The Great New England Vampire Panic

www.smithsonianmag.com...

>>..Subsequent analysis showed that the beheading, along with other injuries, including rib fractures, occurred roughly five years after death. Somebody had also smashed the coffin.

The other skeletons in the gravel hillside were packaged for reburial, but not “J.B.,” as the 50ish male skeleton from the 1830s came to be called, because of the initials spelled out in brass tacks on his coffin lid. He was shipped to the National Museum of Health and Medicine, in Washington, D.C., for further study. Meanwhile, Bellantoni started networking. He invited archaeologists and historians to tour the excavation, soliciting theories. Simple vandalism seemed unlikely, as did robbery, because of the lack of valuables at the site.

Finally, one colleague asked: “Ever heard of the Jewett City vampires?”

Overall I found this article very interesting. This was occurring well after the Salem witch trials in Mass. At least 80 exhumations occurred! A good historical account.

reply to post by BlackProjects


Interesting find. I love these types of stories...thanks for posting!

I've read that the reason some corpses were considered vampires has to do with decomposition. At some point in the process, "purge" (a reddish looking liquid) begins to leak from the mouth or other openings. Since purge is reddish in color, it would certainly appear as if the deceased was feeding on something and forgetting to wipe its math afterwards.

S&F

Here in New England, the Mercy Brown vampire story is popular, but I hadn't heard of this other story. Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by BlackProjects

I grew up hearing Mercy Brown stories. I've seen the grave site. I love folklore in my state. In another version Mercy's sister insisted she kept visiting her at night. Hovering over her and trying to "suck" the life out of her. The sister influenced the father to exhume the body. Aside from the blood in the heart, the blood found around the mouth was what really shocked the people digging her up.
We can't get near the grave in October, they put State Troopers right at the entrance. Funny it really is a very rural area they don't even have their own police in Exeter.

I guess maybe with all the media tv shows and such real vampire stories just aren't cutting it. At least judging by the interest of this article anyway.

Thanks for this cool story...New England has a lot of very interesting (and spooky) tales like this.
The photos on the linked Smithsonian site are very cool. I love the mist-shrouded
forest pic.