What happens when an entire family begins wasting away from the same mysterious illness—and no one understands why?

In 19th-century New England, the answer wasn't always medicine.

It was vampires.

In this Case File, we head into the dark world of New England vampire hysteria, where tuberculosis—or “consumption”—was blamed on the dead returning to prey upon their living relatives. As families suffered death after death, desperate communities began exhuming bodies, removing hearts and organs, and burning them in an attempt to stop the disease.

We’ll explore some of the most infamous cases, including Rachel Harris Burton, Frederick Ransom, the Ray family of Jewett City, and the case that became the most famous of them all: Mercy Brown.

In 1892, nearly a century after her mother and sister had died from consumption, 19-year-old Mercy Brown was exhumed by her neighbors. Her body appeared unusually well preserved, which convinced the townspeople that she was the source of her family's illness.

Her heart and lungs were removed and burned.

The vampire hysteria wasn't simply a story about superstition. It was a glimpse into what happens when people are confronted with a terrifying disease they don't understand. Tuberculosis could spread silently, affect multiple members of a household, and remain dormant before suddenly becoming fatal—making it easy to believe that the dead were somehow responsible for the living becoming sick.

Before germ theory, sometimes the explanation was supernatural.

🩸 In this Case File:

• Why tuberculosis became associated with vampires
• The New England communities where vampire beliefs took hold
• Bodies that were exhumed and organs that were burned
• The tragic story of Mercy Brown
• Why Mercy's body appeared “fresh” months after her death
• The connection between TB and multiple deaths within a family
• How New England vampire folklore differed from traditional European vampires
• And the surprising connection between Mercy Brown and Dracula

This is The Cadaver’s Lessons—where history, medicine, ethics, and the macabre meet.

Class is dismissed. Stay safe. Stay curious. And don’t try this at home… unless you own a bone saw.

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1. Ponti C. When New Englanders blamed vampires for tuberculosis deaths. HISTORY. Published October 25, 2019. Updated July 30, 2026. Accessed August 27, 2026.
2. New England Today. The vampire Mercy Brown of Rhode Island. New England Today. Accessed August 27, 2026.
3. Galpern JL. Have Mercy… Rhode Island Historical Society. Published October 31, 2016. Accessed August 27, 2026.
4. Bell ME. Vampires and death in New England, 1784 to 1892. Anthropol Humanism. 2006;31(2):124-140.
5. Tucker A. The great New England vampire panic. Smithsonian Magazine. Published October 2012. Accessed August 27, 2026.