The Great New England Vampire Panic

Rabes, of all conditions, has also been used as an explanation for the rise of vampire mythology. The most recent medical condition with a strong connection to vampire mythology was actually tuberculosis. Those who suffered from t b had no vampire like symptoms, though, and that makes this one a harder connection to explain. It's also, incidentally, where one of my favorite new england legends comes into the picture. Allow me to introduce to you mercy brown. Mercy brown was a young woman who lived in the latter half of the nineteenth century in the rural town of exeter, rhode island. And she was a major player in what is now known as the great new england vampire panic