June 02, 2023

Food For The Dead: On The Trail Of The New England Vampire With Michael Bell

1 hour 30 minutes

For nineteenth- century New Englanders, 'vampires' lurked behind tuberculosis. To try and rid their houses and communities from the scourge of the wasting disease, families sometimes relied on folk practices, including exhuming and consuming the bodies of the deceased. Author and folklorist Michael Bell has spent decades pursuing stories of the vampire in New England.

My Special Guest is Michael Bell

Michael E. Bell has a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University, Bloomington; his dissertation topic was African American voodoo beliefs and practices. He has an M.A. in Folklore and Mythology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a B.A. , with M.A. level course work completed, in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. Bell was the Consulting Folklorist at the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, Providence, Rhode Island, for more than twenty-five years. He has also taught courses in folklore, English, anthropology and American studies at several colleges and universities. His book, Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires, was a BookSense 76 Pick and winner of the Lord Ruthven Assembly Award for Best Nonfiction Book on Vampires. He has completed the manuscript for a second book on American vampires, titled The Vampire’s Grasp: The Hidden History of Consumption in New England.

The Savagery of Consumption and it's link with the Vampire

Though scholars today still struggle to explain the vampire panics, a key detail unites them: public hysteria almost invariably occurred in the midst of savage tuberculosis outbreaks. Typically, a rural family contracted the wasting illness, and- even though they often received the standard medical diagnosis and treatment- the survivors blamed early victims as vampires, responsible for preying upon family members who subsequently fell ill. Often an exhumation was called for, to stop the vampire's predations.

Vampire Exhumations

The particulars of the vampire exhumations, vary widely, in many cases, only family and neighbours participated. But sometimes town fathers voted on the matter, or medical doctors and clergymen gave their blessings or even pitched in. Some communities in Maine and Plymouth, Massachusetts, opted to simply flip the exhumed vampire facedown in the grave and leave it at that. In Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont, though, they frequently burned the dead person's heart, sometimes inhaling the smoke as a cure. These rituals could be clandestine, lantern lit affairs or public knowledge with participants placing ads in the local newspaper for anyone to attend.

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Delve into the captivating stories of dying men, women and children who believed they were food for the dead.

2. Investigate questions surrounding the exhumation of a loved one. The impact on family and community and who these individuals and communities were.

3. Explore the ritual practices involved in dealing with the 'vampire' threat and how these could evolve and change.

4. Delve into first hand eye witness records, letters and diaries.

5. Examine testimony from interviews with descendants of Mercy Brown (Rhode Island, 1892) one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation.

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By Michelle

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