The Strange American Vampire Panics

According to an article by the Smithsonian Institution, a little over 100 years ago, people who lived in  Rhode Island, New England, USA, dug up the dead bodies of relatives they suspected of being vampires. The dead were then desecrated in various ways and hearts were cut from the decaying bodies in the mistaken belief that they were safeguarding the living.

According to this article, "vampire panics" historically, mostly coincided with contagious diseases and in New England at this time, this was tuberculosis (TB). People in this period did not know about bacteria and so, jumped to supernatural entities as being the root cause of the death and sickness plaguing the area and its people. 

When the overwrought New Englanders would dig up their dead, they would be met with corpses bloated and leaking blood, these natural signs of decay would, however, be interpreted as confirming their vampire suspicions. And so, there would follow, burning at the stake, beheading and other such horrors.

Books To Read

The Book of Strange New Things, by Michel Faber -an English pastor is sent to the planet of Oasis to teach its reclusive native inhabitants about Christianity.


Read here