All Episodes

September 19, 2021 60 mins

Today Alaina decided to take it to a vampiric place. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries New England was struggling with severe outbreaks of Consumption.  To better explain this plague that caused severe pain, bloody hacking coughs and the victim to seemingly waste away without explanation, they turned to the supernatural. When entire families began falling victim to its brutal clutches, it simply had to be vampires who had taken host in their loved ones ailing bodies to suck the life from the remaining members. Come on in for a dive into a world where eating the ashes of an exhumed family member's decomposing heart was considered medicine.


Great resources used:



Mercy: The Last New England Vampire by Sarah L. Thomson
 




Food For the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires by Michael E. Bell
 




A History of Vampires in New England by Thomas D A'gostino
 



As always, thank you to our sponsors:



HelloFresh: Get up to fourteen free meals—including free shipping! — with

code morbid14 at HelloFresh.com/morbid14



Babbel: Right now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE.



Simplisafe: SimpliSafe is offering 20% off your entire new system and your first month of monitoring service FREE, when you enroll inInteractive Monitoring! Visit SIMPLISAFE.com/morbid



Caliper: You can try Caliper CBD risk-free for 30 days at TRYCALIPER.COM/MORBID

If you don’t love it they’ll give you a full refund!

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.