pointing out to her abusers and naming them. Like, like she could still barely recognize them one last time. And of course that, you know, upset Gertrude even more.

She said, quote, shut up, you know who I am. Stuff like that. And so... stuff like that. And so later on, more time in the afternoon goes by, they... Sylvia once again tries to get back up out of the basement, but she, you know, collapsed before she could even reach the stairs. And this is when they... Gertrude was trying to bring her back up out of the basement. So Gertrude gets mad once again, throws her on the ground, and just stomps on her head, just right there on the floor. And then later that night, it's around 5.30 p.m., people, they go down to the basement

and they find Stephanie, actually Stephanie, the Benazoski daughter, crying and just holding Sylvia's like body down in the basement after she had ordered her to clean Sylvia. So they give her a warm Sylvie bath, they give her new clothes, and then that's when they bring her up into one of the bedrooms, lay her down on the mattress. And Sylvia's final words, her final wish, was that her her quote, daddy was here. Sylvia stopped breathing. Sylvia stopped breathing. Stephanie tried to resuscitate her with like mouth to mouth.

Gertrude was not convinced. She actually thought that Sylvia was faking her death for the attention, right? And so Gertrude actually in sort of a, yeah. In a crazed frenzy, she actually started beating Sylvia's body with a book and just shouting Faker, Faker! Fuck! Um, wanted to wake her or gone, and actually, sorry, give me one sec.

No, you're good, you're good. Yeah, she realized she was gone, and Gertrude herself had the police called. So pretty much they called the police on themselves. What did she tell them? I'm not sure that she had been doctoring Sylvia, trying to heal her, trying to save her. to save her. What Gertrude said is that she had been, you know, beaten and she could tell that she said that Sylvia had been beaten and attacked by a group of boys in the neighborhood. And apparently, you know, they tried using that note

that was written earlier of the kids that beaten me. But the police knew. They knew that this was not just a thing that happened by some boys. They recognized that this was torture over months. And so the investigation began. But yeah, October 26, 1965 is when Sylvia Likens did pass away. Eventually, we're just a few days away from the 26.

We are, yeah, is what I just realized actually. So they were, you know, camera's out of focus, hello, they were taken into custody and by the police it was investigated. It was pretty straightforward. There are lots of confessions about knowing the kids and the connection to them as well. And so, of course Sylvia's body was brought to the coroner. The autopsy did reveal, sorry, my camera out of focus is really bothering me. It's okay, yeah.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. There, I was going to tap for a close up. Yeah. The autopsy of Sylvia revealed an excess of 150 wounds across her body, several burns, scald marks, eroded skin, of course the branding and the words,

I'm a prostitute carved into her stomach. Her official cause of death was determined to be, of course, homicide. It was a combination of subdural hematoma, so brain bleed, essentially, as well as shock and severe malnutrition. Yeah, so Everything was adding up to it But I think that final just like stomp on her head by Gertrude on the night of October or October they had the night of October 25th, it just It it's what? You know eventually led to it. Yeah, I was thinking that any beating after the curtain rod would just like make things severely worse.

Which included the stomping. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was the trial that happened. There was a jury that was brought in. The lead prosecutors, they really, they made it clear that they were pushing for a full death penalty

for everyone involved. And so they actually tried them all together. So there weren't separate cases. But it was Gertrude, Paula, Hobbs, Hubbard, John, all of the people involved, the main five people that were all tried together because they thought that that's the only way that the jury would get the full context of what was done. Yeah.

They're like it wasn't just this group. It was this group. All of them were responsible. Yeah. They all partook. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah after About eight hours or it's going back and then because of how They wanted this outcome to be when they actually were interviewing the jury members

They would literally ask them how they felt about like the death penalty or like the harshest sentences And if they didn't if they didn't like if they weren't fond of those things or they showed like any opposition Towards the death penalty they would just excuse them from jury. Oh from jury duty They really want only one to be like intense jury. Yeah. Yes They wanted the most intense jury they could find so eventually after eight hours of deliberation Gertrude Benazewski, she was found guilty of first degree murder, sentenced to life imprisonment. Paula, her oldest daughter, was found guilty of second degree murder, also sentenced to life imprisonment and then koi Hobbs the one husband or Richard Hobbs koi Hubbard and John

The boyfriend were all found guilty of manslaughter But they all only served less than two years in the Indiana reformatory and they were granted parole Yeah So that was 1966 that this was happened. It was decided what their outcomes would be. But actually in September of 1970, the Indiana Supreme Court actually reversed the convictions of Gertrude and Paula. What did they do? So they did a retrial for it.

Were they trialed separately? It was reversed because the... No, I think they were both tried again this time. It was retried because the previous judge, I guess, had denied a lot of submitted motions by the defense counsel of the Banaszowskis. So not honoring that, they were like, ah, like the judge she wasn't being professional It's not necessarily like it's not that we disagree with his verdict. It's it's more of Yeah, I forgot

That the due process like everything like the legality. Yeah, like do yeah like fair trial type of thing So they were retried in 1971 trial type of thing. So they were retried in 1971. This time Paula pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter rather than just going through the retrial. She was only sentenced to serve a term of two to 20 years. And then so during this but then she actually tried to escape prison twice Huh? in 1971 After she was brought back into prison But even with that like bad behavior. She was released in December 1972

So she only served another Two years barely because of this. Gertrude, she once again was convicted of first degree murder and then sentenced to another life in prison. Good. Eventually, Gertrude was let out on parole because of her good behavior. It's always good behavior. It's always good behavior. It's always good behavior.

How long was she in there before she got out on parole? Let's see. So she was released on parole on December 4th, 1985. She originally was convicted in 1966. So 19 years or so. Yeah, I would have been a lot more upset if it was like two years. Oh, 100%. Yeah. She you know, good conduct. she was known as the mom in prison she

took lots of maternal responsibility she helped out a lot of the other inmates that's disgusting. She got released and she just never fully took responsibility you know she said that she was, you know, unable to recall what happened because she was, you know, being abused by her boyfriend, the torment, and because she was on drugs and on her medication for her asthma. So she never actually took responsibility, but she was... She tried to, like, show that she was like, oh, I'm sorry for anything that happened, but

No, that's no that's sick Yeah Is she still alive I'm actually not sure. I think she passed away. Okay. Let's see. Yeah, she passed away in 1990. Okay. Okay. She was 61

Yeah, I was gonna be like she didn't live to be super old Good sorry, not sorry. Yeah. Yeah Anyway, I Feel like the way that like, I'm talking about it is like... It smooths out some of the worst parts, I guess. So, I guess reading about this case is definitely a bit different going into more of the detail of what actually happened. Yeah, I mean you're choosing to share the not super descriptive things that you've read. Yeah.

But anyway, that is the unfortunate murder of Sylvia Mary Likens. murder of Sylvia Mary Likens, 16 year old girl who passed away on October 26 1965. Wow. My dad was born in 1969. Wow. My mom was born in 68. I think my dad was born in 65. Not sure. Anyway. Thank you.

Thanks for listening. Yeah. And that is all folks. What do we have? That is all for true crime, I should say. Yeah. Now we're heading to my case, my lovely paranormal case, which let me open up my Google Doc. That's too big.

There we go. Okay. For my case, we're going to talk about a very infamous paranormal legend in London's history. It's October, clearly. So I thought of doing something more on theme, like it would ever be off theme on a paranormal and true crime podcast. So we're talking about a vampire. Okay, we're talking about the Highgate vampire. Have you ever heard of him? No, cool. Good. Then this is a story for you. This story, it just pretty much weaves together folklore, occult, ghostly sightings, and there's even like an old-fashioned rivalry between like two of London's most

rivalry between like two of London's most famous paranormal enthusiasts. So those are David Ferent and Sean Manchester. But before we stumble into the story, before we go deeper into the vampire legends, Kai, what do you normally think of when you think of like a century old cemetery that's fallen apart, overgrown by weeds, just like surrounded by like eerie rumors? Would you like investigate it or like would you just hightail out of it? Would you just walk past it? I'd be curious. Like I'd be morbidly curious, right? Like I would want to investigate it. I'd be curious like I'd be morbidly curious right like I would want to investigate it I would not go alone but I don't know like an overgrown old creepy cemetery with rumors behind it seems kind of cool yeah I'm not gonna

lie so I feel like I would I would investigate yeah, cuz that's pretty much what this Maybe fair fair gonna buy a trip to London But yeah, so that's pretty much just set in the stage whenever you picture like an old cemetery like in movies Picture this, you know So it's in London and it's 1968 the 60s were just wild cultural revolutions. The rise of the occultism. Is that a word? Occult? Yeah. It is now. And it was just people were fascinated with the paranormal. So people were embracing everything from astrology to Eastern mysticism to darker subjects like witchcraft and Satanism. But then on October

1st of that year, 1968, news outlets begin to report something unusual. Something odd, not your typical story. Okay. Let's see if we can... So, Totonham Park Cemetery has become the site of a bizarre and disturbing incident because it's when graves started to be desecrated not just vandalized but people also dug them up but wow so you know like typical teenager things would be like go to like a cemetery make out

graffiti here or there you know but not necessarily like dig out coffins and things like that. Especially because some of these coffins were also pried open. So crosses were destroyed, flowers, flower arrangements were like put in strange patterns. And then according to Lionel Phillips, this wasn't just like a random act of vandalism. He says that it had been done carefully and with purpose. He was just like suggesting that it was like some sort of like evil rite or like stuff was happening there that included cults and things like that. He pointed to three freshly buried graves that had been

dug up completely and the coffins were left open, which first of all, disrespectful. Let the dead be dead. Now, when you think of things like this, do you think of like black magic rituals, just like teenagers being teenagers, or like gray brawlers. Mostly teenagers being teenagers, right? Because they're really stupid and they're gonna do lots of bullshit. But I guess with like desecrating the graves, it could be something worse. Like there could be like, if it was specific graves, it could be like hatred towards a certain person or something or whatever. I do not know the people that were dug up. No.

Okay. You know, nothing like occult or like, you know, anything like that. Hopefully. Well, people had their suspicions. Of course, this was reported in the news media, but Reverend Phillips wasn't alone in his suspicion. The cemetery caretaker was a man named William Dakin, and he told reporters that the Tottenham Park Cemetery had always been rumored to be haunted, but that this was something new. He claimed that the damage couldn't have been caused by your run-of-the-mill vandals. And he also started suggesting that black magic

could be at play here. You know, perhaps some kind of like satanic right as well. And you have to remember. I mean, hopefully not. Yeah, I hope not. You have to remember that this is the time of like the late 1960s. Londoners were already on the edge

because of like the rising 1960s. Londoners were already on the edge because of like the rising interest in the occult. Alastair Crowley, have you heard this name before? Okay. So Alastair Crowley was one of the most infamous occultists of all time. And he had only passed away a couple of decades earlier. But his influence just like lingered for a really long time. Crowdly was someone who proudly embraced his image of the wickedness, the wickedness man in the world. Am I saying that right? Wickedness? Wickedest? I'm not sure. A wickedist? Wickedest. Yeah, the wickedest man in the world type of thing.

And he leaned into the idea of devil worship. So in fact, some, yeah, some of his personal brands of magic call them, uh, Phil, the lemma. Um, so just combined rituals, mysticism and individualism in ways that like freak people out. So because he had just like been a figure in like the media, like a couple years earlier, and then he passed away, people were still freaked out about it. Um, people just jumped into the ideas of like black magic and like cults. Um, but you know, it could have been because of Alistair Crowley or maybe something else socially happening at the time.

Now people want to answers. They wanted to know who was digging this graves up. Why were they doing it? But no one was sure of what was really happening. So, you know, it just laid the perfect groundwork for what would soon unfold into another cemetery. What was that was? So this was, we're talking about the Highgate vampire, but this all started in a different cemetery.

Now we're finally moving to the Highgate cemetery. So okay. Yeah. Let's see. into the Highgate Cemetery. So, okay, yeah. Let's see. So by the late 1960s, Highgate Cemetery was already a shadow of its former glory. At one point, it was like, you know, one of the best taken care cemeteries out there. It had been established in the 18 in 1839, so it's quite old, and it was one of the most prestigious cemeteries in London. It's a place where they varied the wealthy, celebrities, type of things like that.

But decades after, of course, it's going to be neglected, and it's just going to leave the place in ruins. So this is why I mentioned it's overgrown with plants, headstones are crumbling. It's just, you could tell that it was a nice cemetery at some point, but it's no longer that. So this is where David Ferret enters. He's a young man with a deep interest in the paranormal. In 1969, he began his investigation of those strange occurrences reported by locals at Highgate Cemetery. And he had heard tales.

Yeah, he's like, oh, people are talking about this. Let me see what it's all about. I would as well if I could be there. Honestly, yeah, like I don't blame him. Now, this is where it's not just stories, um, because it was the ghostly sightings. He was curious and of course things were happening there that were unusual. So High Gate Cemetery wasn't just eerie. It was physically difficult to navigate.

The overgrown brambles made it feel like nature was reclaiming the place, just adding to the haunted reputation, because it really just had fallen into disrepair. So not only was it looking creepy, but it was hard to manage your way through it. Of course, because it's a whole overgrown cemetery. So it's in December 1969 that Ferret decides to stay the night in the cemetery and he wants to see if he can experience something. Yeah. Would you spend the night in a cemetery? Not alone.

I was going to say, I was like, I'll try anything once. I don't know. Something I live by. Yeah. Sometimes twice if it, you know, if it's a bad experience, I don't know. Sometimes if it's like kind of cool, you know, like. But he decides to spend the night and as he's prepared to climb over the gates, he sees something, something tall and dark,

and he describes it as a figure over seven feet tall with glowing inhuman eyes. Yeah. So the figure locks eyes with Ferret, red. From what I heard, it's red eyes. So Asus climbing over the wall, Ferret, he sees that figure seven feet tall with like inhuman red eyes.

He locks eyes with it, and then instant that figure is gone. Like it's just gone. No. So that's crazy. Once again, it leads to the question. What is it? Is it a ghost? Is it a demon? Yeah. Or is it something else?

So of course, Ferret was shaken. But more than anything, I think this is where I can relate with him. He was intrigued. And so would I can relate with him. He was intrigued and so would I. Yeah, yeah. Like, okay, yes, I'm scared, but also what the hell was that? Exactly.

I want to find out. Yeah. So this encounter just set him on the path to investigate further. So he decided to write a letter to the Hampstead and Highgate Express, which were the newspapers describing what he had seen and asking and asking if anyone had experienced something similar.

Um, now the response was overwhelming because right off the bat, people start writing in with their own stories about strange happenings at Highgate Cemetery. Uh, some describe seeing a tall man in a hat who could walk through the cemetery gates and vanish. Others talked about a ghostly woman in white crying out for someone named Hugo, which I don't doubt that there's someone buried there named Hugo. And then there was also... There probably is, yeah.

Yeah, it's a big cemetery. And then there was the ghostly tale of a cyclist who would chase women down, only to disappear before reaching the cemetery gates. Oh. Like, he would chase them through the cemetery, and he would leave before they left? I'm not sure. So the tale of a ghostly cyclist who would chase women down only to disappear before

reaching the cemetery gates. So I think it's just maybe within that block or something. I'm not sure. Because it's not a cemetery that's technically like open for the public since it's fallen under disrepair. Yeah. Now what's fascinating about this about the stories is how different they all are. It's not your typical like a good variety of stuff.

Yeah, it's not your typical like we've all seen like a tall man. It's like, no, I've seen a tall man. You've seen a, like, a lady weeping for Hugo and, like, a cyclist, a ghost of a cyclist. But of course, they all contributed to building this shared mythology, like, around the Haiget Cemetery. It's like, what is happening around this place? People were starting to believe that something truly paranormal was happening there. So once again, I don't know why people had so many different experiences.

I don't know if it's like the power of suggestion or something else at work. Now, the story could be... I could have just ended it here, if Ferret was the only person seen like the apparition. But this is where it takes a turn because- He wasn't. This is when, we're talking about a vampire, we still haven't even gotten to talk about the vampire.

Yeah. So this is when Sean Manchester, Ferret's soon to be rival in the world of the paranormal like community enters in February 1970. So a year after Manchester comes forward with a bold claim. So Manchester said that according to him, this wasn't just a ghost haunting Hyggett Cemetery. No, no, sir. No, he said, what was it? This was a vampire. And

not just any vampire, he said, but a king vampire. Oh, wow. Wow, I'm intrigued. Where does this come from? Like where does the thinking like if he's a king does he have like like like a land he owns? Does he have an army? Does he have people? So he says that this king vampire is originally from Transylvania. You're not far off. So he says that this king vampire is originally from Wallachia, the same region that gave the infamous Vlad the Impaler.

So yeah, he's from there. He's from Romania. He said that this king vampire had been brought to England in a coffin by his followers in the 18th century and buried in the Highgate Cemetery. That's crazy, but okay. Okay, yeah, I'll fuck with it. I'll roll with it. Tell me more. It sounds like silly now saying it all out loud, But this point, everyone was intrigued by it. Everyone was

seeing something. And they're like, Oh, another professional is coming through. And he has like this theory. So then everyone jumps on board with the theory. So he said that now due to the desecration of the graves, and the performance of magic rites, which was never really documented. It said that the vampire was staring again. He was feeding off the blood of local animals. So he was a vegetarian. But not people. Okay.

Love the Twilight reference. Exactly. And Manchester. See, or is it the other way? Or did Twilight reference the Highgate vampire? Who knows? So Manchester... I'll have to find that out. ... pointed out the discovery of several dead animals in the cemetery.

Um, so, when you think of, like, occult rituals and, like, animal sacrifices, what animal do you think of like occult rituals and like animal sacrifices, what animal do you think of? Goat. Sheep. Chickens. Deer. Chickens. Okay.

This was foxes. Oh. I know. Weird. Okay. Yeah. So, there was multiple foxes found around the cemetery with their throats slit and their Oh. I know. Weird. Okay. Yeah. So there was multiple foxes found around the cemetery with their throats slit and their

bodies drained of blood. Thank you. Okay. So I was thinking that like, I was thinking that the foxes were just like dead, you know? Like some animal killed them or some disease or something like they dead and they were like, oh, these foxes are dead, so they have to be connected. But no, like their throats were actually slit and drained of blood. That's a different story.

What's going on here? So this is why Manchester was saying that this was evidence of the vampire's return. Got it. Yeah. So Manchester's claims set off like a media storm because the idea that there was like a vampire and like a vampire king lurking in one of like London's most like famous cemetery, at the time it was just too juicy to ignore. So local newspapers began to run headlines like, does a vampire walk in Highgate? And soon the legend of the Highgate vampire was born.

Cool. So this is when things reach a fever pitch because on the night of March 13th, 1970, that evening, Manchester and Ferret appeared in a new segment produced by ITV and standing in front of the gates of the High Gate Cemetery, so it was like a little segment, and they warned viewers about the supernatural occurrences taking place in the cemetery, and Manchester just doubling down on his vampire theory. So let's say that you turn the TV on and you hear that news. What is your first instinct?

Do you keep watching it? Do you turn it off? What do you do? Yeah. Like, whoa, vampire? What the hell is going on here? And I watched that. Okay, well, by 8 p.m. that night, a crowd had gathered outside of the gates.

Nearly 100 people showed up to the cemetery. Wow. They literally just said like, hey, heads up, don't come here, paranormal activity, there's a vampire. Almost 100 people went to the cemetery. Of course. Of course. Now, it's like, oh, yeah, there's a murderous vampire out here.

Do not come. Of course, a bunch of people show up. So, the people that came were a mixed group. They had different intentions going to the cemetery. Let's just say that some of them were armed with wooden stakes. Dude, they were going to kill this thing. Some had crucifixes and some just had flashlights. So some were just curious and other ones were really like a vampire not in my street or like not in my town. Um, yeah, but they were ready to hunt down the high gate vampire. That's kind of like, that's kind of metal. Like that's kind of sick. I would actually love like listeners if like your grandpa or your mother or you know, someone that like was part of this group,

please let us know. Like I want to know what they were thinking, what was going through their head. But once again, this is like a cemetery that's been closed off. It's just fallen under like disrepair. So people, those hundreds of people, start to climb over the cemetery 10-foot walls. Holy shit. Yes.

They're determined to get in the whole scene from like beating the beast when like all the villages are going to like the castle. It's literally people climbing over a 10 foot wall searching through like overgrown graves, hoping to catch a glimpse of the creature. That's fun. Yeah. Sounds funny. Looking back at this. It's like it was really like a moment of like a fever dream, but that they all really seem to like enjoy Would I partake in that I would say yes

Especially I could be persuaded. Yeah, especially well, like when there's a hundred people like if it's just like me and like seven other people Maybe not but a hundred But like with a hundred people, yeah, you know. Yeah. So despite all this media frenzy, people climbing over and like ready to like stab this vampire, nothing came from the vampire hunt. But that didn't. Well, you scared him away. Exactly. It's like if you report of him other news, he's going to book it to a different place, you scared him away. Exactly. It's like if you report of him other than news, he's going to book it to a different place, you know? But that didn't stop Manchester from continuing to spread his story. In fact,

he went further, claiming that he had followed a young woman who he called Luisa into the crypts of Highgate Cemetery one evening. And according to Manchester, Luisa was possessed by demonic forces and had led him straight to the resting place of the King vampire. Okay. Okay, Luisa. Okay, Manchester. So, um, where is this resting place? Like, what? Oh, we'll get into the resting place he's just sleeping there oh okay yeah I'm excited but yeah because I don't know if Manchester got jealous that like a hundred people showed up to kill the vampire or if he wasn't okay with that because Manchester claimed that he went into a crypt and that when he opened the coffin inside of the crypt, he found the body that appeared to be neither

alive nor dead. He said that he wanted to drive a steak through its heart right there and there, but his assistant, terrified of committing sacrilege, convinced him to hold off. Bro. Yeah. So, instead. Just drive the snake through it. Just do it. If you think it's a vampire, just do it. If you're that convinced. Just do it.

Do it. Do it. Yeah. So, instead, Manchester just sprinkled the coffin with holy water, garlic, salt, and he left the crypt doors open, hoping that the sunlight would finish the job. It's the good stuff. Yeah. So all the classic stuff. Yeah. So over the next few years, the legend of the Highgate vampire continued to grow. Manchester and Ferret became rivals, each claiming to be the true expert of supernatural events

at Highgate. And Manchester just continued insisting that the vampire was real and that he was the one, the only one equipped to destroy it. Now, Ferret, on the other hand, he was mostly focused on conducting seances, exorcisms, and hoping to rid the cemetery of its dark forces through like spiritual means. Got it. So one man is like, it's vampires. So man, yeah, Manchester was like, oh, it's a vampire.

That's so mysterious. And the other guy was like, this is evil. We need to get rid of it now. Yeah, yeah, like let's cleanse this, you know. We need to get rid of it now. Yeah, yeah. Like, let's cleanse this, you know. The Duman Jester versus Ferret. Yeah. I agree with Ferret.

Like, let's like get rid of this stuff here. That's not really cool. So you know how like there's strange things being discovered in the cemetery, like the foxes with their throats slit? Yeah. Okay. So there's one more odd thing that happens. Because things take a dark turn in 1973. When a group of school

girls, once again, are just casually strolling through an overgrown cemetery. But they discover a headless body. It's not just any headless body though. It's headless and it's charred. Oh! Like the whole body is just burnt. Okay. Yeah, so the body had been dumped near one of the crypts and the police speculated that

it may have been connected to black magic rituals. Now, how do you speculate? Yeah, like what evidence do you need to determine something's going to hit to a black magic ritual? Especially coming from the cops. I'm like, what? You're not an expert on that. You should be like murder.

Like there's a killer out there, but they're like, no. Oh yeah, seriously. And of course, Manchester took advantage of the situation and he, you know, he pointed to this as further evidence of the vampire's influence. Claiming that his satanic followers were trying to resurrect the King vampire by offering him human sacrifices. I love how you're just done with the people that are like, it's a vampire.

No, like, I love it, but it's like, how are you that dedicated to it being a vampire? And then how are you like, oh we need to resurrect this vampire so he can keep killing and we're gonna kill for it At this on some like fucking like voldemort shit. This story has been going on for four years And manchester has no like that is crazy the dedication. Yeah Yeah And Manchester has not let go. That is crazy, the dedication. Yeah. And I love how Manchester is still like, guys, this is a vampire, he's the king vampire, blah blah blah. And then is Ferret still like, um, we need to get rid of the evil here. Like it's two different sides. It's like, we need to kill the vampire.

I love it. And the other one's like, we need like Sage, we need to Sage it. Celebr kill the vampire. I love it. I love it. And the other ones like love it like sage. We need to say, celebrate the jam, the vampire, sage the place, exercise the cemetery type of thing. Listeners, let us know which side you guys are on. Are you with Manchester or are you with ferret? Not gonna lie. I'll go first. I'm with ferret. Honestly, cleanse that. I'm on Manchester side. Oh Was gonna be like, all right, well let us know I don't know just cuz I think like I think it's cool that he's a vampire But like the cults like shit where people are like, oh my god Like kill him to bring him or kill people to bring him back to give sacrifices Fair. Okay. I'm with Manchester until the dead foxes.

Once we get to the charred headless body, that's when I'm out. Fair. He had me for like the first three years and then like the fourth year, I'm like, nah, that's too much. Got it. Got it. Maybe for the first like year, maybe Manchester could have had me. But after that, it was just like, nah, Ferret knows what's going on. You need to clean this place. Like, anyway.

No, you're good. You're good. Let us know. But continue on. So once again, the discovery of the body, like the charred headless body, just like reignited the public interest in the case. And once again, the media descended on high-git cemetery. They were eager for updates and the supposed vampire. But by this time, like we both have, there's a sense of skepticism.

Took them four years, but they finally got there. Good. Good. Now while Manchester and Ferra continued to insist that something supernatural was at work, many began to just wonder if the story was much simpler. Maybe just a case of like disturbed, a disturbed individual just committing like horrific crimes

in the name of like the occult. Honestly, that's what it could be. Yeah. So as time passed, the public's interest in Highgate just began to fade. Manchester and Ferret continued their feud for years though. Like years. Each was trying to undo the others with claims of like paranormal prowess. They even challenged each other to

They challenged each other to a magical duel What does this magical duel entail? Like what were they doing? Were they like casting spells at each other or were they like throwing potions at each other or like? Unfortunately it's unclear whether the duel ever happened. That's so sad. But yeah they're like just fighting along about it's a vampire. No, it's just like bad aura.

I challenge you to a magical duel. Yeah. So, by the 1990s, both men had largely faded from the spotlight. Manchester, who claimed to have been like ordained as a bishop by the old Catholic Church church still maintained that he had encountered the vampire of Highgate Cemetery and during this whole time fair just continued to explore the occult until his death in 2019. Wow. But yes. So pretty recent. Oh yeah definitely. Wow. So how old was he when. Oh yeah, definitely. Wow.

So. How old was he when he died? Good question. Do you know? I do not know. Let's see. Do some quick math. If I can do quick math.

I can't. Oh, I completely erased the F. When did Eret die? Shoot, let me take, I might have to go back to you on this. Yeah, that's fine. Do you know when he was born? I did not know when he was born. I should have been better prepared. No, you're good. You're good. You're good. It's not really important anyway. Yeah, you know, you know. Anyway, they had their feud and then Ferret, you know, passed away in 2019.

But yeah, so far the legend of the Highgate vampire lives on. No hard evidence from either side. But whether or not there was truly a vampire stalking the overgrown like crypts of like Highgate Cemetery, um, we may just never know. Um, but the legend has just become part of like London's paranormal lore. And of course, people want to go visit, want to go see, want to see if they can find anything like that. I'd visit. I would as well, honestly. I'm like, where is that crypt?

Yeah, where's the king's resting place, you know I want to find out go down there and then i'll drive that stake through his heart. So because why not, you know, yeah I'll do i'll do i'll do what they couldn't do which was anything to be honest. Pretty much, yeah. I was gonna be like, I don't think any. No, we should go there and then we'll be the investigators. Exactly, we'll be like, hey folks. So Manchester and Ferret are gone.

It's our turn now. Yeah, like it's our time to shine. Yeah. Let's see. We'll be in it finally in our like ghost hunting. Yeah. Let's see. We'll be finally in our ghost hunting era. Vampire hunting era. Vampire, just like our one improv scene. Ghost hunters looking for the vampire.

Which I found very funny, because as I was trying to find a case, I was like, oh, vampires. It's like, ha, we literally just covered vampires type of thing. But yeah, this is the high get cemetery. It's a huge, huge, like, paranormal case, like within the community, people are aware of it. And there's where is it? I had it right here, just to give you like an estimate of how many people are buried at Highgate Cemetery. Okay. Because it once again, it's one of those situations where like math doesn't really work well.

There is a... Okay. doesn't really work well. There is a... Okay. So you might appreciate this because it's numbers, but there is over 170,000 people buried there. Holy shit. But there's only more, there's more than 53,000 graves. Thank you.

So there's like double the amount of bodies that there are graves. I would say triple. 170,000, 53,000 graves. Yes, like triple. Yeah. Yeah. What? What are they like?

Are the graves tripled up on bodies? Or like, what is going on there? I'm thinking that it's one of those situations where like they buried like the dead and then like they ran out of space. So like they buried like new bodies on top of them and then new bodies. That makes sense. Also, crypts are some crypts are like family crypts and they're able to have like multiple bodies in there. Multiple That makes sense. Also, some crypts are like family crypts and they're able to have multiple bodies in there. Multiple, that makes sense. Yeah. But it's one of those situations

where like, oh, I just think the numbers are funny. But yeah, before we wrap the story up, what did you think? Is there any truth to the vampire legend? Is it just hysteria? Is that just hysteria? I think it's a combination of someone, it's a combination of all of the above, I think. I don't know, maybe there was someone who wasn't, you know, mentally well, and that was the foxes that were slaughtered, or maybe that was to drive the hysteria.

Maybe that was something that maybe even Manchester did, you know, to drive forward this idea of a vampire, who knows. But you know, I think the sighting of the seven foot tall man with the red glowing eyes, maybe that was just hysteria of being there in the middle of the night. Sleep deprivation. And I think maybe people just really want something cool to happen in their lives and the vampire is something cool. So who knows? Maybe it's real. Maybe it's not. I lean more to the skeptical side. I think you know that. Yeah. For sure.

But it would be really cool. So. And then to answer your question of earlier, David Farant, he was born January 23rd, 1946, and he died on April 19th, April 8th, 2019. And then Sean Manchester, he was born in October 26, 1944. And as of now, he's still alive. Oh, that's cool. I wonder if he still thinks that the vampire is there. I wonder that too. Oh my god, what if we reached out to him?

Deathbed confessions. What if we reached out to him and we're like, we covered the Highgate Vampire, we still want to know if you believe this. We want to know if you had your magical duel or not. Yes! Yes! That's what we have to ask him. If you had it and who won. Exactly. He's going to be like...

Did you shed a tear when Ferent died? Or were you glad to have your enemy gone? Yeah, fair. Just real quick, I forgot to mention, just cause like there's not a ton of like, coverage in this things, but there was quite a few exorcisms performed during this like situation.

Okay. Hold on. Like on the cemetery? Well from the cemetery, yes. Farrot, like I said, he was believing that like the cemetery was like possessed, it was evil. He did possess, he did possess, well, he did do a couple exorcisms here and there to like help the cemetery go back to normal, whatever the normal was. But Manchester, he also claimed to perform exorcism on people who believe were possessed by the demonic forces. Including the woman named Louisa, who kind of led him to... Got it. The Louisa lady. Got it.

But yeah, and that's about it. Wow. That was a fun one, to be honest. Yeah. I'm glad that I was able to provide a fun one. I liked that. I was like, oh God, you have such a dark story. And as you're covering it, it's like, oh good, I have a light heart.

I like the balance. Yeah. And yeah. Cool. That's about it for the... Well, thanks for sharing. ... Highgate vampire. Cool.

And it seems like that's about it for episode 20 of Chambers of the Occult. We're in the 20s now. You know where to find us. It's pretty cool. Send us ideas for TikToks, stories, places to go visit in person. And yeah, we'll see you next. Any vampire sightings of your own. Let us know.

Vampire or anything else, to be honest. Uh, or anything else. Like, let us know your experiences. We would love to cover them. Maybe we'll feature some on our TikTok or something like that. We've got some ideas growing up. So, yeah. Yeah. Stay, stay with us. Uh, we are cooking up some some stuff as the youngins do say. Is that what they say nowadays? It's not skibbity? Yeah, well that too. Anyway, stay curious, stay safe folks.

Till next time. Have a good one. Bye. Thanks for listening to Chambers of the Occult. For photos, sources, and anything else mentioned during the episode, check out our website at chambersoftheoccult.com. You'll find everything you need there if you do find yourself wanting more. You can also follow us on all of our socials at Chambers of the Occult and on Twitter at

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