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Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires

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Believe it or not -- and after reading "Food for the Dead" you will indeed believe it -- Vampires are not a literary invention of the nineteenth century, but are rooted in the folklore of many cultures -- including, of all places, rural Rhode Island.

Of course, they did not call them vampires, but the folklore is so similar to vampirism that it is immediately recognizable as the same mythic type.

Briefly: Michael Bell explores a practice that occurred in at least three documented accounts (his research into the archives and newspapers of the time is superb) of the families of tuberculosis victims ("consumption") digging up a recently deceased family member to ensure that the dead family member was indeed dead, and was not preying on the living. Part of the New England folklore concerning consumption was that when family members started dying of the disease in succession, it meant that the first victim was feeding on the living -- and the proof of this was to dig up the deceased person's heart to ensure that it did not contain "fresh" blood -- sure evidence that the dead person was not entirely dead.

Bell finds the practice was not limited just to Rhode Island, but indeed had passed into the folklore of Connecticut and Vermont as well, and the belief persisted among rural folk as late as the 1890s.

Bell discusses many issues in the book, including the origins of the folklore, the prejudice of city people towards rural people (newspaper accounts of the period are pretty harsh in their condemnation of the practice), the history of tuberculosis, the need to protect small cemeteries from vandals and curiosity seekers, and even how some of the source material of the myth found its way into the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

The book is a very thorough and well researched, and handled sympathetically. Well worth reading.

A note about the reviewer who stated Michael Bell explores graveyards with a camera and tape recorder, like an aspiring Art Bell wanna be.

If you read this book, which I strongly recommed for anyone who is looking for a fresh perspective on the tapestry of folklore and legends, you will discover Michael Bell is neither superstitous nor prone to fantasy. He playfully mocks those who lurk in churchyards, hoping to record a whisper from the grave and give themselves a thrill at the same time. "Food for the Dead" seeks to explore how concepts like "modern" vampirism and other legends develop and exist, using genealogical research and good sense. If you're looking for a good scare and juicy ghost stories, keep shopping. In search of a fascinating read? You found it, enjoy!

Wow! Next to "Vampires, Burial and Death," probably the best non-speculative look at "real" vampires I've read.
They didn't use the word "vampire" back in the day. The ritual (described in detail by Michael Bell) for the treatment of consumption involved a little bit of exhumation, perhaps some dismemberment, maybe some cannibalism, stuff like that. Today, it would be tough to imagine your entire family dying one by one, and a local elder saying, "Hey, if you dig up Betsy, the first one who died, you may be able to save the rest of your family. Here's how ..."
The most interesting aspect of this book is that it gives an indirect sampling of what folklorists actually do. All the research, detective work, footwork and interviewing seems a lot more substantial than just collecting urban legends or whatever. Buy it!

We know all about the Salem witches, but little about the New England vampires.Folklorist Michael Bell spent 20 years digging out the facts of Mercy Brown and l9 other vampires.

God-fearing folks turned from prayer to slaying vampires when their entreaties failed to halt or heal the ravages of consumption (TB). They believed the vampires had taken possession of the bodies of their stricken youths.and could be
overcome only by burning the hearts of the exhumed cadavers.
Not until many years later was the TB bacterium isolated
and understood.

Bell writes in a smooth, narrative style, informative and enjoyable. A most satisfying read.

A series of case studies involving the (still-common) belief that the dead can be jealous of the living and return to capture them, Food for the Dead is meticulously researched. It should be noted that documentary evidence concerning digging up the dead in New England is sparse. I attended a lecture given by Bell last autumn, and he certainly seems to know everything there is to know about the topic. The book is somewhat repetitive, however, which makes it difficult to sustain interest.

Forget everything you know about vampires and join the author on his 20 year investigation of "vampire" stories in New England. In an age where germ theory was not yet understood and rural communities at the edges of established Puritan religion struggled to make sense of consumption (tuberculosis) as it decimated entire families and regions, old folk remedies and legends led to the exhumation of the dead and the burning of hearts and lungs. Folklorist-historian Bell does an excellent job of researching these events and placing them within their historical context while bringing alive the human emotional response to the drama and horror involved. Definitely a worth while read and very eye-opening.

Michael Bell's Food For The Dead is not only a great book about American history and folklore, it is a very entertaining read as well. Though a non-ficition book, it does not fall victim to an overought style like most books in the genre can. Bell's writing is very easy to read and very informative. He does not shy away from the truth and always gives his opinions (and justifies them!).

Bell investigated (for nearly 20 years) the vampire legend which began in New England (and still exists there) starting in the late 1600s. It seemed that people believed that the consumption, a deadly desease at the time, was caused by vampires. Bell takes many scenarios and cases he has found throughout New England and investigates them, trying to explain the origin of the legend as well as its outcome.

The book lags a little when Bell tries to link the whole phenomenon with popular myth. This vampire legend differs greatly from the Dracula legend we are used to these days. These vampires are not night-walkers and blood sucking fiends, they kill from their grave! His short lesson in pop culture history is a little too long and a little too obvious for my taste.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great lesson in history and in American folklore. This is one book that I will want to come back to again and again. This is one of the rare non-fiction book about vampires which does make sense and which does take the reader somewhere we haven't been before. It offered me something new and different, which is rare in this day and age. And for that, Bell's Food For The Dead deserve to stand on a high pedestal on top of all the other paranormal/non-fiction books out there.

I saw this reviewed in the paper and bought it mainly because I enjoy local history. Upon reading it I was very impressed with Bell's work. He creates a nice balance between the events and his pursuit of the facts behind the events. He gives informative backgrounds on everything from the rural RI communities to TB. The book also acts as a Folklore 101 course. A very enjoyable read.

In "Food for the Dead" folklorist Michael Bell brings to life tales of terror based on events that took place long ago in the rural cemeteries of New England.
Bell writes of evil spirits and vampires with candor, explaining why bodies were exhumed by rural folk in desperate attempts to thwart the ancient plague of tuberculosis. His style is scholarly without being pondereous. Down to earth, if you'll pardon a pun.
Stories of digging up bodies, removing and burning hearts are well documented. But what would lead ordinary folk to such drastic remedies? Tape recorder and camera in hand, Bell has traveled the back roads of Rhode Island, Connecticutt, New Hampshire and Vermont for 20 years seeking answers to that question.
In the first chapter Bell introduces his readers to Lewis Everett Peck, a descendant of Mercy Brown, whose grave was opened on March 17, 1892, in the hamlet of Exeter, Rhode Island. Peck tells in graphic detail how Mercy's body had turned over in the casket, how her heart still had blood in it and how her heart was burned and the ashes fed to her consumptive brother, Edwin.
Nowhere in Peck's story is Mercy identified as a vampire. But the gruesome details are accurate. And of such fabric are folk tales woven.
With the skill of a practiced story teller Bell soon makes his readers comfortable with his grisly subject. One trail leads to another as he connects first with Mercy, then with Nellie Vaughn, Nancy Young and the Tillinghast and Rose families. He uses newspaper files, countless interviews, family and church histories to build his case.
That bodies were exhumed and corpses mutilated is without question. But why resort to such extremes? Why give credence to ghosts and evil spirits? Bell offers one opinion with these words: "We derive comfort from giving tangible form to phenomena beyond our understanding...By personifying death and disease, we can more easily identify, objectify and perhaps forestall one and eradicate the other."
Did vampires once prey upon innocent country folk? You'll have to read Bell's book "Food for the Dead -- On the Trail of New England's Vampires."
(Carroll & Graf, 337 pp.)

Food for the Death is a great book for anybody interested in New England history, vampires, and how folklore works. Michael E. Bell basically went hunting for vampires in the history of the small towns and back roads of New England. And found them. The question he has, besides did people really believe their dead were causing death and illness, was HOW did these folks come to the knowledge on how to due with the undead. Many came from England yet the methods used were those from Eastern Europe. Did they invite them on their own or did the ideas somehow come across the ocean? And how did one family in one state learn about how to deal with vampires from another family incident in another state, a event that happened generations ago? How did the cities and churches handle the hunt for the undead and why do people still believe today that VAMPIRES still exist? The book mostly focuses on how folklore grows and changes over time, changing hard facts into misty legends.