The Mysterious Vampyre of Croglin Grange

The brothers and villagers wrenched the lid to the coffin open and saw the hideous wrinkled walnut colored face of the thing it contained. There was a fresh wound from a gunshot on its leg.

They took the coffin and the creature it held into the churchyard and burned them until all that remained were ashes.

This account has been controversial since the twentieth century.

In 1924, Charles G. Harper decided to challenge Hare's book and his account of the vampyre. He visited Cumberland and could not find a house named Croglin Grange, although he found both a Croglin High Hall and a Croglin Low Hall but neither fit the description of the Grange. There was no church nearby. The closest was a mile away. There was no vault as described by the brothers and the villagers.

Later, F. Clive-Ross visited the area and challenged Harper's findings. He interviewed the local people and deduced that Croglin Low Hall was what Hare referred to as the Grange. He also noted that a chapel had existed near the house and its foundation stones were still there in the 1930s. Clive-Ross appeared to refute Harper's challenges.

In 1968, parapsychologist and writer, D. Scott Rogo challenged Hare's story. There was a book, Varney the Vampire, which was popular, published in 1847. The book was known as a Penny Dreadful book and the authorship has not been definitively established. These books sold for a penny and are like pulp books and magazines, sensational. Some of the authors do not want to admit they wrote them. Montague Summers, in 1929, published a book that contained both stories. Rogo concluded that it was likely that one story was based upon another and that is was highly likely Croglin Grange was a hoax.

Later, Clive-Ross talked to the local residents of Cumberland and discovered that Hare made a huge blunder. The story took place in the 1680s, not the 1870s. If the events did happen, they happened nearly two centuries earlier than Hare stated.

Recent research done by Lionel Fanthorpe suggests that the events took place in the 1600s. A vault close to the Grange was demolished during Cromwell's time and a second story was added after this era. These findings, beyond a doubt, place the events before the publication of Varney the Vampire.

Could the account of the vampyre of Croglin Grange actually have happened? According to the documentation of vampyre epidemic in the Austro-Hungarian Empire,

Go To Page: 1 2 3