Microbes with Fangs: Death, Disease, and the Vampire’s Grasp with Michael Bell

The story of New England’s vampires begins with a scourge whose tragic trail is visible in cemeteries throughout the region. Incredible as it may seem today, vampires preyed upon their not-so-distant ancestors. Vampire attacks increased dramatically during the eighteenth century and remained the leading cause of death in New England throughout the nineteenth century. But this unseen killer did not resemble the clever Count Dracula of Bram Stoker’s imagination. Indeed, it was so small that it was undetectable. New England’s authentic vampires, you see, were pathogenic microbes (“bacteria with fangs,” as a nurse once described them). Prior to the twentieth century, a diagnosis of consumption (as pulmonary tuberculosis was called at that time) was a virtual death sentence.

My Special Guest Is Michael Bell 

Michael E. Bell has a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University, Bloomington; his dissertation topic was African American voodoo beliefs and practices. He has an M.A. in Folklore and Mythology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a B.A. , with M.A. level course work completed, in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. Bell was the Consulting Folklorist at the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, Providence, Rhode Island, for more than twenty-five years. He has also taught courses in folklore, English, anthropology and American studies at several colleges and universities. His book, Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires, was a BookSense 76 Pick and winner of the Lord Ruthven Assembly Award for Best Nonfiction Book on Vampires. He has completed the manuscript for a second book on American vampires, titled The Vampire’s Grasp: The Hidden History of Consumption in New England. Michael Bell and his wife, Carole, split their time between Rhode Island and Texas. 

In this episode, you will be able to: 

1. Learn how tuberculosis was once mistaken for vampire attacks in New England.

2. Discover why families dug up loved ones to stop the spread of a deadly disease.

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