Mercy Brown: The Last Vampire of New England | The Dark Folio Ghost File

Mercy Brown: The Last Vampire of New England | The Dark Folio Ghost FileIn 1892, a Rhode Island community exhumed 19-year-old Mercy Brown, believing she was a vampire feeding on her family from beyond the grave. What they found in her coffin sparked international scandal and may have reached the desk of Bram Stoker as he wrote Dracula. Tonight on The Dark Folio, we uncover the true story of tuberculosis, superstition, and the last vampire panic in American history—a tale where fear turned a dying girl into a legend that still haunts us today.CITED SOURCES https://www.rihs.org/have-mercy/ (RIHS documentation with excerpts)"Vampires and Death in New England, 1784 to 1892" https://www.yorku.ca/kdenning/+++2150%202007-8/BellVampiresandDeath.pdf Tucker, Abigail. "The Great New England Vampire Panic"Smithsonian Magazine, October 2012https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/Rhode Island Historical Society - "Have Mercy..." ArticleComprehensive timeline with newspaper excerptshttps://www.rihs.org/have-mercy/Yankee Magazine - "Vampire Mercy Brown"Historical documentation and analysishttps://newengland.com/yankee/history/vampire-mercy-brown-rhode-island/Your AAA Network - "The Story of Rhode Island's 'Real' Vampire"Modern overview with cemetery detailshttps://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/fall-fest/the-story-of-rhode-islands-real-vampire-mercy-brown/Wikipedia - Mercy Brown Vampire IncidentWell-sourced overview with citationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown_vampire_incidentMental Floss - "On the Twisted Trail of Bram Stoker's Notes for 'Dracula'"Overview of Stoker's research processhttps://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/authors/bram-stoker-dracula-notesContent Warning: This episode discusses death, disease, exhumation, and historical rituals that some listeners may find disturbing.#MercyBrown #TrueCrime #HistoryPodcast #VampireLegend #NewEnglandHistory #RhodeIsland #Dracula #BramStoker #GothicHistory #VictorianEra #Tuberculosis #Folklore #AmericanHistory #DarkHistory #TrueVampireStoryMusic credit goes to Zapsplat. https://www.zapsplat.com/music/horror-music-box-ghostly-haunted-musical-tune-version-2/