filed under History
G. Wayne Miller Debunks Mercy Brown Myth
11:17AM ON
10/31/2008
BY
Eric Smith
Sorry to poop on your Halloween parade but this is still a fascinating and creepy story from today’s Projo about Rhode Island’s most famous vampire, Mercy Brown. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter whether the myth is real or not, just imagining living in Exeter in 1892 scares me to death.
“She was experiencing night sweats, weight loss, fever and fatigue. She was coughing up blood, and may have awakened with crimson froth on her lips, a telltale sign to the superstitious. Until the 1940s, when a cure was found, TB slowly consumed a person –– hence its ancient name, consumption. It remains among the worst ways to die.”
(A vampire in Exeter: the debunking of a legend)
October 31st, 2008 at 2:00PM
G. ayne Miller Says:
Hi, Eric,
My fascination with TB derives from another hat I wear: documentary filmmaker. With director Dave Bettencourt (YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park), I have just completed ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place, about the TB epidemic of America in the 1900sand globally today. PBS will broadcast it in March 2009 and the world premiere will be Feb. 13 at Woonsocket’s Stadium Theatre. You should come! info at the move site, http://www.onthelakemovie.com
A lot of it was filmed here in RI
Thanks for the mention of today’s piece.
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October 31st, 2008 at 2:01PM
G. Wayne Miller Says:
yeah, there’s a W in my name
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October 31st, 2008 at 2:37PM
Nick Says:
I’m pretty sure this was debunked before now, you know, by the fact that vampires don’t exist.
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October 31st, 2008 at 3:19PM
Eric Smith Says:
Oh Nick, you must not have seen Tyra today…
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