“The Croglin Vampire: England’s Earliest Vampire Legend?” is published by Withnail Books. It contains my detailed research into the deep background of the supposed vampire.
The story is that in the 19th century a vampire was active in the small village of Croglin, in Cumbria. Over the years the narrative developed and grew, depending on who was telling the story, until now the vampire is an established part of British supernatural folklore.
I investigated the legend’s various twists and turns for my non-fiction book “Paranormal Cumbria” in 2012 (spoiler alert: there never was a vampire). Withnail Books reprinted that chapter with permission in the chapbook, adding a number of fantastic illustrations, both historical and contemporary.
Sadly you can no longer order the 40-page chapbook, as it sold out in just two days. But you can read about it on their website, https://lnkd.in/eqV4HXib
And if you are ever in Penrith, it’s a great bookshop. Uncle Monty says so!
Category Archives: Vampires
VRYKOLAX folk-horror script wins Special Prize at Tallinn
My folk-horror screenplay VRYKOLAX was selected for development by the European Genre Forum. After workshops in Zagreb, Amsterdam and Tallinn, it was pitched at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, where it won the Special Mention Prize. It’s now being pitched further afield.
VRYKOLAX tells the story of a troubled British artist who tries to find the truth about his family on a remote Mediterranean island, where the locals are in fear of a Vrykolax, a revenant from Greek folklore which returns from the dead to wreak havoc on its relatives. The Vrykolax or Vrykolakis is in some ways similar to the more familiar vampire, although reports predate the Slavic vampire by several centuries.
The script is co-written with the film’s director, Achilleas Gatsopoulos. The producers are Minos Nikolakakis and Vassilis Economou.
If you are a potential investor and would like to know more, a pitchdeck is available. Please get in touch here.