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Ghost (and 'vampire') hoaxes

Hello young man! I thought you were lost.

S--- M---------? The spectre at the feast! I'd almost forgotten about him. Is he still around? :D
Amazingly (or maybe not so amazingly) this very thread has been reported on in an MSN discussion group devoted to the Right Rev most high S____ M_________.

Members of that church seem to have taken a dislike to us. :(
 
If I remember correctly, the Croglin Vampire story predates Varney the Vampire. That doesn't make it any less likely of being fictional, though.
 
Hi David,
I'm enjoying looking through your website, and I found the video amusing.
Ghosts are not a subject of huge importance to me. If I had to bet my life on it I would say yes they do exist, rather than no.. and I do enjoy watching Most Haunted.

I have a question for you. Are there any human cultures either now or in the past that were devoid of a belief in ghosts?
I saw one episode of Most Haunted when they visited the Netherlands, and they said that the Dutch have no tradition of belief in ghosts. Is this true?

(I thought about starting this question as a thread in itself, but I don't really know enough about the topic)
 
For Plumjam

David,
I'm enjoying looking through your website, and I found the video amusing.
Ghosts are not a subject of huge importance to me. If I had to bet my life on it I would say yes they do exist, rather than no.. and I do enjoy watching Most Haunted.

I have a question for you. Are there any human cultures either now or in the past that were devoid of a belief in ghosts?
I saw one episode of Most Haunted when they visited the Netherlands, and they said that the Dutch have no tradition of belief in ghosts. Is this true?

(I thought about starting this question as a thread in itself, but I don't really know enough about the topic)


Thanks for that Plumjam,

But I must admit to one disadvantage here. I have NEVER watched even one episode of "Most Haunted".

I wrote a couple of articles for their magazine "The Paranormal" (or gave interviews for one or the other - I really cannot remember) but I have really never watched the programme.

As to the Dutch thing, I really cannot answer as I am unaware of this filming or transmission

Anyway, hope that clarifies that point,

David (Farrant)
 
If I remember correctly, the Croglin Vampire story predates Varney the Vampire. That doesn't make it any less likely of being fictional, though.

The first written record of the story is from Augustus Hare's Story of My Life, which is significantly later than Varney. Some scholars have said that the story dates back to the 1600s -- but I have never seen any evidence that that is the case.
 
Plumjam, every culture I have ever spent any time studying has had some concept of survival after death and the ability to somehow access that plane from this. As the only species on the planet with a developed sense of self, empathy, and the ability to deal with past, present, future and abstract concepts in general, we carry a few side effects of that with us to this day.

As ever, if you can provide any evidence from any human culture that ghosts exist (questions of an afterlife notwithstanding), by all means do so.

As for Most Haunted, if that's "most" haunted, I do wonder what the "least" looks like.
 
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The first written record of the story is from Augustus Hare's Story of My Life, which is significantly later than Varney. Some scholars have said that the story dates back to the 1600s -- but I have never seen any evidence that that is the case.

After digging up my old notes on the matter, I'm inclined to agree with you. Some people claiming that the story was set at an earlier date and the described layout supposedly matching 17th century details do not a compelling argument make.
 

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