Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire

by Aaron Mahnke

An engrossing and macabre exploration of the folklore and early medical practices that led to the New England Vampire Panic in the 1890s, from critically acclaimed podcaster and bestselling author Aaron Mahnke.

What would drive a man to exhume the body of his daughter and remove her heart? That question has haunted Aaron Mahnke, creator and host of the award-winning podcast Lore. Fueled by a decade of research, Mahnke excavates the past to understand the hysteria that fueled the ghastly exhumation of Mercy Brown in 1892, who like her mother and sister before her, succumbed to “consumption” at the age of 19. 

With Exhumed, Mahnke presents a unique history of the intersection of folklore and science, and how pop culture and both genuine medical advancements and pseudoscience of the time shaped the perspectives of people in 19th century America. From the death of George Washington to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein, Mahnke leads reads on a fascinating journey through history, touching on methods of mummification, the multifaceted role of executioners, medicine made from corpses, European folklore that traveled across the Atlantic, and so much more. He reveals that as shocking as Brown’s exhumation might seem, it also reflected surprisingly common attitudes and beliefs about the relationship between the dead and the living, the nature of science and magic, and the fate of a human soul. It all builds to a revelatory understanding of human behavior that continues to this very day. 

Possessing an irreverent view of science, history, and the human condition, Exhumed is perfect for fans of Mary Roach’s Stiff, as well as readers of forgotten American histories like Brad Meltzer’s New York Times bestselling The First The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington.  

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Vampires, Horror, Audiobook, Paranormal, Historical

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2026

About the author

One of the most successful podcast producers in the world, Aaron Mahnke began his career in 2015 with the launch of Lore, which went on to become a breakout hit.

Aside from racking up over 450-million downloads to date, Lore was adapted for two seasons of television on Amazon, and as a three-book set from Penguin Random House. Aaron has also toured extensively, delivering his trademark storytelling experience to thousands of people across the country.

In 2019, Aaron also published his first comic book series, Wellington, through IDW. And in 2021, he launched the first of a new slate of fiction podcasts, beginning with the breakout hit Bridgewater, starring Misha Collins, Melissa Ponzia, Karan Soni, Alan Tudyk, and Tricia Helfer.

Reviews

[Maeghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah don't read this book if you want to know about the vampire hysteria in the US. I got over 20-ish % through this and only the introduction and prologue actually spoke about what the book is meant to be. It almost feels like they accidentally inserted another book starting at chapter 1 since the content is nothing to what the description and promotion of the book is.

While I thank Netgalley for this ARC, I'm not a happy camper.

--

My thought process while reading this book, which also acts as a summary of each chapter until I gave up:

Introduction & Prologue: okay cool. I do love me a gothic vampire story, especially one that’s historical hysteria! Let’s get into it!

[Part 1]

Chapter 1: Why are we discussing George Washington, and why a zombie? What does this have to do with our vampire? And in the end Washington wasn’t a zombie? That’s click bait (read bait?)

Chapter 2: Okay so we’re on to Benny Franklin; is he a zombie too now? But no, we’re learning about electricity. How does this affect yon vampires? But now we’re learning about an Italian man born in the 1730s, but then it’s 1790 USA, but then it’s England, but then it’s back to the Italian in 1786. Where are the vampires?? So, the Italian man is Frankenstein, but with frogs? Oh, it’s the 1800s and now we’re archeologists looking for dinosaurs. But now we’re learning about Volta, c1780s; I didn’t realize this book was about time-travel. I’m so confused.

Chapter 3: It’s 2001, and we’re archeologists again. A Scottish bog. These dad jokes that break the narrative are getting out of hand. I’m not enjoying this, the writing is annoying. Greek Gods now, cool. I love the Iliad.

A direct quote from the book, which reaffirms how not vampire-related it all is: “both Pinocchio and the Gingerbread Man are horribly murdered.” Which of course is the perfect segway into now learning about this Brothers Grimm and their life stories. Oh, but then the rest of the chapter is about anti-Semitic writings.

Chapter 4: We’ve moved from “science” to ~magic~ and Darwinism? I didn’t think I’d ever see Robert Smith from the Cure, Lord Bryon and Mary Shelley in one sentence together in my life. If the author needs to write “Okay, stay with me here” you just know how unhinged things have gotten. Mary Shelley’s biography in a few paragraphs was kinda interesting; I won’t lie there.

[Part 2]

Chapter 5: We’re starting Part 2 with Sir Isaac Newton; I think it’s safe to say the history of the modern vampire is a footnote to this novel. I think whoever did the promo for this needs a demotion. The author too probably. I’m done I can’t do this.

[Jenny Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read

[Wendy Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot stress enough how much my “needs a red pen” shelf factors into this rating.

I appreciate context, but man alive, tangential stories and rabbit holes cannot take up 80% of the book. By the time we finally get to poor Mercy Brown, I was ready to take a shovel to her grave myself to hurry things along. It sticks in my craw that she is relegated to not much more than a footnote in her own story.

Podcasts (with their endless drawn-out episodes and their occasionally questionable conclusions) that turn into books are usually pretty flawed and this one is no exception. It’s not the same form of storytelling, ffs.

[Saoirse Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have benefited from a change in title/marketing - the framework of Mercy’s story wasn’t strong enough to justify the exploration of what felt like all of mankind’s history with the undead, alchemy, and corpse medicine. I’m also really not surprised at all by a New England family in the 1800s doing something like this. Interesting to hear about the topics covered in this book but not completely sold on the greater theme.

[Rachael | ☾ whimsicalfiction ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the tangential backstories and segues of five thousand other different history/death related incidents/facts but I agree with other readers that the author shouldn’t have waited till the last chapter to mention that the book was basically only going to be about tangential information instead of the actual Mercy Brown case. I still learned a ton though (and appreciated all the puns)

[CatReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaron Mahnke is an American writer and podcaster best known as the creator and host of Lore, his long-running podcast about folklore, legends, and macabre history. His 2026 book Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire begins with the fascinating 1892 case of Mercy Brown, a 19-year-old Rhode Island woman whose family had been devastated by tuberculosis. After several relatives died and her brother became gravely ill, neighbors persuaded the family to exhume the bodies of Mercy, her mother, and her sister in an effort to determine whether one of the dead was somehow responsible. Mercy's relatively well-preserved body was treated as evidence of supernatural activity, and her heart and liver were burned, with the ashes given to her sick brother as a supposed cure.

That story was exactly the kind of strange intersection of medicine, folklore, and history I wanted to learn more about. Unfortunately, I made it only about halfway through the book. Rather than staying closely focused on Mercy Brown, the New England vampire panic, and the beliefs surrounding those events, Mahnke takes long excursions into corpse medicine, premature burial, early transfusion, Gothic literature, George Washington's death, European folklore, and numerous other topics. All of those subjects are potentially interesting, but the connections often felt too loose for me, and I kept waiting for the book to return to the central story that had initially drawn me in.

I suspect this approach will work much better for readers who already enjoy Mahnke's podcasting style. His writing has the conversational, digressive quality of someone following one intriguing historical thread into another and then another. I tend to prefer narrative nonfiction that is more tightly structured around a central question and that builds a deeply researched story from beginning to end, so eventually I realized I was simply not the right audience for this particular approach. The Mercy Brown case remains fascinating; I just wish the book had spent more sustained time with it.

Further reading:
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen
The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World by Malcolm Gaskill
Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum

My statistics:
Book 185 for 2026
Book 2491 cumulatively

[Joe Caputo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous, slow examination of what makes death so strange and the ways people have tried to understand the infinite.

[Kelsi Van Gieson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to an in depth look into the story of Mercy Brown however this book was simple a compilation of independent stories that highlighted how histories scientific exploration ties into today’s lore. The chapters didn’t tie together, metaphors felt overused, and there were several repeating phrases and puns. Great idea and I see what the author was attempting to accomplish but the finished product felt like podcast episodes trying to disguised themselves as a book.

[Kara Sandoval · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the Lore podcast, you will absolutely adore Exhumed. I paired the physical book with the audiobook, and since Aaron Mahnke narrates it, it felt like an immersive, uninterrupted 12-hour episode of his podcast.

The deep dive into how America's "first vampire" came to be is deeply addictive. Mahnke masterfully lays out the legalities, complex history, and cultural lore leading right up to the moment poor Mercy Brown was exhumed.

One of my absolute favorite aspects of the book was Mahnke's signature sense of humor. He sprinkles in so many clever dad jokes throughout his storytelling, which keeps the heavy subject matter incredibly engaging and approachable. For instance, he writes:

“People weren’t harvesting and ingesting certified preowned vitamins; they were eating, dehydrated, people juice.”

Yet, he effortlessly balances that dark humor with the philosophical and social context of the time. In the chapter titled “Weight Loss,” he discusses how 1600s thinkers tried to dissect the soul, sharing how a physician named Georg Ernst Stahl:

“...taught that the anima was inseparable from the living body. If the body was alive, the anima was there. If the body was dead, the anima was gone. Which is an interesting idea to think about, because if the anima or soul can leave us, but is also biologically part of us, then perhaps we could measure its departure.”

Mahnke also expertly highlights how environment and social class fueled these superstitions, including a fantastic quote from researcher Paul Barber:

“Vampirism is a phenomenon of the villages, not of the cities; of the lower classes, not the upper.”

Ultimately, he gets to the very heart of human panic and superstition. In the chapter "The Plea of the Grave," he captures it perfectly:

“Folklore doesn’t need to be consistently accurate to be seen as fact. All it really needs to take root is to be 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 true.”

What I appreciate most about his storytelling is this exact ability to unpack heavy topics and show the importance of societal traditions without ever turning real human trauma into cheap entertainment. It is educational, funny, and respectful. He leaves the reader with a beautiful reminder at the end of the book that sums up his entire approach to history:

“In short, all of us are storytellers. We build our lives, day by day, on a framework of the stories we have experienced. Sure, we can pretend that life is nothing more than a biological struggle for existence, but it would be wrong to ignore the importance that story plays in our lives.”

[Samantha Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Mahnke’s podcast Lore and also the history of medicine you will enjoy this book. While the main focus is Mercy Brown and the vampire story surrounding her, this book spends most of the time looking through concepts like corpse medicine, the humors, the origins of Frankenstein and more to give us a knowledge of medical history and folklore remedies. If you were reading fully for Brown and the vampire hysteria in the North East I can see this being a frustrating read as only the last chunk really talks about it. Listening to it on audio, made the bouncing through topics more palatable for me at least. If you want to learn about interesting and gruesome at times, stories about medicine and folklore combining then I would recommend. If you want more focus on the Mercy Brown story, it might not be worth the read.

[coco's reading]

My thinking on this is that Aaron Mahnke had a good idea, realized there was no way he as a writer could make a book out of it, and so used it as an excuse to do an extended podcast series on the intersection between alchemy, science, health, and folklore. He says from the start that context is important—I agree—but not when you get lost in the minutiae of that context, to the point where the supposed focal point—Mercy Brown and, more broadly, the figure of the vampire in America—is a mere afterthought. Not a successful project.

[Tintaglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

La Storia come dovrebbe essere raccontata! Ricca di curiosità (spesso macabre e, quindi, ancora più attraenti XD), vivace, con spunti su spunti da approfondire. Un viaggio spumeggiante che, sebbene nei capitoli iniziali possa sembrare troppo frammentario, si rivela per quello che è: uno studio sull'eterna umana fascinazione del confine tra la vita e la morte.
Un vero piacere da leggere.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book about the history of medicine, folklore, and death practices, fine. But you can't advertise a book about the vampire hysteria and then not talk about that at all until the last quarter of the book 200+ pages in. My word, he prepped us for context but the ENTIRE book is context. Which if you are interested in these historical aspects already, much of this book is not new groundbreaking information. Spoiler alert: everything is tuberculosis.

[V.W. W. Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read. An educational, informative, and fun traipse through time exploring people, places, and events that are all seemingly unrelated but ultimately Aaron finds a way to connect the dots to give us a much bigger lens into the story of Mercy Brown. Is the whole book about her, the American vampire, and her story? No, but everything discussed in this book lends to give additional context into her story and the greater understanding of how people in the 19th century behaved and believed. There’s lots of interesting facts and tidbits of information to learn but Aaron does a fantastic job expanding our worldview to see how beliefs and practices from centuries ago all play a part in understanding Mercy Brown.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kirkus Review review conclusion sums up this book so well I have to include in my review: “Come for the morbid tidbits; stay for the sharply honed insights into both history and the human psyche.”

I listened to this book read by the author and thoroughly enjoyed it. It starts with the death of Mercy Brown in 1892, her being exhumed and her heart and liver being incinerated. The reason for this is then delightfully explained through a history of the world’s understanding of the vagaries of the human body from ancient times to Mercy’s death. It’s simply a captivating exploration. The gambit runs from folklore, pseudoscience, to scientific beliefs of the day,

Mercy Brown died of consumption or tuberculosis as we know it today. Her whole family was riddled with the disease. Because of the bleeding associated with consumption, there was always a hit of something bizarre - like vampires. In fact, her exhumation lead to the New England Vampire Panic. To explain this phenomenon the author takes us on a journey exposing common beliefs through time such as mummification, the “multifaceted role of executioners,” medicine made from corpses, drinking blood from executed criminals - all truly weird but true event and fascinating. All these are examples of the common attitudes at various times about the relationship between “the dead and the living, medicine and magic, and the fate of the human soul.” The author is clear: these ideas were the best people could do with the limited information they had (though I ironically note in considering our resident quack HHS Secretary if he were to read this book we might be facing corpse approved medicines -LOL).

Mercy Brown’s exhumation was only five years before Bram Stoker gave us Dracula and her exhumation was part of Stoker’s inspiration. As this book reveals her exhumation though was not the cause of one thread but a multiplicity of threads that brought it about. The author weaves these so facilely that by the end of the book you’ve grown to appreciate that history’s interconnections show us how important each of us is - hence why eliminating parts of history you don’t like means you may be eliminating yourself.

I gave this audiobook five stars for its captivating topic, its extensive research and for a rousing good listen. Highly recommend.

PS: I now need to move Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World.

[Sara Planz · Rating 4 out of 5]

SYNOPSIS
Aaron Mahnke presents a unique history of the intersection of folklore and science, and how pop culture and both genuine medical advancements and pseudoscience of the time shaped the perspectives of people in 19th century America. From the death of George Washington to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein, Mahnke leads reads on a fascinating journey through history, touching on methods of mummification, the multifaceted role of executioners, medicine made from corpses, European folklore that traveled across the Atlantic, and so much more. He reveals that as shocking as Brown’s exhumation might seem, it also reflected surprisingly common attitudes and beliefs about the relationship between the dead and the living, the nature of science and magic, and the fate of a human soul. It all builds to a revelatory understanding of human behavior that continues to this very day.

I was attracted to the book regarding the Mercy Brown tagline, however this book was much more than what I expected. I have enjoyed Mahnke’s books, podcasts and shows for years and this one was his most straightforward foray into non-fiction. He takes us through the folklore, but does a deep dive into how it affected the science and culture at that time. Those comparisons really drew me in and gave me insight into the past, the strange methods and practices that happened at that time, and how they found their way into everyday life. A really good “did you know” kind of read.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you listen to the Lore podcast then you are familiar with Aaron Mahnke and the story of Mercy Brown.

I listened to this on audiobook since I love Aaron’s storytelling and energy with his podcasts. The book starts with cases in history overtime and ends on the case of Mercy Brown. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the book was set up since most people start with a case and then work backwards to uncover and explain how they got there.

I’ve been intrigued by the case of Mercy Brown and this book came out right before I was heading to Rhode Island for a work trip. When I looked it up, my hotel was only 15 mins away from her gravesite but unfortunately it didn’t work out that I was able to visit her. May Mercy rest in peace 🪦

[Patrick Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough one! There’s certainly a lot of interesting information contained in this book, but the structure and execution is pretty terrible! You know you’re in trouble when the author’s foreword is a desperate plea for you to keep reading. “Context is important,” he insists, laying bare that this book is for his podcast listeners, not people who actually read books (and thus understand why context exists).

It also feels like he was editorially abandoned. The first 230 pages of this are the context to which he refers; the actual story about the “American vampire” amounts to about 30 pages. Integrate them! Weave the story throughout the historical information. They don’t need to be bifurcated! That’s an arbitrary choice, and a poor one!

[Aritri Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaron Mahnke's podcast has accompanied on much of my evening walks, and I love his thoroughly researched, dark legends. It was only natural that I would pick up this book - vampire legends, cannibalistic rituals, the grey areas between science, medicine and faith - these elements amalgamate rather well to construct this story behind Mercy Brown's death and exhumation. Mahnke has cast an intricate net of tales that cross oceans, religions and race to provide amazing insights into the depths of the lore of vampires. I learnt a lot, and I enjoyed the journey.

[Allison Hammat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to primarily focus on the story of Mercy Brown and the Great New England Vampire Panic. Sadly, we didn’t get to the topic of Brown until 75% of the way through the book. This book is not an in depth analysis of Brown or of the Great New England Vampire Panic, but a lot of surface level independent stories that bounce all over the place.

I think Mahnke is a great podcast host, but his books haven’t really hit for me. You can tell the stories are thoroughly researched, which I appreciate, but he just doesn’t dive deep enough for me.

[Ami Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true Mahnke, well researched, interesting, but narrated by Mahnke and that's the only downside to this audiobook. He has a cadence that I can't speed up enough, but he's such a talented writer that I will always read anything he writes.

[Jessica Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fast forwarded all the animal testing that had nothing to do with vampirism, finally got to what I thought was a study of avoiding decomposition at 45% but was instead more animal testing and weighting the soul. I needed more patience than humanly or supernaturally possible to get through this

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2

[Jeana Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lore and all of his podcasts, especially Unobscured and this read just like that. I could clearly hear his voice and the music from the show and feel the passion of learning all these obscure historical facts surrounding the Mercy Brown case. It’s so cool to see how all the folktales and lore of different medicines and believes conjoined together that eventually lead people to make the decision to exhume Mercy, cut her open, and burn her organs to save her brother. I want more Aaron Mahnke books like this.

[Alyce Lomax · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for October (or anytime) if you are looking for a non-fiction approach to creepy history and folklore. The book launches off the lore around Mercy Brown and takes us back through history regarding all kinds of weird things people have done through the ages, delving into areas like corpse medicine and sympathetic magic. I actually learned a lot.

[Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an excellent and entertaining read. But let me back up a little bit.
I am someone who likes fiction much better than nonfiction but i have always had a passion for folklore. And i have Lore to thank for that, whether it was listening to it after soccer practice or when i was in the car with my dad. So when I saw that Aaron Mahnke had a book about the history of vampires, i was curious and decided to give it a try.
But i was a little scared that i wouldn’t like it.
But i did, a lot.
I loved that he went into the history of medicine in medieval times but also the ideas behind their crazy concoctions. As an aspiring doctor and someone who loves medicine and folklore this book was the right kind of nonfiction for me.

[layne parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

the whole book i was thinking: none of this is new information from the podcast. Then, he kinda saved it by saying that he was recognizing patterns in the research and stories. A good reflective ending is always a good move. Maybe it was a cop out for unoriginal work, but to me it’s sounds like ITS A LOOP and i love aaron mehnke so it was great.

[martyn benny]

Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire is a fascinating blend of history, folklore, medical science, and cultural anthropology that explores one of America's strangest historical episodes with intelligence, curiosity, and remarkable storytelling. Aaron Mahnke once again demonstrates why he has become one of the most respected voices in narrative history and the supernatural.

Rather than treating the New England Vampire Panic as a collection of bizarre anecdotes, Mahnke carefully reconstructs the social, medical, and psychological landscape that allowed such beliefs to flourish. By examining the tragic story of Mercy Brown alongside the broader history of tuberculosis, early medicine, European folklore, and nineteenth-century anxieties surrounding death, he transforms what could have been a niche curiosity into a compelling study of human behavior.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its refusal to sensationalize its subject. Instead, Mahnke approaches these historical events with empathy and intellectual honesty, helping readers understand why ordinary people facing devastating loss sought explanations that today may seem unimaginable. In doing so, he reminds us that fear, grief, and uncertainty have always shaped the stories societies tell themselves.

I especially appreciated the way the narrative moves effortlessly between historical investigation and cultural commentary. Discussions of medical misconceptions, corpse medicine, religious belief, Gothic literature, and the emergence of scientific thinking all combine to create a richly layered portrait of an era caught between superstition and modernity.

Mahnke's writing remains engaging throughout, balancing meticulous research with the pacing of an excellent mystery. His gift for storytelling ensures that every historical thread contributes to a larger understanding of how folklore evolves and why myths continue to influence contemporary culture.

Ultimately, Exhumed is about far more than vampires. It is an insightful exploration of humanity's enduring search for meaning in the face of disease, death, and the unknown. Readers interested in history, folklore, medicine, or the origins of popular horror will find this an absorbing and thought-provoking read.

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s, New England witnessed almost 100 years before a “Vampire Panic”. In the year 1892, 19-year-old Mercy Brown died. Shortly after her death, her brother began to get ill and slowly waste away. The town immediately thought that Mercy was reaching beyond the grave to slowly drain away his life. Since she died during winter it was nigh impossible to dig up the earth to inter her, so she interred about ground in a crypt. During family illness and the fear of vampires the father had his daughter’s body dug up. She was remarkably well preserved, in fact too well preserved. So, the towns’ people elected to burn their heart and liver to ashes.
This was a case of folklore outweighing science. Even the doctors who examined the corpse said that everything was normal. Still the will of the town persisted. How on Earth could superstition outweigh science? The year was 1892, not that long ago.
Many beliefs about vampires were brought over from the New World. Poignant is the belief about blood. Back in old times when someone was sick, they would practice something called “bloodletting” or have leeches such out the infected blood. This was believed to cause the infection to be drained out. Another thing coming in vogue was transfusions. Back then in George Washington’s time it was something new and just beginning. The belief was that if you injected animal blood into a human it would help revitalize the individual. George Washington’s doctor wanted to try it. They did not end up doing it. In some instances, it appeared to work but later experiments did not yield the desired results.
There were also beliefs about the role of electricity being able to revive a corpse. In 1800 Luigi Galvani, applied Alessandro Volta’s battery to a frog and noticed its muscles twitch. In 1803 Giovanni Aldini applied electricity to executed criminal George Foster in London. The electric current from the battery made the dead criminal’s muscle and jaws twitch. This would be the inspiration behind Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
The body parts of the dead, especially those who died young and violently, were sought after for medical cures. Rubbing a dead person’s hand on a wart or other sickness would cause the illness to deteriorate along with the hand. A dead man’s fat could be rubbed on an ailing part of the body as a supposed cure. Epileptics would drink a dead man’s blood in hopes of remedy.
Revenant in which vampires are a species there are corpses that refuse to totally die and often return to plague surviving family members. They would often bring disease and plague in their wake.
Excellent book that filled with well researched information. The book is easy to ready and very enjoyable.