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History of Vampires in New England, A
New England is rich in history and mystery. Numerous sleepy little towns and farming communities distinguish the region's scenic tranquility. But not long ago, New Englanders lived in fear of spectral ghouls believed to rise from their graves and visit family members in the night to suck their lives away. Although the word "vampire" was never spoken, scores of families disinterred loved ones during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries searching for telltale signs that one of them might be what is now referred to as the New England vampire.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 21, 2021
A fascinating overview of the New England Vampire Panic with a good resource list.
December 1, 2024
This reads more like a magazine with short, related articles and could also go by the title “a guide to hunting vampire graves in New England”. The lore of vampirism in this time period is remarkably different from that depicted in modern film and literature.
March 16, 2019
While a bit dry and somewhat shy on hard facts & documentation, "A History of Vampires in New England" is an interesting read, nonetheless. Most intriguing are the case studies (mostly oral histories given in interviews by eyewitnesses/community members but also includes some stories supported by newspaper articles).
The case studies outline the steps taken by frightened families in an attempt
to put a stop to multiple deaths occurring within the same family due to consumption (tuberculosis) during the 18th & 19th centuries in New England. The afflicted wasted away due to the disease, but were thought to actually be under attack by a "vampire" - a deceased family member.
Definitely not about the type of blood-sucking vampires dramatized in Stoker's Dracula.
The case studies outline the steps taken by frightened families in an attempt
to put a stop to multiple deaths occurring within the same family due to consumption (tuberculosis) during the 18th & 19th centuries in New England. The afflicted wasted away due to the disease, but were thought to actually be under attack by a "vampire" - a deceased family member.
Definitely not about the type of blood-sucking vampires dramatized in Stoker's Dracula.
August 18, 2024
Among the superstitions of those days, we find it was said that a vine or root of some kind grew from coffin to coffin, of those of one family, who died of consumption, and were buried side by side; and when the growing vine had reached the coffin of the last one buried, another one of the family would die; the only way to destroy the influence or effect, was to break the vine; take up the body of the last one buried and burn the vitals, which would be an effectual remedy - Mansfield's History of the Town of Dummerston, 1884.
Very quick light read - a little too light, the introductory chapters really could have used some footnotes for some of his assertions - but it was interesting! He goes through the New England vampire exhumations one by one in chronological order, and almost every case had a slightly different version of exactly how the cure was supposed to work or how the supposed vampire could be recognized, some really unusual bits of folklore - that vine quote and the use of a blacksmith's forge to burn the heart stood out.
Very quick light read - a little too light, the introductory chapters really could have used some footnotes for some of his assertions - but it was interesting! He goes through the New England vampire exhumations one by one in chronological order, and almost every case had a slightly different version of exactly how the cure was supposed to work or how the supposed vampire could be recognized, some really unusual bits of folklore - that vine quote and the use of a blacksmith's forge to burn the heart stood out.
December 8, 2025
Dawg, I couldn't even finish it. This is NOT an educational or historical book AT ALL. The way it's written, it's more of a personal essay rather than an informative novel. I couldn't even get myself to finish it... The writing is so simple, yet it drags on forever about the most insignificant stuff...
I'm only giving it two stars because at least I got to know some fun facts that I wasn't aware of before, but apart from that, I would not recommend it...
I'm only giving it two stars because at least I got to know some fun facts that I wasn't aware of before, but apart from that, I would not recommend it...
June 26, 2017
Enjoyed
This book is full of so much awesome folklore! It is also a pretty detailed account of the tuberculosis epidemic that ravaged the country during the colonial period and beyond. I really enjoyed this a lot.
This book is full of so much awesome folklore! It is also a pretty detailed account of the tuberculosis epidemic that ravaged the country during the colonial period and beyond. I really enjoyed this a lot.
October 4, 2024
The subject matter was great, but the content was disconnected, like each chapter was a book of its own. A lot of repetition regarding respecting the final resting places, should people go to visit - important, but doesn't bear repeating in almost every chapter.
October 2, 2018
A bit repetitive with several grammarical mistakes in the early chapters, but overall very interesting. I will definitely be checking out some of the locations mentioned in the book.
September 23, 2019
Wanders a bit in its focus, especially at the end. Features a lot of hunting for the graves of suspected vampires which feels unnecessary to the research about the myths themselves.
October 2, 2023
While rich in detail and an incredibly interesting subject..it was hard to read. A lot of the text consists of 'I talked to this person and then later this other person...' and referencing other books and websites -IMO these things should have stayed in the bibliography section.
August 11, 2024
It's frustrating how the sources are compiled. Rather than broken up on a by-the-chapter block or even utilizing footnotes it's all in one large bibliography - it made it difficult to locate the referred to sources and where the author got his information.
Rather than focusing on history and analyzing what it says about human nature, this book puts a much larger focus on grave hunting and visiting the headstones, when available, of the accused dead.
Rather than focusing on history and analyzing what it says about human nature, this book puts a much larger focus on grave hunting and visiting the headstones, when available, of the accused dead.
October 3, 2016
Out of these type of books, I would rank this a little higher, but none of them are great. They have these book series available for free through the library online so I have read a bunch of them. They give some insight into local history and folklore, but are written by pretty amateur authors (lots of repetition, choppiness, etc.). This is the first one I've seen on vampires, which was a superstitious way for New Englanders to explain tuberculosis. The author has done more research than other authors in this book series. I found the newspaper articles and other more firsthand accounts fascinating. The idea of digging up loved ones bodies and burning their organs is pretty gruesome, but these were days where everyone was looking for a any ridiculous reason to explain the unknown.
December 6, 2011
I'm only the third person to rate this book on all of Goodreads...Just sayin'.
The previous two reviewers gave this book an average of two stars. I don't see how, at it never pertains to be something it isn't. It's a book that reviews, summarizes and, frankly, rehashes information that's already out there, but puts it all in one place, and does so with a website's writing feel to it. (If anything, the real complaint is the $17 tag Borders had put on it.)
Of particular interest to me were the stories of the vampires I'm incorporating into my novel--or trilogy, or whatever--tentatively titled THE GRAVEDIGGERS. These, mostly, are the stories of Sarah Tillinghast, Nellie Vaughn and Mercy Brown, all woven into one. (Nellie Vaughn being more or less a mistaken Mercy Brown, but with the now infamous epitaph on her gravestone.) And there's a lot to say about them, specifically because the author comes from my neck of the woods, and so is able to write about his visits to some of the places in his narratives. I've been to some of these places myself, so it was interesting to see pictures of places I have already been to, and to compare our impressions and thoughts. Essentially, this book was useful to me as a sort of place to gather all my notes--notes I didn't even have to write. Not that I don't have a whole three-subject notebook of them anyway, as well as many journals and emails to myself.
A criticism would be that this book mostly cites just two others, one of which--Michael Bell's FOOD FOR THE DEAD--is vastly superior. This one gives just the facts, ma'am, while Bell's gives that, and extensive first-person investigation, more thorough research, and even some slightly comical interviews. Unless you're writing a novel--or trilogy, or whatever--about this sort of thing, and you only want one book, get Bell's. But if you have the coin, spring for this one, too. It's thinner and different and not as well-written or extensive as Bell's, but I think it useful, anyway.
Check out The Keep near Mercy Brown's grave, but do so at dusk, on a cold February day, like I did--and heed all due respect at this and other such places. Really, really, creepy, even more so than the stories, or graves, or anything else.
The previous two reviewers gave this book an average of two stars. I don't see how, at it never pertains to be something it isn't. It's a book that reviews, summarizes and, frankly, rehashes information that's already out there, but puts it all in one place, and does so with a website's writing feel to it. (If anything, the real complaint is the $17 tag Borders had put on it.)
Of particular interest to me were the stories of the vampires I'm incorporating into my novel--or trilogy, or whatever--tentatively titled THE GRAVEDIGGERS. These, mostly, are the stories of Sarah Tillinghast, Nellie Vaughn and Mercy Brown, all woven into one. (Nellie Vaughn being more or less a mistaken Mercy Brown, but with the now infamous epitaph on her gravestone.) And there's a lot to say about them, specifically because the author comes from my neck of the woods, and so is able to write about his visits to some of the places in his narratives. I've been to some of these places myself, so it was interesting to see pictures of places I have already been to, and to compare our impressions and thoughts. Essentially, this book was useful to me as a sort of place to gather all my notes--notes I didn't even have to write. Not that I don't have a whole three-subject notebook of them anyway, as well as many journals and emails to myself.
A criticism would be that this book mostly cites just two others, one of which--Michael Bell's FOOD FOR THE DEAD--is vastly superior. This one gives just the facts, ma'am, while Bell's gives that, and extensive first-person investigation, more thorough research, and even some slightly comical interviews. Unless you're writing a novel--or trilogy, or whatever--about this sort of thing, and you only want one book, get Bell's. But if you have the coin, spring for this one, too. It's thinner and different and not as well-written or extensive as Bell's, but I think it useful, anyway.
Check out The Keep near Mercy Brown's grave, but do so at dusk, on a cold February day, like I did--and heed all due respect at this and other such places. Really, really, creepy, even more so than the stories, or graves, or anything else.
August 25, 2012
This was an interesting look into the prevalence of vampire lore in the New England states (mainly Connecticut and Rhode Island), with a few cases in which bodies were actually exhumed and "disposed of" in a way befitting Van Helsing. This includes the case of Mercy Brown of Exeter, R.I., which happened only 120 years ago in 1892, and in part was the inspiration for Lovecraft's "The Shunned House."
June 25, 2013
I love colonial American history so this book caught my eye. It was really interesting to read although I would have liked more information about the events. A longer book in general would have been great.
January 4, 2014
This short little book gives a nice glimpse into the vampire-ish folk beliefs that once existed in New England. It was interesting, easy to read, and gave me some great ideas for my next NaNoWriMo novel. ;)
February 25, 2018
As the title promises, A History of Vampires in New England chronicles historical cases of "vampires" in New England. The author describes how Americans in the late 1700s and early 1800s didn't have the scientific knowledge to understand why several members of the same families would die of consumption (tuberculosis), and therefore adapted supernatural mythologies to explain their deaths. They believed that deceased family members rose from their graves to feed on the living, which could be proved by examining the corpse, and stopped by exorcism (usually burning the corpse's heart, liver, and/or lungs).
After that explanation in the introduction, the author describes several cases of supposed vampire attacks and exorcism. Some of these are documented in newspapers or personal writings, while others are based mostly or completely on oral tradition. The lack of concrete historical data is often disappointing (for the author too, I'm sure) and the writing reads more like a journal entry documenting the experience of researching or visiting graves more than an informative text.
Overall, the book does a good job of acquainting readers with these vampiric superstitions and the sparse evidence of them that remains. Personally, I wish the writing were a bit clearer and also that the author hadn't included his own beliefs about the paranormal, as that sometimes distracted from the historicity of the accounts. Still, an interesting read for anyone who enjoys folklore or the supernatural.
After that explanation in the introduction, the author describes several cases of supposed vampire attacks and exorcism. Some of these are documented in newspapers or personal writings, while others are based mostly or completely on oral tradition. The lack of concrete historical data is often disappointing (for the author too, I'm sure) and the writing reads more like a journal entry documenting the experience of researching or visiting graves more than an informative text.
Overall, the book does a good job of acquainting readers with these vampiric superstitions and the sparse evidence of them that remains. Personally, I wish the writing were a bit clearer and also that the author hadn't included his own beliefs about the paranormal, as that sometimes distracted from the historicity of the accounts. Still, an interesting read for anyone who enjoys folklore or the supernatural.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews