New England Vampire Panic - US History - Extra History

There's a ton of mystery and lore that surrounds vampires, those blood-sucking creatures of the night, but what really inspired those tales? One related event caused the New England Vampire Panic! Where superstitious villagers were faced with an outbreak of consumption. Digging up some of the dark Vampire Superstitions we that are recognized have today.

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♪ Outro Music: "Prost!" by Tiffany Roman

#ExtraHistory #Vampire #History

[NevsTechBits]

What a terrifying time to be alive. The possibility of losing your entire family like that, and then have then unburied.

[schnitzel]

as someone who lives in a small rural community with only about 20 people, i can say that this kind of preassure from neighbors is real, you know everyone and everyone knows you, and a reputation is very important

[ChaosDX]

So that's where the old "Stake the heart" myth came from. And in a weird way "nailing a corpse down so it can't move" makes much more sense than "Vampires can only be killed by a stake through the heart"

[shawnheatherly]

The pain of losing a loved one and then being told to eat their ashes. Dang.

[kingkarnage]

As some who lived most of their life in Exeter R.I, there are still people who hear the superstition but not the explanation. If you happen to visit Mercy Brown’s grave, please show her and the surrounding graves the respect you wish she was shown in this video. Especially since the graveyard is still being used for burials today.

[JeremyDA]

Between this and Lovecraft, I'm convinced that New England is just a magnet for creepy stories 😨

[kellybeck]

Brain: You've already watched Ask a Mortician talk about this. Do you really need to watch another video?

Hands: What? I wasn't paying attention. The video already started.

[ArsanCraft]

If you are interested in other ways people were supersticious towards the dead then read up on medical cannibalism, where we used to eat mummy-parts out of egypt or parts of other deceased as medical treatment.

[rickhobson]

That's why I loved living in New England. No matter the season, Halloween was always just around the corner. :P

[Overhazard]

A bit of trivia regarding vampires: Jiangshi, a Chinese type of vampire, were traditionally depicted in art depicted as senators. (You might recognize Hsien-ko from Darkstalkers as an example of one; her outfit was based on Chinese senators of the time. Chinese senators wore those domed hats, the jackets with the oversized sleeves, and baggy trousers.) This is because these senators had a reputation of taxing their citizens dry.

P.S. Has there been an Extra History piece covering the Remington-Rand strike of 1936 to 1937? I found it interesting in that the strike was deliberately engineered by the company with the aim of destroying the union.

[Grimmtoof]

You should do a video on the Glasgow necropolis vampire. In the 1950s a story went round the schools in Glasgow about a vampire hiding in the necropolis graveyard, resulting in hundreds of children hunting for it.

[DinsRune]

The modern idea of what we think of as a "vampire" doesn't really start to spread until Bram Stoker's _Dracula._ Originally, vampires were closer in mind to what a DnD player would call a "wight" or "ghoul"- a living corpse that attacks and feeds on the living- or were a spiritual presence like described in the video.

[danielhale]

I remember the Lovecraft vampire story was a lot like this. The corpse below the home just drains the people living there, similar to consumption. The protagonist ends up digging until he finds the corpse and pouring a vat of acid onto it.

[eireduchess]

Caitlin on Ask a Mortician just did a video on this exact topic too and it’s a little longer for anyone who wants to learn more. This is such an interesting video and I loved watching it and getting another perspective on the whole thing. RIP Mercy Brown

[joshuagreenwood]

I didn't realize anyone outside of my home state of Rhode Island had ever heard of this story! It always felt more like local legends than national news.

[mdelles]

this wouldve been a cool one to sync up with Caitlin Doughtry over at Ask a Mortician, since she recently did an episode on the same thing.

Definitely would be a cool collab!

[MultiMariana]

Ask a Mortician did a video a few months ago about this topic too! It's called "America's Forgotten Vampire Panic" It's 40minutes long, for anyone who wants to know more

[ashteal]

You know the Extra History episode is gonna be extra interesting if you see that Child and Teens Checkup sponsorship

[evanthedank]

I love these Medical History episodes, their so interesting and I always appreciate them. Thank you EC and Child and Teen Checkups

[giladpellaeon]

Glad to see you guys cover a topic from my home state, even if it is a rather gruesome one. I grew up in Coventry which is about 15 minutes away from Exeter and there are numerous tales of ghosts and vampires. Probably why H. P. Lovecraft wrote so much horror including "The Shunned House" which has a vampire as described in the video. Also a quote from another of his stories is "can't trust those Nooseneck Hill people", which is just north of Exeter.