2020 has been everything the year 2012 was supposed to be : it ’s hadapocalyptic bushfiresin Australia , locustsswarming East Africa , theinvasionof “ murder hornets,”geopolitical tensionsreaching boiling point , record hot temperaturesin the Arctic , and , of course , the on-going global Covid-19 pandemic .
All bets are off . So , with five months leave of the year ahead , now might be a expert time to stock up up on lamia - slaying kits , you bed , just in case .
An antique - looking lamia - kill kit – equipped with three crucifixes , a nursing bottle contain shark ’s tooth , and a transcript of The New Testament – is go up for auction bridge in the UK at Hansons Auctioneers on July 16 . The band has a start command of £ 1,200 ( approximately $ 1,500 ) , but it ’s skip to trade for somewhere between£2,000 and £ 3,000(approximately $ 2,500 and $ 3,760 ) .
Encased in an flowery wooden box with a crimson silk lining , the boxwood also contains a number of other object once believe to rid undead folklore monsters , include a silver - bladed pocket knife , a painting picture the resurrection of Christ , a carved off-white wolf in robes carrying rosary beads , an ornamental pileus pistol , a downcast trash phial with unidentified contents , and two band of plyers . Fresh garlic not include .
“ item of religious significance , such as crucifixes and Bibles , were pronounce to repel these monsters , hence their stiff presence in the kit we have constitute , " Charles Hanson , owner of Hansons Auctioneers , said in astatement .
“ masses are fascinated bystories of vampires , hence their continued coming into court in films and on TV today . They have been part of popular culture for more than 200 old age . The publication of John Polidori’sThe Vampyrein 1819 had a major shock and that was follow by Bram Stoker ’s 1897 classicDracula . "
The origins of the anti - vampire outfit is as mysterious and strange as you might bear . Although the copy of the New Testament was published in 1842 , the auction house says the box also bears “ contemporary owner inscription ” . The current proprietor of the box seat , who like to remain anon. , is also incertain about its provenance .
“ I know very little of its history . I have had it in my own ingathering for three age now . I bought it from a large passee fair in Newark [ the English town ] . I loved the look of the Gothic box and , when I opened it , I just had to have it . I thought it was so interesting – a capital conversation piece , ” said the owner .
