Watch out Dracula: Peterborough vampire killing kit goes under the hammer

A kit designed to kill vampires found at a Peterborough antiques fair has gone under the hammer for hundreds of pounds today.

The ‘wonderfully quirky curiosity’ – which includes a dagger, pistol, stakes to drive through the creature’s heart, a 19th century Book of Common Prayer and a bottle labelled ‘Holy Water’ – was initially bought at an international antiques fair in Peterborough by a buyer from Nottinghamshire.

Today it went up for auction, and was sold to an Italian bidder for £800 at Hansons Auctioneers.

The auctioneers said the kit was created, probably in the 20th century, to sell as a novelty item to horror fans, and had put an initial estimate of £800-£1,000 on the collection ahead of the sale today.

They had also said the kit could have exceeded those estimates – as a similar whimsical piece sold for a total of £16,900 at Hansons, from an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 in June.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “This vampire-slaying kit is pure theatre. Examples, some older than others, emerge from time to time and always spark major interest. The one which achieved £16,900 was owned by a former peer of the realm, Lord William Malcolm Hailey, who lived from 1872 to 1969.

“It made headlines all over the world and, by sheer coincidence, it too was found in Nottinghamshire. These items are sought after for their novelty value and because the vampire myth is still so popular today.

“The fascination with all things dark and mysterious means vampires makes appearances in contemporary TV shows, films and literature. However, references to them go back more than 200 years.

“The creatures, which is said to need human blood to survive, are enshrined in European folklore and embedded in superstition. 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.”

Last week a giant gold cross – initially purchased in honour of a Peterborough gran – failed to sell at Hansons Auctioneers. It was hoped it would sell for thousands of pounds.