The New England Vampire Panic

Today Alaina decided to take it to a vampiric place. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries New England was struggling with severe outbreaks of Consumption. To better explain this plague that caused severe pain, bloody hacking coughs and the victim to seemingly waste away without explanation, they turned to the supernatural. When entire families began falling victim to its brutal clutches, it simply had to be vampires who had taken host in their loved ones ailing bodies to suck the life from the remaining members. Come on in for a dive into a world where eating the ashes of an exhumed family member's decomposing heart was considered medicine. Great resources used: Mercy: The Last New England Vampire by Sarah L. Thomson Food For the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires by Michael E. Bell A History of Vampires in New England by Thomas D A'gostino As always, thank you to our sponsors: HelloFresh: Get up to fourteen free meals—including free shipping! — with code morbid14 at HelloFresh.com/morbid14 Babbel: Right now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE. Simplisafe: SimpliSafe is offering 20% off your entire new system and your first month of monitoring service FREE, when you enroll inInteractive Monitoring! Visit SIMPLISAFE.com/morbid Caliper: You can try Caliper CBD risk-free for 30 days at TRYCALIPER.COM/MORBID If you don’t love it they’ll give you a full refund! Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)