The Glasgow Southern Necropolis (picture below) holds a special place in the history of Glasgow, the gravestones are testament to the prolific number of rich merchants, traders , inventors , soldiers and military leaders that once strode the city. However, what may not be known to many is that in 1954 the Necropolis was the scene of a real life vampire hunt made up entirely of children.
In late September 1954, talk had begun to permeate the playgrounds across the city that a seven-foot-tall bloodsucking monster with iron teeth was stalking the grounds of the Necropolis, a monster that would soon be written into Scottish history as the ‘Gorbals Vampire’ (The Gorbals being an area of Glasgow). Rumours had even spread that the vampire had brutally killed and eaten two young boys, so the children decided to take it upon themselves to put an end to the monsters reign of terror and on the evening of 23 September 1954 a group of children clutching wooden stakes, knifes and crosses headed for the Necropolis with a sense of vigilante justice that would put Batman to shame.
Of course there was no Vampire to slay and no childrens had been killed, but the story spread throughout the city and was picked up by the local press and was even covered in worldwide news. Worried parents, teachers and religious leaders desperately sought answers as to why their innocent children had come up with such a bizarre story and politicians quickly found an obvious culprit in those “evil and depraved” American horror comics, and specifically a story that appeared in “Dark Mysteries” issue 15 called “The Vampire with the Iron Teeth”. Appalled at the content of these comics it was easy to blame them for warping their children’s young minds and local politicians took their case to the UK Parliament which led in no small way to the 1955 Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act being passed which is still (technically) in force today.
Above the offending issue of "Dark Fantasy" issue 15 and below the lead story page from "The Vampire with the Iron Teeth" - Images taken from internet.
Although this looks a pretty cut and dried case of US horror comics warping
Glasgow kids minds and justification for banning 1950’s US horror comics there were other factors involved that could have influenced the children. There was already a local Glasgow legend called ‘Jenny wi’ the Airn (Iron) Teeth’ who was alleged to haunt Glasgow Green in the 1800’s. The Necropolis was also a frequent playground for the local kids and the gothic nature and atmoshpere of the Necropolis could have affected their childhood imaginations, and there were of course social issues of poverty, stress and depravation in this area of Glasgow at this time. These issues would have been more worthy of being taken to Parliament than a complaint about American horror comics. But whatever the reason the story has been woven into the rich tapestry of the city and has spawned books, music, Radio programmes, art, and even a play (the header picture by Frank Quietly is the cover of programme for the play).
Front page of the "Evening New" one of 3 Glasgow evening papers that ran the story of the Gorbals Vampire.
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Whatever it was that influenced those children to arm themselves with knives and stakes (and there's no proof it was comics), the fact remains that the incident proves just how easily influenced and susceptible to suggestion children are. What would have happened had they discovered some tramp sleeping in the graveyard? A tragedy could easily have transpired. That's why I don't have a problem with concerned parents taking a 'better safe than sorry' approach to certain comics of the time, as well as other factors. You might find my own post on this subject interesting, Mcs, if you haven't seen it already. Just type Gorbals Vampire into my blog's search box and it should magically appear.
ReplyDeleteDarn! I thought I had an original posting here lol. Will have a look at yours later Kid. I'm the same as you in that "material" can make some kids susceptible it doesn't make comics, music, books or films bad but proved they all have power .
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that the material itself 'makes' kids susceptible, McS, I'd say they're susceptible and impressionable anyway and that the material can 'direct' the way in which they respond to it (if they do). (But I knew what you meant.)
DeleteFascinating. All this is new to me. It's so discouraging to read about community leaders getting it wrong so often, all too eager to starve the young imagination rather than feed the young body. Poverty is a hard problem and jumping on a young person's dreams is so very easy.
ReplyDeleteSo, hundreds of kids armed with sticks, knives and stakes, looking for someone (maybe even anyone) to stab or impale over three nights is nothing to worry about, RJ? Something clearly influenced their behaviour, so 'community leaders starving young imaginations' is wide off the mark. Young imaginations often need guidance and the old saying 'we are what we eat' applies to what we feed our minds as well as our bodies.
DeleteIt would have been good if this event had been followed up by some social group/working party to see what actually triggered this event as the true reason has never really been clearly explained. To be fair many of the children that were interviewed at that time (although this was seemingly only about 20 of the allegedly 400 kids that stormed the Necropolis) said they had never seen let alone read a US horror comic (they would have been a costly treat to poor families at this time) - on the other hand the event could have been inspired by kids that had read these comics and the rumors spread and hysteria ensured a sit can in groups especially kids. But this could have been a much more severe event had the kids come across some unsuspecting person.
DeleteA fascinating story and a lovely bit of research, McScotty. Kudos for taking the time and effort to pull it all together. With the near Government ban on American comics coming into Britain in the 1939-1959 period, it is a wonder that those kids managed to get their hands on Dark Mysteries #15. I had assumed it was an EC comic, but see that it was published by Master Publications. It appears to be a really rare comic, although I see that Heritage Publications have a VG copy up for auction. Heritage Auctions sold the last one back in 2015, commenting it was only one of three that they'd ever seen, the last one being 8 years previously. Those kids should have put the comic in a mylar bag! I know nothing of Master Publications and have had no luck on getting background info.
ReplyDeleteTrivially, I was interested to see that the Glasgow Evening News logo in 1954 was almost identical to the Portsmouth Evening News logo of the same era.
Finally, was the Glasgow Southern Necropolis the graveyard featured in the recent Batman movie?
Interestingly, the cartoon strip Chipper (a dog) appeared in both the Portsmouth News (called, I think, just The News when I lived there) as well as the Evening Citizen. The News did an article (with photo) about me when I was given an honorary membership to their Chipper Club in '83 or '84. Watched The Ghost Breakers yet?
DeleteYes, Kid - watched The Ghost Breakers this morning (was able to corner the telly for a few hours) ; great fun. All the elements that defined the horror/comedy genre ; smart people, witty wisecracks, sophisticated Manhattanites, haunted castles, secret passages, ghosts (real and fake), and Zombies, Bob Hope at his peak and the luminous Paulette Goddard holding her own. Probably the benchmark for that genre.
DeleteRe the Chipper Club - I never knew you were a fellow "Chipster" (I must have joined around 1967 - may even have the membership card somewhere). Did you ever get to meet "Uncle Mike" when you were inducted? You'll have to tell the tale on your blog.
I think the Portsmouth Evening News became "The News" when they moved to their new offices in Hilsea around 1970 and adopted new printing presses ; before that they were in Stanhope Rd, around the back of Commercial Rd.
It was Auntie Philomena who ran the club when I joined, B, but I never got to meet her. I applied to join while still in Scotland and was told there was an age limit of... I dunno, 12 or something... but they made an exception and made me an honorary member. I still have my membership card and badge to this day. I thought I'd written about it on the blog, but having done a quick check, I can't find anything so that's a post for the future.
DeleteHi Ian, glad you found it interesting. To be honest I took most of the basic information from the programme for the play (at the Citizens Theatre) then looked up the Glasgow Mitchell Libraries newspaper archive for the more details on the event, the politicians involved, and the mention of the Dark Mystery’s comic book. I did find a quote form a book online that had reminiscences from some of the kids that actually took part in the “Vampire Hunt” – they were now in their 70’s but there was a “Do not use without permission” blurb on the book so I left these out. Yes, the Necropolis was used for the Batman movie (the even more affluent side of it). I don't recall the Glasgow Evening News, so I assume it ceased publication in the 1960s so it may have been part of a wider regional newspaper corporation - The two main Glasgow papers were the Glasgow Evening Times and The Citizen, the latter also no longer published.
DeleteOK guys I need more details on the "Chipper club"! I used to deliver the Evening Citizen (the "Green" sports paper) on a Saturday when I was about 9- or 10 years old with my brother but I don't recall this cartoon / club at all!
ReplyDeleteI don't recall a Chipper Club in the Evening Citizen, McS (so don't know whether it had one or not), but it definitely carried the strip. I think the club and strip was first started in 1963 in what's now called the Birmingham Mail (previously Evening Mail), and it was revived not too long ago (though Chipper has had a makeover). I don't know whether Chipper still appears in the Portsmouth News - perhaps B can ask his pals in Portsmouth.
DeleteJust checked with one of my Pompey pals, Kid ; he says that the last time he saw a Chipper column in the paper version of the News was back in 2017, but he's pretty sure the cartoon strip finished years before that.
DeleteAh, that's a shame as Chipper always reminded me of my childhood and teenage years, and it was good to see that he was still around in the '80s after having last seen him in the '70s. He'll live on in my thoughts for hopefully many a long year. Still, if he made it to 2017, that's a good long run. Cheers to Chipper.
DeleteI don't recall that strip at all - it would be good to see it on your blog Kid.
ReplyDeleteI will do, when I remember where I've stored my Portsmouth News.
DeleteMy late father was born in 1927 and grew up in Glasgow but by 1954 he was living in London (where I was born in 1966) so I don't know if he heard about the Gorbals Vampire. He never mentioned anything to me about it and he never mentioned Jenny wi' the Airn Teeth either. But I've known about the Gorbals Vampire for ages (and long before Kid mentioned it on his blog).
ReplyDeleteI had heard about the Gorbals Vampire years ago Colin but wasn't aware of the details until a couple of years ago when I read about the play in the Glasgow Evenjng Times. "Jenny.." was new to me as well but doing some research the tale seems popular in Scots myths and folk tales .
ReplyDelete