Were vampires stalking small towns in New England at the turn of the 19th century? Villages were wracked by a wasting death. Friends and neighbors watched in horror as loved ones withered away. Only vampires could be responsible for such a slow, tormenting death, that turned healthy people into gaunt figures haunting their hometown. This week's legend is: The Consumption of Mercy Brown.
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Tucker, Abigail. “The Great New England Vampire Panic.” Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2020, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/
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Robinson, Charles T. “Vampire Mercy Brown | When Rhode Island Was ‘the Vampire Capital of America.’” NewEngland.com, 4 Oct. 2022, newengland.com/yankee/history/vampire-mercy-brown-rhode-island/
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“Have Mercy….” The Rhode Island Historical Society, 31 Oct. 2016, www.rihs.org/have-mercy/
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“The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905.” The Nobel Prize, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1905/summary/
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“Storical Halloween Special: Mercy Brown and the New England Vampire Panic.” Immortal Perfumes, 31 Oct. 2022, www.immortalperfumes.com/storical/storical-halloween-special-mercy-brown-and-the-new-england-vampire-panic
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Spratley, Charles. “Mercy Brown and the New England Vampire Panic.” Haunted Orange County, hauntedoc.com/mercy-brown-and-the-new-england-vampire-panic/
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Queen, Chelsea. “The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident: A Tragic Tale of Tuberculosis and Superstition.” Medium, 3 May 2025, medium.com/@chelsealynnqueen94/the-mercy-brown-vampire-incident-a-tragic-tale-of-tuberculosis-and-superstition-bd167efdac80