St James Cemetery in Liverpool is reported to be haunted, but that doesn’t scare me visiting it at night, especially when it’s shrouded in fog. When creating this post, I found out that it’s not only haunted by ghosts, but it is also home to a vampire that is also linked to the street that I live on. How uncanny is that?
The photograph above is my attempt at a ghostly self portrait taken in St James Cemetery, Liverpool on a foggy evening titled ‘Amanda’s Ghost‘.
Haunted Liverpool: St James Cemetery Vampire
St James Cemetery is reported to be haunted. It used to be a sandstone quarry, abandoned in 1825 and then converted in to a graveyard catering for over 57,000 Victorian and Edwardian dead. I’ve already wrote about the limping ghost in a top hat and tails that haunts the tomb of MP Huskisson. This can be read here, but after doing some research, I’m more astounded with Tom Slemen’s tale of the ‘The Christmas Vampire‘. Please visit Tom’s website and treat yourself to one of his books as I have a massive collection. I must get him to sign one for me sometime. What do you say Tom?
In December 1970 a female who lived in a second floor flat on Huskisson Street, as I do, was walking her dog in St James Cemetery.
She witnessed some grey smoke hanging over the grand tombs near to the tunnel in the north end of the cemetery that caught her curiosity. The smoke formed into a man and that’s when she picked up her little dog and legged it!
She returned to the cemetery days later with her friend and her friend’s boyfriend, George and they went to the exact spot where the smoke had formed. All three of them saw a man in a top hat, long cape, wearing a monocle who had blue cast skin, who smelled of leaf mould. Girls being girls, screamed and ran off and George got punched in the jaw so hard nearly breaking it. He managed to escape and after reporting it to the police, no man was ever found.
Funnily enough, when me and my friend Ryan was in the cemetery a couple of nights ago practicing light painting photography, Ryan looked over into that part of the cemetery and thought he saw the figure of a man. Of course I talked him out of seeing that and I immediately rationalised it being the figure of an angel hugging a cross. Did Ryan see the vampire?
The story goes on to tell of other victims being bitten by this vampire and children being chased by it. Furthermore, the poor female who lived in the same street as myself, began to feel like she was being watched one night and when she looked out of the window, the blue faced figure gazed up at her. She of course immediately retreated and didn’t sleep for the rest of the evening. In the morning, a black rose was waiting for her on the steps. I can assure you that I won’t be looking out of my window tonight!
Read the story here: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Christmas+Vampire.-a0190453826
Visit Tom Slemen’s website: http://www.slemen.com/
Night Time in St James Cemetery
The two photographs below were taken on the same night within this wonderful cemetery.
