October 2025

Oct 6

Vampire Panic & Pins

Hello Tastorians,

First, I wanted to let you know that I've recently had three Tasting History pins designed. There's a garum bottle, a logo, and of course, hardtack (clack, clack!). They're almost sold out, but more have been ordered and can be purchased here - https://crowdmade.com/collections/tastinghistory

With Halloween right around the corner, I've been doing some research for a holiday appropriate episode. Now, I won't give away exactly what it is going to be about, but I will tell you that, during my research, I came across a lot of vampire stories. Typically, when I think of real life vampire scares, I imagine Eastern Europe like in the 18th century tale of Petar Blagojević (more on him in the forthcoming video), so I was a little surprised to hear that America had its own bout of vampire panic, and far more recently.

Exeter, Rhode Island, March 1892: George T. Brown, a well respected farmer in the community, is at the end of his rope. 8 years ago, consumption (tuberculosis) took his beloved wife and two years later, his daughter, Olive. Then, in January 1892, only two months ago, his lovely daughter, Mercy, was taken by the same disease; a disease which consumes the sufferer from the inside, hence the name consumption. Now, with most of his family gone, Mr. Brown sits beside the bed of his only son, Edwin Brown, as he coughs the tell-tale consumptive cough.

Mr. Brown has no medical knowledge, though even if he did, there would be very little that could be done. However, others in the community believe they know the cause and the cure to young Edwin's affliction. They are sure that one of the deceased female members of the family is in fact undead, a vampire, and she visits poor Edwin in the night, draining him of his blood and life. Their answer? To exhume the bodies which lie in the nearby cemetery at the Baptist Church.

On March 17, shortly after his return it was decided to dig up the bodies of [Edwin's] mother and sister and see if the vampires were still at work. A physician was sent for from the village of Wickford a considerable distance away. He came and made an examination of the exhumed bodies. In the heart of Mercy, the last of those who had died, was found blood. The heart and lungs of the dead girl were thereupon burned.

- The Lincoln Herald, Saturday, August 6, 1892

The newspaper which ran the story, with a heavy dose of skepticism, said that what happened with the ashes was a mystery, but others claim that they were mixed into a concoction which young Edwin was forced to drink in order to rid him of the vampiric curse. Sadly, as the cause was not a vampire but a bacterium, Edwin died two months later. In the end, George T. Brown was left alive, living alone until 1922, just long enough to see Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin develop the first vaccine used to reduce the risk of severe tuberculosis.

On a side note (one that really gives away what my video is about), many scholars believe that Bram Stoker, after reading of the incident in newspapers, used Mercy Brown as inspiration for the character of Lucy Westenra in his 1897 novel, Dracula.

gravestone that reads Mercy L. daughter of George T. & Mary E. Brown, died Jan 17, 1892 Aged 19 years

Now, here are a few things that I think you'll enjoy.

Wartime Comfort Food: Meat & Batter Pudding | Radiation Cook Book - The channel Glen and Friends makes a Meat and Batter pudding from the Radiation Cook Book.
Classics from the Crypt: Danse Macabre - I've used this album, Classics From the Crypt, to put me in the Halloween spirit since I was 10 years old. I prefer to start with track 2, Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.