The world seems to be constantly coming to an end, especially in recent years, with events in many different fields, from the climate crisis to global epidemics and human rights. And now it seems that at least a few people think we should prepare for the vampire apocalypse.
A mysterious “vampire hunting set” that went up for auction at the British Hansons auction house last week was the scene of a fierce battle among eager international buyers, selling for around $16,000, six times the estimated price.
This set originally belonged to the English lord Lord William Malcolm Hailey, aka 1st Baron Hailey (1872-1969), according to the owner of the auction house, Charles Hanson. As for whether the Oxford-educated Lord is something common people don’t know about, it can be guessed that he had such a set, probably due to the popularity of John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) and Bran Stoker’s Dracula (1897).
Inside this heavy wooden box with two crosses on the outside is a pair of pistols, a bottle of holy water, a Bible, a wooden stake and a hammer to get it in place, more crosses, a brass powder holder and several rosaries…