Thursday, January 1, 2015

The Child Vampire Hunters of Scotland





I've been writing this blog for four years now, and I've come across some pretty weird stuff. But this is one of the strangest stories I've ever heard.

In 1954, a rumor was making its way through the primary schools of Glasgow, Scotland. A seven-foot vampire with iron teeth had made a graveyard just south of the city his home. And he'd already dined on two little boys.

Rumors about vampires are pretty common in primary schools. (At least in MY experience.) But the kids of Glasgow took such things very seriously. On the night of September 23, 1954, four hundred of them armed themselves with steak knives and sharpened sticks and went to the cemetery in search of the vampire.

They found the police instead. (Forget vampires, the scariest thing most adults can imagine is a mob of knife-wielding fourth graders.) The authorities tried to convince the children that the vampire couldn't possibly be real. But the kids knew better. Night after night, they returned to the graveyard as soon as the sun had set, intent on protecting their city from a blood-sucking fiend.

The incident led to a crackdown on American horror comic books. But a new documentary suggests that the rumors had a much different source. (Pay close attention, Japanese parents!)

Check out the whole story at the BBC.

22 comments:

Amanda said...

Haha! That's pretty weird it's a shame I don't do current events any more (I always did something from here!) I'll still tell my friends! Maybe we can start an angry mob and storm down to the cemetary downthe street! Haha

montana irregulars said...

WoW I don't really like vampires but this is very intersting!

montana irregulars said...

found this one facebook I think it's for kirsten's book the eternal ones: www.theouroborossociety.com

The Golden Eagle said...

Strange.

Halley said...

That is weird. It reminds me of one year at school where these kids got into their minds that there was this creepy gorilla dude with a gun that was sneaking around school (I didn't really get it; it was stupid). The rumor got so big that the teachers had to stop it (we were pretty young at the time). It was SO ridiculous.

Al Fonzo said...

haha, so awesome!!

Anonymous said...

it's like the Hoboken Monkey Man!

except those scottish kids raised a child army to fight their monster - impressive!

Je Reve said...

Lovely, lovely.

EQ said...

Wow. An army of 400 kids with steak knives and what-have-you...wow. Can you just imagine an army of kids taking down one of those movie villains with the cat and the British accent? "Nooooo! My robotic minions! Do you know how hard it is to get robotic minions???...NOOOOO! My awsome hovercar thingies! and helicopters! My new villainous black paint jobs!"

montana irregulars said...

I made a online irregulars web site: http://groups.google.com/group/areyoumysterious? Ithink you can just join it!!

Mini Ninja said...

The one with the pitch-fork is staring at me!

Mini Ninja said...

I made a blog the adress is www.brainsnotfortheweird.blogspot.com

Ananka said...

Mini Ninja's blog is AWSOME go to it you won't regret it (it has a fat chipmunk on it)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toodles*** said...

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND WACKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I SAY, IF THOSE KIDS ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO DO THAT, I WANT TO MEET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(IF THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!!!)

Poison Pen said...

Smart kids. At least someone recognizes the real threat--screw terrorists, it's vampires we have to watch out for! I say we give them all formal training in vampire extermination and stealth missions, induct them into the Irregulars as their own division with the full benefits, and then turn them loose upon the world to protect their ignorant and blind authority figures.

Brilliant.

Kirsten Miller said...

Montana Irregulars: Wow. You're good!

Kirsten Miller said...

I, too, thoroughly enjoyed Mini Ninja's fat hamster!

Kitty said...

wooooooooowwww..... I should try that one day XD

Rosie said...

mini ninja luv luv luv ur blog!

Kiwi said...

Aww. That picture is cute (in an evil way). I can totally imagine a bunch of bloodthirsty 4 year olds out to get the vampire. If I were it, I would be mortified. EEe!

MorethanMe said...

UH! finaly little kids are good for some thing! (in my opinion, every kid should learn defence from a young age. i mean, whats the point of knowing stranger danger if the person is sneaky and good at being a perverted threat?)

Irregular Kiki said...

What a brave, and determined bunch of kids! How caring of them...