The Great New England Vampire Panic

In the winter of 1892, a family in Exeter, Rhode Island, was running out of time. Consumption had already taken a mother and two daughters. Now the only son was dying, too.

The neighbors believed they knew why. One of the dead wasn't resting peacefully in her grave.

What happened next would turn nineteen-year-old Mercy Brown into one of America's most infamous alleged vampires.

But this isn't a story about Dracula or creatures creeping through the night. It's a true historical account of grief, fear, and the desperate things people did when they believed there was nothing left to try.

Join Becca D as we take the scenic route into the Great New England Vampire Panic, where real history and unsettling folklore meet in a quiet Rhode Island churchyard.

WE'LL EXPLORE:

• The Brown Family: How tuberculosis devastated a family and led their neighbors to suspect the dead.

• The Orchard Legend: The Exeter story of Stukeley Tillinghast and the dream that supposedly foretold his family's tragedy.

• Beyond Rhode Island: Other New England families who exhumed their dead in hopes of stopping consumption.

• The Grave Marked JB 55: The remarkable archaeological discovery that may reveal what people did to a suspected vampire.

• The Morning Mercy's Grave Was Opened: What happened on March 17, 1892, and why the ritual failed to save Edwin Brown.

• Mercy and Dracula: The intriguing, unproven connection between New England vampire accounts and Bram Stoker's famous novel.

• The Quilt and the Legend: The personal keepsake and local folklore that offer a different way to remember Mercy.

FACT OR FOLKLORE

Did Mercy Brown's hair and fingernails grow after death? Was there fresh blood in her heart? And did her story inspire Dracula?

We'll separate the documented accounts from the details added through retelling—and explore how a devastating disease helped create one of New England's most enduring legends.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

• Rhode Island Historical Society — “Have Mercy…”
  Historical background on Mercy Lena Brown, the exhumation, and the legend that followed.

• Smithsonian Magazine — “New England's ‘Vampire’ Was Likely a Farmer Named John”
  The discovery and identification of the remains known as JB 55.

• CDC — “History of World TB Day”
  The history of tuberculosis, Robert Koch's discovery, and the disease's connection to New England vampire panics.

• Michael E. Bell — Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires (2001). A deeper look at the historical cases and folklore behind the panic.

HAVE A STORY?

Have a local legend, ghost story, or mysterious place I should explore? I'd love to hear it.

Submit your story using locallorekeepers@gmail.com or on the website locallorediaries.com

Thanks for taking the scenic route with me today.

Local Lore Diaries — Telling the stories every town whispers about.