One of my favourite television programme 20 or so years ago was Buffy The Vampire Slayer and even now there have been few shows with such sharp dialogue often overlooked by many at the time due to the perceived nature of the show.
Buffy is just one of the more recent example of vampires in history and popular culture and this week an actual “vampire-slaying kit” containing a pocket-sized pistol and a 19th century copy of the New Testament is going under the hammer.
The rather lovely looking gothic-looking container is said to be worth between £2,000 and £3,000, also comes packed with pliers, rosary and a bottle of shark’s teeth.
An authentic Vampire Slayer Box Set
Also inside the metal-bound box is an ivory-robed wolf carrying rosary beads, as well as a blue phial with mysterious contents and a silver-bladed pocket knife. Inside the lid is an oval enamel painting that depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There’s no record of the box’s origin, but the 1842 copy of the New Testament within bears the inscription of an Isabella Swarbrick.
Charles Hanson, owner of the Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers, the firm selling the box, said: “People are fascinated by stories of vampires, hence their continued appearance in films and on TV today.
“They have been part of popular culture for more than 200 years.
Looking inside a Vampire Slayer Box Set
“The publication of John Polidori’s The Vampyre in 1819 had a major impact and that was followed by Bram Stoker’s 1897 classic Dracula.”
He added: “However, a belief in vampires and strange superstitions goes back even further and persists to this day.
“The task of killing a vampire was extremely serious and historical accounts suggested the need for particular methods and tools.
“Items of religious significance, such as crucifixes and Bibles, were said to repel these monsters, hence their strong presence in the kit we have found.”
The box will be sold online on 16 July, as part of a five-day-long antiques and collector’s auction.
Everything a Victorian Vampire hunter would need!
It’s awfully tempting! If you don’t fancy a spot of vampire hunting but do like some spooky goings on then take a peek at another Victorian supernatural event The Legend of Spring Heeled Jack
Interesting! But I can’t see even a Victorian werewolf using a silver knife to hunt Vampires! I wonder if the pistol has silver bullets? Maybe the figurine is meant to suggest lycanthropy is a curse that can be cured by prayer, whereas Vampires are just demons in human flesh? And even a werewolf priest can hunt vampires?
I recently finished my annual Buffy Hajj, where I watch the entire boxed set from beginning to end!
🙂
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Oh wow, anyone who is into Buffy is seriously my sort of person. Such a great show. Maybe when my 6 month wait for a sofa to arrive ends, I should do watch them all again too. I still laugh at jokes and lines even from episodes I haven’t seen for years. The mythology in some episodes is good too but it’s also incredibly moving. I can’t think of a more realistic depiction of unexpected death than when Buffy found Joyce 😦 She saved the world a lot 😦 I never really cared for Angel but I totally love Spike!
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