In the small British village of Highgate, near London, there is the Highgate Cemetery, which is almost 180 years old. At one time it was a fashionable burial place. There are the graves of Karl Marx, members of the family of Charles Dickens, the prototype of Professor Moriarty from Arthur Conan Doyle's story about Sherlock Holmes, and even Jack the Ripper. And there are also numerous legends about the vampires inhabiting the cemetery.
This ancient and very colorful cemetery is described in several works of art. Perhaps, for the first time about the vampires living in these places they started talking after the novel by the Irish writer Brem Stoker "Dracula", written in 1897. Many of the events described in the book took place in the Highgate Cemetery.
For many years, the cemetery was actively overgrown with majestic trees, dense bushes, wild flowers and gradually turned into a picturesque park. Now this place has a peculiar, mysterious and exciting appearance. In addition, the cemetery is now inhabited by foxes, hedgehogs, and some believe that vampires too.
Those who wish to see London from a less than touristy side and learn about the long-standing legends of these places can walk along the winding paths of Egyptian Street and the Lebanese circle of Highgate Cemetery. On the way, visitors will see ancient tombs and crypts. There is also a whole collection of Victorian mausoleums and headstones.
But the most interesting thing is the numerous stories that the locals will gladly tell about the vampires inhabiting the cemetery. The first significant upsurge in stories of encounters with vampires in a cemetery occurred about 35 years ago. People were actively sharing their impressions of the figures-spirits suddenly appearing in front of them and just as suddenly disappearing. After such descriptions, there were those who wanted to deal with all possible vampires. So vampire hunters came here, who found especially suspicious graves in the cemetery, opened the tombs, and aspen spears were thrust into the deceased. Because of such actions, very soon the cemetery workers walled up the entrances.
One of the most significant accounts of encounters with vampires is the story of a married couple who arrived in Highgate. In 2005, the husband and wives expressed their desire to take a walk in the ancient and mysterious cemetery. Before going for a walk, the couple talked with the son of the hostess of their hotel. The boy said that vampires live in a cemetery, they are buried where the letter V is engraved on the gravestones. Therefore, he warned tourists not to call the dead by name and not add the word "vampire" to this.
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Of course, adults reacted to such stories with a smile and attributed it to the teenager's raging fantasy. When they approached the entrance of the cemetery, a woman came out to meet them, dressed and combed completely out of fashion. The lady drew attention to a sign hanging on the wall and containing a list of mandatory rules of conduct in the cemetery. One of these points was the categorical prohibition to say the word "vampire" out loud.
But the man and woman did not pay attention to this warning either. They went for a walk and very soon discovered the first tomb with the letter V carved. After one of them drew attention to this tombstone, having read the names of the dead, an old woman, a young girl and a guy who had appeared from nowhere passed them.
After that, the tourists went back to the entrance - there a guide was to wait for them. It turned out to be an elderly man, dressed in the same out of fashion. He warned visitors that photography is prohibited in the cemetery. One of the spouses decided to clarify this information in the office - there was not the old woman who met them at first, but instead of her there was a young girl. And the same sign hung, only the item about vampires on the plate was no longer. Then even stranger things happened. It turned out that the ticket that the couple bought was seven years old.
The couple continued their walk together with a guide who told interesting stories about those who were buried here. When one of the listeners rang a mobile phone, the guide was genuinely surprised by such a subject. When the tour came to an end, the guide was asked about the vampires living here. To which he did not answer, but only turned around, ran and quickly disappeared. When the whole group returned to the starting point, someone asked the girl in the office - who this mysterious guide was. To which she replied that she was not aware of any elderly guide, since only young guys work as guides.
