Haigh, John George

Haigh, John George (1901–1949) Vampire murderer. Born in England in 1910, John George Haigh was raised in a strict Pilgrim Brethren family. He seemed to have a normal childhood and remained affectionate toward his parents throughout his life. He was intelligent and made friends easily. He was briefly married at age 25, and he expressed no further interest in sex after it ended. In the following 10 years he served three prison sentences for dishonesty and fraud. During his childhood from about the age of six, Haigh enjoyed Blood and would wound himself so that he could suck his own blood. He was also fascinated by the Holy Communion and the Crucifixion. He frequently dreamed about railway accidents with injured and bleeding people. These symptoms went into remission until 1944, when at age 35, blood dripped into his mouth from an accidental head wound. He began again having dreams about blood. In a typical dream he would watch a forest of crucifixes become trees dripping with blood, which he would drink, and then awake with the desire for blood. The dreams tended to follow a weekly cycle of increasing intensity from Monday through Friday. With a growing compulsion for blood, Haigh rented a storeroom and bought some drums of acid. In the next five years he killed nine of his acquaintances by shooting or clubbing. He plugged their wounds and then cut their necks, drawing out of cupful of blood, which he drank. Afterward, he said, he felt “relieved.” He dissolved the bodies of his victims in the acid. Haigh was arrested, tried, and convicted. It is possible that he made up the blood-drinking in order to appear insane. However, he did describe disturbing dreams prior to each killing: Before each of my killings, I had a series of dreams, I saw a forest of crucifixes that changed into green trees dripping with blood… which I drank, and once more I awakened with a desire that demanded fulfillment. Haigh was executed by hanging in London in 1949.

FURTHER READING:

• Glut, Donald. True Vampires of History. New York: HC Publishers, 1971.
• Noll, Richard. Vampires, Werewolves and Demons. New York: Bruno-Mazel, 1992.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley -a leading expert on the paranormal -Copyright © 2005 by Visionary Living, Inc.