Ye olde vampire slaying kit: Victorian oak box complete with wooden stakes, garlic paste and vials of holy water up for auction

Casket contains set of rosary beads, three glass bottles containing holy water, holy earth and garlic, and a book of common prayer dated 1857

Macabre artefact expected to fetch up to £2,000



They say you can never be too prepared... but even for the most superstitious person this may be overkill.

A 19th century Vampire slaying kit, which includes a wooden mallet and four oak stakes, glass vials of holy water and garlic paste is expected to fetch up £2,000 when auctioned later this month.



The macabre artefact also has a percussion cap pistol - invented in the 1830 - and a steel bullet mold, all carefully crafted to offer the best protection against any creatures of the night.

Precautions: The case contains 1) a rosary 2) crucifix 3) a handwritten psalm (Luke 20:27) 4) a pistol 5) four oak stakes 6) a bottle of consecrated earth 7) a common prayer book 8) a wooden mallet 9) silver bullet mold 10) a cloth 11) two glass bottles containing garlic paste and holy water



According to folklore, vampires were vulnerable to a host items able to ward off evil - many of which are stocked in this box.



Legend had it, they were unable to come into contact with sacred items or even walk on consecrated ground - hence the vials of holy water and earth, a crucifixes and rosary beads.



One of the most commonly cited method for killing a vampire was driving a wooden stake through its heart or shooting it with a silver or steel bullet.

The box also has a handwritten psalm from Luke 20:24 which reads: 'Bid those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither, and slay them before me.'



Despite being created in the late 1890s, the auctioneer says there is no sign of blood on the stakes and the garlic and holy water have never been used.

Oonagh Drage from Tennants Auctioneers said: ‘I would say it's been commissioned by someone, I've never seen anything like it and I've been doing this for more than 30 years.

‘Bram Stoker did Dracula in the 1890s and maybe the idea came from that.

‘There was an interest in vampires and the supernatural at that time - perhaps they were playing with people's superstitions.’

Superstitious: The case dates to the late 19th century when fears of Vampires - portrayed in the cult classic 1968 film Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, starring Veronica Carlson and Christopher Lee, pictured - were at their height

The box was given to the vendor by a rich uncle.



‘I don't know if he really believed in vampires or whether he bought it as a curiosity,’ said Oonagh.

‘He collected some very strange objects, I think there were a few weird and wonderful things including many books on the occult. He was a very eccentric man.

‘The vendors have kept one set and sold one for £5,000, and while the one we have was in the best condition it does have a pistol in it and they didn't want that in the house.’

The casket is said to contain a ‘percussion cap pistol with octagonal steel barrel, foliate etched box lock and walnut bag butt,’ as well as a steel bullet mould.

There is a set of rosary beads, three glass bottles containing holy water, holy earth and garlic, and a book of common prayer dated 1857.

All are contained in a blue velvet lined mahogany casket and the inner cover is set with a gilt metal and mahogany crucifix, the silver lock ‘escutcheon’ in the form of a cross.

It is estimated to sell for between £1,200 and £2,000 and is on display in Harrogate until the sale, which will be in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on June 22.

Oonagh added: ‘I'm not sure who will buy it as we are yet to put it on the internet. I know there are quite a few Americans who are interested in this kind of thing.

