Croglin Grange Vampire

(CROG-lynn GRANGEVam-pire)

In Crumbria, England, there is a vampire tale that began on the estate of Croglin Grange. Although the tale takes place in the early nineteenth century, it most likely originated in the seventeenth century. At that time both a chapel and a burial vault were visible from the house. Both had long since been demolished by the time history shows that the Cranswells (or Cromwells, sources vary) rented the property; nevertheless, it is an enduring tale. Miss Amelia (or Anne, sources vary) Cranswell, a survivor of the vampire's attack, described it as being a tall man smelling like death and decay, whose skin was nearly a translucent, dried-out brown. Its shriveled-up face had red eyes and lips. Its hands were long, thin, and clawed. Despite its appearance, it was fast and have the agility of a cat.

The Fisher family had owned and lived in the Croglin Grange estate up until the time it was rented out to the Cranswells: two brothers and a sister. One summer night as Miss Cranswell was preparing for bed, she noticed out of her bedroom window (which overlooked the ancient cemetery in the distance) two points of light moving between the stones. She could just make out a dark form, and the whole sighting left her feeling uneasy. She closed and locked her window and retired to bed for the evening. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, she opened her eyes to see a horrid face staring at her through the window, the eyes burning red, and instantly she knew that the dots of lights she had seen earlier had to have been the eyes that were looking at her now. She tried to scream but found that she was frozen with fear, unable even to move. She sat there helplessly as she watched the creature use its clawed hands to pluck away at the lead window sealing and knock the glass out of place so that it could slip its arm inside and undo the latch. The window swung silently open and the monster climbed in with startling ease. She was still unable to move as it crossed the room, grabbed her up by the HAIR, and pulled her face close to its as if it were preparing to kiss her. Only when it bit down into the flesh of her neck was she able to scream. Her brothers awoke and immediately dashed to her room. Finding the door locked, they had to waste precious time smashing it down. When they finally broke into the room, their sister lay on her bed, blood pumping from her neck. The smell of mold and decay filled the room, and one of the brothers just saw something flit out the window. He raced to it in time to see something dashing across the cemetery in the distance. The rest of the long night was spent bandaging their sister's neck and barely managing to save her life.

As soon as Miss Cranswell was well enough to travel, the brothers whisked her away to Switzerland to recover. There she told them of the events that had occurred and the brothers swore revenge on the monster. The three returned to Croglin Grange and laid a trap for the vampire. The sister insisted that she act as bait and the brothers lay in wait. Not long after their trap was set, the vampire returned, but this time the brothers were prepared and shot it several times. With a howling wail it fled back out the window and into the night. The brothers waited until morning to try and track it.

With first light they took their sister to a safe place and rounded up some of the local residents to help them search the graveyard for evidence of their sister's attacker. With a thorough search they noticed that one of the crypt doors was ajar. Looking inside they came upon a grizzly sight. All the COFFINS, save one, were smashed to bits. Bones were scattered everywhere and showed signs of having been gnawed upon. They opened the one COFFIN that was intact and found a corpse of a tall man who was sporting what they considered several fresh gunshot wounds. Assuming that this had to be the vampire, the COF-FINand the body within were taken outside of the crypt and moved to the churchyard. There it was set ablaze and watched, making sure it burned down to ash.

Source: Copper, Vampire in Legend, 51­54; Farson, Man Who Wrote Dracula, 108; Masters, Natural History of the Vampire, 132­35; Summers, Vampire in Lore and Legend, 112­15