Peter Underwood

Peter Underwood was born in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, lived for much of his life in a small Hampshire village, and finally resided in Surrey. President of The Ghost Club since 1960, and a long-standing member of the Society of Psychical Research, Peter first entered the Vampire Research Society in 1973, having established a lively correspondence with myself wherein his support was unequivocal.

His colleague, Tom Perrott, had already invited me to address members of The Ghost Club in London. On 16 March 1973, Peter added: “We have a number of members who are deeply interested in the subject of vampires and I feel sure you would find our members kindly, sympathetic and friendly. I knew Montague Summers and members of The Ghost Club include Eric Maple and Robert Aickman who has written some excellent vampire stories. I hope that we may meet one day.”  In 1974, Peter took part in Daniel Farson’s television documentary on the subject of vampires and vampirism.

Peter kindly made me a Life-Member of The Ghost Club, whilst he, along with life-membership, was to become a Fellow Associate of the Vampire Research Society. Peter was already a member of the British Occult Society, an organisation that investigated the paranormal and occult phenomena, which was formally dissolved on 8 August 1988. The following year witnessed my collaboration with Peter on an anthology that would include the first published account of events in the early days of the Highgate Vampire case. On 14 October 1974, Peter wrote: “I am pleased to be able to advise you that I have now passed the proofs and I am very pleased with the way the book has turned out. It will be entitled The Vampire’s Bedside Companion and is due for publication early in 1975 [by Leslie Frewin Books].”

On 25 July 1975, Peter wrote: “As you know, I possess a medallion, given to me by Montague Summers, that is reputed to have power over vampires. … I am just wondering whether you happen to know of a current vampire infestation where [the medallion] might be tried [and tested]?”

The Highgate Vampire had been exorcised a year and a half earlier, but there were other vampires awaiting discovery. Thus began a comradeship in the field of vampirology that would endure to the sad news this month of my dear friend's death. On 15 December 1985, I was invited to give a piano recital of my own compositions on the occasion of Peter’s quarter of a century service as president of the The Ghost Club, at Berkeley Square, London. Other well-wishers included Dennis Wheatley, Vincent Price, Patrick Moore, Michael Bentine, Sir Alec Guiness and Dame Barbara Cartland — all of whom have now sadly passed on.

In 1990, Peter Underwood retold the events of the Highgate Vampire case (up to the first discovery of the undead tomb in Highgate Cemetery) in his book Exorcism! He commented in chapter six: “The Hon Ralph Shirley told me in the 1940s that he had studied the subject in some depth, sifted through the evidence and concluded that vampirism was by no means as dead as many people supposed; more likely, he thought, the facts were concealed. … My old friend Montague Summers has, to his own satisfaction, at least, traced back ‘the dark tradition of the vampire’ until it is ‘lost amid the ages of a dateless antiquity’.”

In his earlier book, containing the chapter with photographic evidence from the archive of the Vampire Research Society, written and contributed with Peter's encouragement by myself, he wrote: “Alleged sightings of a vampire-like creature — a grey spectre — lurking among the graves and tombstones have resulted in many vampire hunts. … In 1968, I heard first-hand evidence of such a sighting and my informant maintained that he and his companion had secreted themselves in one of the vaults and watched a dark figure flit among the catacombs and disappear into a huge vault from which the vampire … did not reappear. Subsequent search revealed no trace inside the vault but I was told that a trail of drops of blood stopped at an area of massive coffins which could have hidden a dozen vampires.”

And so our history in this arcane field progressed. We corresponded regularly and I was invited on various occasions to become involved in various projects. What struck me always was Peter's dedication to his work and loyalty to me. He wrote a Foreword to my novel Carmel at the turn of the century which included these words: "Memories crowded in: [the author's] commanding lectures and television appearances; his ready and valuable co-operation in literary labours of love; his admiration of mutual friends such as Montague Summers, Dennis Wheatley and Devendra P Varma; his dealing with not always complimentary publicity; his piano playing and musical compositions; his abiding interest in unearthly subjects and his enduring publications — the list goes on and on."

Such was the generosity of spirit incumbent in Peter Underwood who ended his introduction to this author with the following:

"And as the shadows lengthen ... I often think, in the words he sometimes used to close his letters: 'Until we meet again ...' "

Peter's first and last acts in our long friendship was to offer me his unconditional support. And he knew I always offered mine. There were times after the death in 2003 of his wife, Joyce (whom I had met in the previous century and he had married on the day I was born), when Peter reached out to me in the full knowledge I would console, counsel and completely support him where others might have been less willing because of what transpired in the aftermath regarding his personal life. Such friendship, trust and loyalty between two people is rare in today's modern world, and we each recognised, understood and valued what comprised an archetypal English gentleman. Peter, indeed, was quintessentially an English gentleman. That is how I shall always remember him. Well-attired, upright, kind, considerate, polite and punctilious. A lovely, lovely man.

I have lost one of my closest colleagues and beloved friends. My condolences are extended to Peter's family, friends and colleagues. When he parted company with The Ghost Club in 1993 and formed the Ghost Club Society, one of the first things he did was to make me an honorary life-member.

Thank you for everything, Peter. I shall for ever hold you in my thoughts and prayers.

Until we meet again ...  

British Occult Society

 

The Ghost Club Society was the world's oldest and most prestigious society devoted to the serious and impartial investigation, study and discussion of subjects not yet fully understood or accepted by science. Its president was the late Peter Underwood, pictured below, who was also a Life-Member of the British Occult Society until its dissolution on 8 August 1988. He also held executive member status within the Vampire Research Society whose vice-president was Professor Devendra P Varma.

1851 — The Ghost Club Society founded in Cambridge. Members include E W Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury and Arthur Balfour, later Prime Minister.

1862 — The London Ghost Club. Members include the Hon A Gordon, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick: a Canon of Westminster and the Registrar of Cambridge University.

1882-1936 — First revival. Members include Sir William Crookes, Sir William Barratt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Oliver Lodge, W B Yeats and Harry Price.

1938-1947 — Second revival with Harry Price as Chairman. Members include Lord Amwell, Algernon Blackwood, Mrs K M (Mollie Goldney, Sir Ernest Jelf, K E Shelley QC, Sir Osbert Sitwell, Dr Paul Tabori and Peter Underwood FRSA.

1954-1993 — Third revival with Peter Underwood as President. Members include K E Shelley QC, Dr Christabel Nicholson, Dr Paul Tabori, Donald Campbell MBE, Peter Sellers, Dennis Wheatley, Dr George Owen, Lord Dowding, Ena Twigg and Sir Julian Huxley. Honorary Life Members include Dennis Bardens, Mrs Michael Bentine, Colonel John Blashord-Snell, Miss Sarah Miles, Miss Jilly Cooper, Dr A R G Owen, Miss Dulcie Gray, Sir Patrick Moore, Mr Uri Geller, and the Right Reverend Seán Manchester OSG. Peter Underwood is Life President and Colin Wilson is vice-President of the Ghost Club Society.

At times there was membership cross-fertilisation between the British Occult Society and the Ghost Club Society. In 1988 the British Occult Society was formally dissolved under the leadership of its final president, myself. I had been elected on 21 June 1967.

.

The British Occult Society was originally formed as an umbrella organisation circa 1860. Much of its activity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is shrouded in mystery. The BOS came out of the closet, however, in the mid-twentieth century before finally disappearing in 1988. During that period it was presided over by myself. I placed emphasis on investigating the claims of the occult and the study and research of paranormal phenomena. Out of this history sprang the Vampire Research Society (formerly a specialist unit within the BOS), that was founded by the president of the British Occult Society who first appeared on British television on 13 March 1970. See grainy image at the top of the page that was taken from that transmission. I can be seen in the colour photograph immediately above (reconstructing an exorcism I had performed in August 1970), taken from a broadcast on BBC television in the autumn of 1970, seven months after my television debut.

Keith Maclean

 

I was introduced to Keith Maclean by Elżbieta Wojdyla (mentioned in a 1975 contribution I made to an anthology, and a book published ten years later outlining supernatural disturbances at Highgate Cemetery). This was a time when the ethos of the Sixties was still evident at the turn of the Seventies. In my book, probably owing to his surname, he is referred to as "a young man of Scottish descent," despite his proclaimed Welsh connections and quintessential Englishness. The last time he appeared at my house (December 2018), the tartan trousers he wore indicated my original deduction was on target. However, despite my urging him to don a midi-kilt, he has not done so.

This picture appears in the 1985 edition of The Highgate Vampire. It is the first I took of him.

The image below is the last photograph taken of Keith Maclean. We remain in close contact.

Professor Varma

 

Like Peter Underwood's support both before and after the first edition of The Highgate Vampire, I received equally enthusiastic support from Devendra P Varma. Many individuals connected to film production had contacted me following the first appearance of my book in 1985, but upon the arrival of the enlarged and completely revised edition half a dozen years later, bids seemed to flood in.

While Highgate Vampire Productions was up and running I ignored what was proffered, and in the wake of Aimee's unexpected death I was a little too shaken to entertain seriously anything suggested.

In the meantime, I had the enthusiastic support of my friends and colleagues, not least my London Secretary, Diana Brewester, fellow researcher Peter Underwood, vampirologist Devendra P Varma, now all sadly deceased, and a great many others. Yet it was Professor Varma's enthusiasm for everything I did in this field which now gives me pause to reflect on the remarkable impact he had.

The Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma, Ph.D., Honorary Vice-President of the Vampire Research Society, on his return trip from delivering a scholarly address at The Undiscovered Country Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at UNC (October 1994), suffered an unexpected stroke and slipped into a coma. Dr Varma finally sustained a massive stroke that took his life on October 24th at 4:30 pm New York time. The first of the strokes occurred on October 17th in New York at a colleague's home where he had stopped briefly while returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr Varma's son, Hemendra, and daughter-in-law, Susan, flew from Canada to New York and were present at his sad passing.

 

Dr Varma was a retired Full Professor Emeritus from Dalhousie University at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Born in Darbhanga, a Himalayan village overlooking Mount Everest on 17 October 1923 to landed gentry parents, he eventually became a British/Canadian citizen. He was an internationally acclaimed scholar and the author of dozens of major articles and books in the scholarly discipline of Gothic Studies, making him the pre-eminent scholar in the field. His text The Gothic Flame was his way of picking up the torch from Montague Summers, before the flame seemingly passed to myself in October 1994. Dr Varma was the keynote speaker for such major literary bodies as The Byron Society (where, at some considerable length, he reviewed my biography of Lady Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron, Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know) and The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, which granted him the Outstanding Scholar Award. Both the British House of Lords and the Japanese Diet invited Dr Varma for major presentations. His latest book, On the Trail of Dracula, was in preparation at the time of his death.

Dr Varma was excited at the prospect of my proposed sequel to Dracula (Carmel: A Vampire Tale, published in 2000 by Gothic Press), and I dedicated The Vampire Hunter’s Handbook, published in 1997 by Gothic Press, to the memory of my good friend and colleague.

He was decorated Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Caballero Grand Cruz de la Orden de Nuestra Se-ora de Guadalupe) and Knight Officer of the Holy Sepulchre. He held the Order of the Lion and the Black Rose and was a Fellow of the Augustan Society. He addressed the Conference on Literatures of the Fantastic at the University of Northern Colorado held October 14th-16th. At the time of his major address, he was made a full member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honour Society. He was truly a great scholar and a real gentleman in the European style.

My tribute to Professor Varma was first published in the Summer 1995 issue of Udolpho (magazine of The Gothic Society). What follows is an edited and much shortened version of my original obituary from Udolpho magazine:

“The terrible news of the Right Honourable Chevalier Professor Sir Devendra Prasad Varma’s death came upon the light-bearers of the neo-Gothic revival as an earthquake. I received the news by accident whilst glancing through a journal; it could not have struck me with the idea of a more awful and dreary blank in Creation. Few have been held in my affection as the place reserved for Varma. We existed, like Byron and Beckford, in mutual admiration. That admiration reigned for twenty years since it blossomed in 1975 when we were independently published in Peter Underwood’s anthology 'The Vampire’s Bedside Companion.' Varma’s chapter, 'The Genesis of Dracula: A Re-Visit,' was the perfect compliment to my own about the early days of Highgate Cemetery’s vampire infestation. The empathy shared and enthusiasm shown for a world that was already receding was apparent to us. Inevitably, we collaborated on many projects; sadly, few of these ever saw the light of day. But somehow that mattered less than the collaboration itself. The last short story for an anthology to be edited by Varma was proffered at his request around the time of my work on 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know' (Gothic Press, 1992). Titled "Aurora," the manuscript remains locked away with his private papers and is now unlikely to witness the dawn, or indeed publication.

“Yet it was Varma’s enthusiasm for my biography of Lord Byron’s tortured lover which ensured its appearance in print. This I acknowledge at the front of the book. His generous support of my work knew no bounds. He wrote: ‘Your welcome letter brings the best news for the academic world that your book on Caroline Lamb may be out by early 1991.’ In fact, it was published in mid-1992 with much prompting by Varma who remained inspirational throughout the latter days of the project. His review in 'The Byron Journal' the following year was extremely flattering, but there was never anything sycophantic about Varma, as anyone who knew him will amply attest. He ‘always’ spoke his mind. Nevertheless, he loyalty never faltered. Not once. There are not so many people about which the same observation could be made.

“My biography of Lady Caroline Lamb was to be the last my dear mother, an avid reader, was to enjoy before death came as an assassin and as a ferocious wraith two years prior to Varma’s sudden and unexpected departure. The pictures contained within its covers include one of my mother and I at Newstead where we often stayed in those all too distant days. This was the cherry on the cake for her. The book itself she loved and it somehow brought a twinkle back to her grey-blue eyes - those Byronic eyes. Varma proved to be the kindest of individuals during this period. He wrote: ‘Heartfelt condolences on your bereavement! We share your sorrows!’ He then quoted Scott:

The light of smiles shall fill again.

The lids that overflow with tears,

And weary hours of woe and pain

And promises of the happy years!

There is a day of sunny rest

In every dark and troubled night

And grief may bide an evening guest

But joy shall come with early light.

“He ended with the words: ‘We have no response for strokes of Fate - only Faith and Resignation.’ Two years later the same fate would clasp poor Varma in its icy clutch.

“Like Summers and I, Varma subscribed unreservedly to a belief in the existence of vampires, the supernatural variety, as defined in every dictionary and chronicled in ancient tradition. His knowledge of the lore of the undead was impressive and our correspondence on this subject immense, running to several bulging files over the years. But his hand grew shaky and his last letters had an erratic quality that was unfamiliar. Nevertheless, his unbridled passion for those things in which we held a common interest burned brightly to the end.

“His final letter spoke of us meeting at St Etheldreda’s Church in Hertfordshire where Lady Caroline is entombed in the Lamb Family Vault, but a crowded schedule would deny us this last opportunity.

“My work "The Grail Church: Its Ancient Tradition and Renewed Flowering" (published on Ascension Day 1995) is dedicated to the memory of my beloved mother. My next book will return to the Gothic genre and be dedicated to my late lamented colleague Devendra Prasad Varma whom I shall ever admire. It only remains for me now to recover the fallen torch, so fatefully dropped in October 1994, and guard its sacred flame until I, too, am no more on this old Earth of ours.

“Fare the well, dear Varma - dear friend in a friendless world!”

Dennis Wheatley

Dennis Wheatley

Dennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was an English author, born in the year of Dracula's publication, whose prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling writers from the 1930s through to the 1960s. During the Second World War, he was a member of the London Controlling Section, which secretly co-ordinated strategic military deception and cover plans. His literary talents gained him employment with planning staffs for the War Office. The most famous of his submissions to the Joint Planning Staff of the war cabinet was on "Total War." He was given a commission directly into the JP Service as Wing Commander, RAFVR and took part in advance planning for the Normandy invasions. In 1946, he was awarded the U.S. Bronze Star for his part in the war effort.

David Farrant outside Highgate Cemetery's North Gate.

Dennis Wheatley was an Honorary Life Member of both The Ghost Club and the British Occult Society. In the Daily Express, 26 June 1974, Dennis Wheatley said of David Farrant: "I cannot believe for one moment that he is a serious student of the occult. In fact I believe [Farrant] to be evil and entirely to be deplored." In the same article, Canon Pearce Higgins said of Farrant: "I think he's crazy." David Farrant sued the Daily Express, Canon Pearce Higgins and Dennis Wheatley but lost his action, receiving a bill of £20,000 court costs that was left for taxpayers to cover in its entirety. Dennis Wheatley died in November 1977 before making his appearance in the High Court charged with libel. In the event, however, his published statement about Farrant was not found to be libellous and therefore still stands.

Dennis Wheatley's novels' main characters are all supporters of Royalty, Empire and the class system, and many of his villains are villainous because they attack these ideas. During the winter of 1947, Wheatley penned "A Letter to Posterity" which he buried in an urn at his country home. The letter was intended to be discovered some time in the future (it was found in 1969 when that home was demolished for redevelopment of the property). In it he predicted that the socialist reforms introduced by the post-war government would result inevitably in an unjust state, and he advised both passive and active resistance to it.

Two weeks before his death, Dennis Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril "Bobby" Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough. He was cremated at Tooting and his ashes interred at Brookwood Cemetery. He is commemorated on the Baker/Yeats monument and tomb of William Yeats Baker (1836-1916) at West Norwood Cemetery. There is something vaguely poetic that the man who invented "The Man Who Never Was" is not interred where he is remembered on the family tomb.

Dennis Wheatley sharing a joke with actor Christopher Lee.

Personal Assistants and Friends

Diana

Diana Brewester, London secretary, personal assistant and good friend, was preceded by Katrina Garforth-Bles who was with me from a few years after the time Jacqueline Cooper had moved on. Jacqueline loyally, albeit casually, assisted me from circa 1967 until the end of that decade. 

Jacqueline seated next to me in the 1960s.

Due to her tender singing voice, Jacqueline became a folk singer for the band in which I played saxophone. I still have her recording of Those Were The Days, made famous by Mary Hopkin. It was in a high register, sweet as honey, so soothing and every bit as enchanting as herself. We were engaged to each other for a while, but circumstances intervened in a hectic world where the times engulfed so many. Hence we drifted in completely different directions. Before the end came, she said "I know life with you will always be exciting, dramatic and never be dull, but you must choose. Say the word, and I will stay." I told her to move forward in that other direction. We never met again. I thought I briefly caught sight of her once in the heart of busy London. She seemed more conservatively attired than I remembered, more mature, more grown up. Barely recognisable. 

The group, above, shows Chips (guitar), Jacqueline (vocals), and Bob (drummer) in a rehearsal room. Apologies to other band members not mentioned, or shown. I took the photograph.

Katrina, seen standing next to me, below, followed Jacqueline as my official PA, and held that rôle until Diana, pictured at the top of the page (when she modelled professionally), took over. Hence, Diana became my personal assistant from early on in the 1980s. I adopted her as the sister I have never had, being an only child, and was distraught when she unexpectedly died in December 2003.

Katrina with me on a photo shoot.

What all had in common was that their first occupations were identical. They were professional (mostly photographic) models. Katrina was with Storm, a top London model agency, and with the single exception of Jacqueline, all were from a privileged background and education. 

Katrina was landed gentry, and I was close to them all. I was briefly engaged to Jacqueline, a teenager at the time. Katrina was an absolute darling and wanted to marry me. However, though I loved her dearly, I viewed her only as a friend with whom I had a great deal in common. Humour was always the cement that bound us. Likewise, Diana, but she had never expressed any desire to marry me, even though she adored my bloodline and with it all the Byronic connections. Sarah, of course, I did ask to marry me within six months of meeting her. We have now been joined in that sacred union for the best part of three and a half decades. She is the most important person ever to enter my life, and I love her unreservedly. She was a ballerina when young, graduated with honours in drama and dance (Creative Arts), sings, acts and models, became my last muse from the moment we met, and is an accomplished sculptress, as well as a capable creative artist and designer.

 Sarah, pictured alongside me above, has assisted jointly in everything I do. She is indispensable.

Aimee Stephenson

As my transient association with the film industry began to draw to a close, prior to leaving that world behind to concentrate on other commitments, Aimee Stephenson emerged whom I shall always remember with affection and fondness. She read The Highgate Vampire and wanted to make a film dramatisation of the book. Initially inviting me to participate in a film documentary about the dangers of the occult, our working together revealed a bond and shared vision from an artistic perspective. We formed a production company for the purpose of making the definitive film, became co-directors of Highgate Vampire Productions, and set about casting, choosing locations, deciding the practicalities of what we wanted included, and began a pre-production treatment.

It was unbearably hot on that spring day when I made the occult documentary with Aimee  ― always cool, collected and beautiful ― but there was snow on the ground when we went into pre-production for the Highgate Vampire cinematic film treatment. I was the only character cast who was actually playing himself. I was happy to do this at the pre-production stage, but it was not our intention to continue with me playing myself. Aimee felt that mine might be a challenging rôle for an actor. Even so, the French had managed it with their television film version of my book where actors were used. They employed a quintessentially English actor to play me, plus much dramatic licence for Sur les Traces du Vampire, which was first transmitted in France on 11 March 1994 by Sygma. I narrated this adaptation, briefly appearing on screen from time to time as myself. The barely audible English narrative issuing from me was obviously over-dubbed into French.

Following the first week’s intensive filming, Aimee organised a lavish dinner party at her London home in my honour. It was a wonderful surprise, and one that I shall not forget. When I later entered the priesthood (she is situated on the left in the image above) she took some exceptional photographs at the ordination ceremony. She could always find a dramatic angle from where to catch the moment on film. This was probably because Aimee had started out as a model and actress before turning to directing and producing films. The more I worked with her, the more I would discover her kindness — she was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. The 1980 Roxy Music album Flesh and Blood has her of the sleeve. She is the nearest of the two girls on the album cover.

She spent considerable time in America to benefit from the techniques used by the Roger Corman Studios and to prepare her for work on our project. My work was done, having written the book and advised on the screenplay. It was now for Aimee to do her work. Sadly, this would be cut short by circumstances that ended all hope of the definitive screen adaptation being made under her direction; circumstances that would leave the project seemingly frozen in time.

Aimee travelled to Peru for yet another project. She was seated on a bus when a box of smuggled fireworks exploded under the seat directly in front of her. She suffered third-degree burns to her arms, legs, face and trunk, requiring urgent hospital medication, but was forced to wait more than a day for specialist treatment because paramedics claimed they could only take Peruvians with private medical insurance to hospital. A local doctor drove the couple one hundred miles on a desert track the following morning. Aimee was flown back to England a week later due to her deteriorating condition, but died following a skin graft in a specialist burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital. At the inquest, it was recalled by another person how flames were seen “leaping up” under a seat. It was thought that the first explosion might have ignited more fireworks and gunpowder hidden in the luggage hold. David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. He said: “Aimee did not die as a result of an accident. If this had happened in Britain there would have been a prosecution for manslaughter. It was a most dangerous and illegal act to transport these sort of manufactured fireworks in this way.” She was forty-five ― yet appeared considerably younger. We were all deeply shocked by her death, and our memories of Aimee now belong to a world removed from the one in which we find ourselves. Indeed, they dwell in another century when hope still had a place to dream.

One of the last places we visited during the preparation for the filming of my book was the eerie scene of the exorcism of the primary source in the Highgate Vampire case. The original neo-gothic mansion had been demolished in the wake of the disturbing incidents that led to it being dubbed a house of evil, and in its place twelve flats were built for active elderly people. Yet a ruin façade from that earlier haunted dwelling still stands as some terrible reminder of the final chapter to those events in the early 1970s. I remember Aimee feeling a chill as we stood atop the steps and peered through the wrought iron portal once filled by an oak door. We all felt cold as soon as we passed over its threshold ― even though the sun shone brightly that day ...