AUCTION ODDITIES

MYSTERIOUS ‘VAMPIRE SLAYING KIT’

A ‘vampire slaying kit’ (see FT288:32-39; 291:5; 377:23) complete with shark’s teeth, crucifixes and a 19th century Bible was put up for sale at a Derbyshire-based auctioneers on 21 July. The equipment’s age is unclear, its owner having bought it from a large antiques fair in Newark-on-Trent. The owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I know very little of its history. I have had it in my own collection for three years now,” adding “I loved the look of the Gothic box and, when I opened it, I just had to have it.”

The would-be vampirehunter’s equipment is housed within a lockable, velvetcovered box, lined with crimson silk. Its