Saturday, November 16, 2019

Mercy Brown: American Vampire







The Vampire of New England....

The brown family of Exeter, Rhode Island


So many cases of tuberculosis  occurred in the  Brown family that  Friends and neighbors believed this was due to the possible  influence of the undead.

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George and Mary Brown's family suffered  from tuberculosis infections hitting several family members.

Tuberculosis infections  in the later 19th century was rampant it was also called "consumption" at the time, and was a very devastating disease.

The mother, Mary Eliza, was the first to die of the disease, followed in 1886 by their eldest daughter, Mary Olive.

In 1891, Mercy and her brother  Edwin also contracted the disease.

Mercy died 1n  January 1892 at the age of 19.

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The locals  believed that one of the deceased family members was actually a vampire that had caused the rest of the family's  illness.

This belief was based on folklore  that speaks of a link between multiple members of a family dying and it's link to the  visitation by a vampire.

Tuberculosis was a poorly understood disease at the time and was followed by a lot of  superstition.


After much persuasion George Brown eventually gave  permission to exhume  several bodies of his  now deceased family members.
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This was a big event in the area drawing in  Villagers, the local doctor, and even  a newspaper reporter  to witness  the body's being exhumed  on March 17, 1892.

 The bodies of both Mary and Mary Olive showed the expected level of decomposition you would expect given the amount of time they where in the ground  so they were apparently cleared of suspicion in the vampire case....

 However, the body of a Mercy, showed almost no decomposition, and still had blood  in the heart.

The locals took this as a sign that the she was in fact undead and by that extension the cause  Edwin's current poor condition.

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Her lack of decomposition was most likely due to her body being stored in freezer-like conditions in an above-ground crypt during the first two months after her death.




An old Romanian superstition says that to cure the sickness brought by  undead, the vampires heart and  or liver must be burned, and the ashes mixed with water to create a tonic.

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Dr. Harold Metcalf, who had raised his objection to the entire affair, assured everyone that the lack of decomposition of Mercy’s body was perfectly consistent with the fact that she had been dead for less than two months. Knowing that medicine had done nothing to save the Browns, the people of Exeter ignored the doctor’s proclamations and took the presence of fresh blood in Mercy’s heart as a sign that she was undead.

They gathered firewood and kindled a bonfire on a pile of nearby rocks. Then they cut out Mercy’s heart and lungs and cremated them on the pyre.
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This was not the first time the old remedy of burning the organs of the dead and mixing the ashes into an tonic for the sick had been tried in Rhode Island, even in Exeter.

In 1799, the townspeople exhumed the body of Sarah Tillinghast, suspecting her of being a vampire. Author Diana Ross McCain reports there were 18 documented instances of the exhumation of family members in suspected vampire cases throughout New England in the 18th and 19th century, but the case of Mercy Brown would be the last.


After removing and burning her heart, Mercy Brown was re buried at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery where she now rests in peace.

Unfortunately Edwin died  just two months later.
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                      Mercy Browns Grave

Visitation is possible  look for a small white Baptist church off of Ten Rod Road, a couple of miles from I-95. A path goes directly through the center of the cemetery, about halfway down on the left is the Brown family plot.


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 Further reading......
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Bram Stoker  and H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from this case for there respective works..

Bram Stokers character Lucy Westernra and H.P. Lovecrafts character Mercy Dexter..
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 Mercy Brown's story was also  the inspiration for the young adult novel Mercy: The Last New England Vampire by Sarah L. Thomson.

There's also an account of the events as told by the remaining descendants of Mercy is available in Michael E. Bell's Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires.




Monday, November 11, 2019

American Cryptids: Cactus Cat.







                                                     

                🌵---🐈-----Cactus Cat----🐈---🌵


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Diet and Habitat, Cactus Cat is a barbed or spiky cat like cryptid that's spotted mostly in the Southwestern  states and part's of Mexico, it  has a mild temperament and seems to enjoy Cactus sap.
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 Many people at least those in the Southwest have heard of the Jackalope a bunny with antlers (Post on him Later)....

But How many of you know of the Cactus Cat?


This not so cuddly creature has been  spotted through out the American southwest but what is it, a new spices of feline, desert hysteria or just a misidentified know large cat...


 .............

The legend of the Cactus Cat is most likely the result of misidentification, probably a normal  bobcat, or possibly even a porcupine.

The cat's  strange call or wail may have been that of a puma.

Or quit  possibly, Cactus Cat could even be an undiscovered  species of bobcat with quills....who knows...


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The first sightings of Cactus Cat seems to have originated with cowboys and pioneers heading west in the  1800's.

They claim to have witnessed this creature mostly  at night, it would apparently be seen slashing open cacti and exposing the sap.

Only to return a few  nights after, at witch point it was said to drink the fermented juice.

However doing this seemed to caused the cats to enter an drunken state, stumbling around and sometimes attacking travelers.

Cactus Cat attack's are still considered rare, but did happen from time to time, with many frontiersmen waking up to find welts on their body from the cat's barbed tail.



Although despite these minor attacks, the Cactus Cat was not considered an aggressive creature.

This spiky little guy is also  known to have a unique or even haunting "wail" that could be heard throughout the dark and desolate  desert late at night. along with the dry sound of its bones rubbing together.(Possibly the barbs or quills hitting one another.)..



                                       ............Cactus Cat is also a Brand of Beer.....



Monday, November 4, 2019

American Cryptid: The Montana Wildman




                                   Anaconda Montana Bigfoot/Wildman of 1892





A Montana Monster..

An article  from the Anaconda Standard written in 1892.
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It Looks Like a Man and Eats Bears and Sheep.

Some of the old time hunters and Indian fighters who are still holding out in the city should endeavor to find a wild eyed individual who came in from the mountains this morning.



Whether he discovered a new brand of whiskey or whether it was the loneliness sic of his life in the mountains that caused him to see visions and hear sounds is not known, but, whatever the cause, he had told a story that knocks Joe Klaffki’s ghost story, attested to by Jack Brennan, completely in the shade.



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The sighting took place over the range of mountains which forms a part of the Wyoming
line, he had seen evidence of the existence of a creature whose genus was unknown to him.

He also claimed to have obtained a glimpse of the “varmint,” but always when he was unarmed, and as its appearance was such as not to invite a close inspection he had never sought to get near enough to it to see just what it was.

The animal is covered with hair, but in form it is not unlike a man, a resemblance that is increased by the creature’s habit of rising on its haunches and walking on its hind legs after the manner of a gorilla.

After having seen the animal the man said he could account for the existence of the torn and partly eaten carcasses of several large bears and also of one mountain sheep that he claimed to have found in the vicinity of where the unknown animal apparently makes his headquarters. The stranger says he will return to the mountains shortly and will pilot anybody who may desire to visit the locality to the exact spot where he last saw the monster. — Anaconda Standard. 1892

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Next post will be in a week or so .......
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Friday, November 1, 2019

Cryptids and Myths: Vampiers..

                     Hotel Transylvania Mavis 2 by alecyl on Deviantart  Mavis Dracula art by alecyl
                                 

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Human history is filled with unexplained event's and creatures beyond imagination.

From childhood and onward we go through our lives in fear what lurks within the shadow just out of sight, from the monster under the bed, to the boogeyman and every-other monster imaginable whether real or imagined in ancient times this was an advantageous means of survival against very real threats wolves bears ext. This survival  mechanism has been deeply ingrained into our psyche

But what may be hiding in the darkness just out of sight waiting for you..

Vampires....The immortal undead with an unsavory taste for human blood.

There have been many famous monsters through  out human history, but none so recognizable as the Vampire. Through classic Myth, Legend and folklore to modern  TV, Movies,  Dramas and more this creature of the night has haunted our imaginations since time immemorial..

Every culture around the world has legends regarding the Vampire in one form or another..




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============ European  Vampire =======
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The vampire is a reanimated corpse that feeds on the blood of the living to prevent its body from decomposing.

 The slender  pale-skinned vampire we know of to today is a relatively new interpretation of this creature that started around the  early 19th century with the publication of (The Vampyre ) — a short story by John Polidori  in 1819.

In the original vampire legend from  Eastern Europe the creature was described as a bloated corpse  with  dark or ruddy skin as a result from feeding on blood. 



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=Somewhat Graphic Description ahead==
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When the body of a suspected vampire was disinterred (dug up), it would sometimes look as if it  hadn't decomposed at all, often the   hair, teeth and fingernails appear too have grow longer.

Other times the body would look, bloated with blood seeping from the nose and mouth.

Today we know now this is just common  decomposition with the  rate of decomposition   varying  slightly  depending  on number of different factors.

Normally temperature and soil composition; decrease or accelerate the rate dead flesh loses fluids, which in turn causes it to pull back exposing  the roots of hair, teeth and nails; and that gases from decomposition build up in the torso, making the body look bloated and forcing blood to ooze from the nose and mouth.

Common beliefs about vampires include that they are most active at night, but not necessarily vulnerable to sunlight. Garlic, crucifixes and holy water were common devices for warding off vampire attacks .

 It was believed that driving a wooden stake into the body would somehow release the evil spirit, with decapitation also being a way to hasten the evil soul's departure. in some areas they would piece the heart with a pin before burial others would drive a stake through the heart regardless of vampire sighting in the area as a sort of preventative measure.
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======Russian and East Europe===============================
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The Russian upir and the Greek vrykolakas. In these traditions, sinners, unbaptized babies and other people outside the Christian faith were more likely to be reanimated after death.

Those who practiced witchcraft were particularly susceptible because they had already given their soul to the devil in life. Once the undead corpses rose from the grave, they would terrorize the community, feeding on the living.

Western Europe, has the vampir, or vampyr,  Russian upir and Romania the Strigoi.





                                        
                                                      -`-`-`-`-`-` Strigoi-`-`-`-``-`-


Vampires in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania (now modern  Romania) were called strigoi.

Strigoi were almost always human spirits who had returned from the dead.

Unlike the upir or vrykolakas, the strigoi would pass through different stages after rising from the grave. Initially, a strigo might be a poltergeist like being tormenting its former family members by moving furniture around. After some time, it would eventually  become visible, looking just  the way it  did in life.

After returning to physical form , the strigo would return to its family once more, and torment them in various ways such as  stealing cattle, begging for food and bringing disease. Strigoi would feed on humans, first their family members and then anyone else they happened to come across. In some accounts, the strigoi would suck their victims' blood directly from the heart.


Initially, a strigo needed to return to the grave regularly, just like an upir.

If the town people suspected someone of being a strigo, they would exhume the body and burn it, or run spikes through it. But after seven years, if a strigo was still around, it could live wherever it pleased. It was said that strigoi would travel to distant towns to begin new lives as ordinary people, and that these secret vampires would meet with each other in weekly gatherings. similar to a witches gathering....


In the middle-ages people that lost  there lives to  the Black Plague where thought to be victims of vampire attacks.

Much like the Witch hunts and werewolf hunts that proceeded it Vampire hysteria was running rampant  Europe during the 17th and 18th century.

People would often  reported seeing their dead relatives walking around and attacking the living. This got so bad that authorities began digging up  graves, burning and staking the corpses.

Word of the vampire scare eventually  spread to western Europe, leading to  academic speculations on the creatures, as well as vampire poems and paintings. These works in turn inspired an Irishman named Bram Stoker to write his vampire novel, "Dracula."






                                                     Bela Lugosi as Dracula




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When you mention the word Vampire most people automatically think of Dracula.

Based on Vlad The Impaler , though not actually a vampire was none the less just as feared by his enemies .



Vlad III Dracula, Also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, He is considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian (Modern Romania)  history and a national hero of Romania.
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The Count St Germain was said to possibly be a vampire...

Germain was a European adventurer and traveler, with an interest in alchemy and science.

He associated with several members of European high society  in the mid-1700s.

It was said that Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel considered him to be "one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived".

 St. Germain used a variety of names and titles, an accepted practice among royalty and nobility at the time. These include the Marquis de Montferrat, Comte Bellamarre, Chevalier Schoening, Count Weldon, Comte Soltikoff, Graf Tzarogy, and Prinz Ragoczy. In order to deflect inquiries

 ......Germains life across the pond...

Vampires, werewolf's (Loupgaru) witch craft and voodoo can all be found in New Orleans

But was Jacque St. Germain an alchemic genius that discovered the secret too immortality or was he in fact a vampire?

St Germains or at least a man claiming too be him moved into a  home located at 1039 Royal Street in New Orleans.



                                                        ...Germains house..


St. Germain was  lady’s man, often seen with a beautiful woman on his arm while strolling through the French Quarter, or clubbing in elegant locales late into the night.

 He would in throwing dinner parties for the members of the city’s high society   .

His parties were highly anticipated due to their lavish cuisine, fine wine, and entertainment. St. Germain fascinated his guests with stories of France, Italy, Africa, and many other places

 During dinner he would tell tales his guests tales of his adventures around the world.

However he seemed to have an odd habit of not eating  at his own party's, choosing only to drink presumably wine from a chalice instead,  this coupled with his uncanny resemblance to the Comte St. Germain portrait that hung in his home, had many in the city suggesting (Jokingly at first) that perhaps the mysterious man was in fact a vampire.

 
These rumors would soon take dark turn,.

One night the police were called to St. Germain’s home to investigate  a woman who had seemingly fallen from his balcony on the second floor.

His guest, that night was a woman who was rumored to have been a prostitute, had in fact leapt from his balcony, rather than fallen, as bystanders had originally recounted .

While she survived the fall, she was terrified.  People on the street surrounded her and tended to her needs while help was called .

 Hysterical, the woman ranted that she had jumped to escape St. Germain, who had bitten her neck. She screamed and sobbed out her story, claiming she was only able to escape when her assailant was briefly distracted by aloud knocking on his door.

Police at first did not believe her as Germain was a well respected member of the community after all.

However he soon completely vanished from the city..

After witch according too legends The police went too investigate   and on the second floor of the house they discovered a series of open but corked wine bottles. filled with a  mixture of wine and large quantities of human blood.

Jacque St. Germain was allegedly never seen in New Orleans again...
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;;;;;;;ON A SIDE NOTE;;;;;;;
Saint Germain-Wine bar is located at  3054 St Claude Ave. Opens at 5.00PM  :)
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                                                        ~~~~~'St Germain`~~~~
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======= Asian Vampire===
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China

Jiangshi or Hopping Vampire
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Korea -Gangsi

Hangul  -  강시

Hanja -   殭屍
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Japan - Kyonshi
Kana キョンシー
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             =======Jiangshi== The Hopping Vampire=====


 A jiangshi, is also known as a Chinese "hopping vampire" but it's more like a type of zombie.

Jiangshi" is read geung-si in Cantonese, Phi Dip Chin in Thai, cương thi in Vietnamese, gangsi in Korean, kyonshī in Japanese, and "hantu pocong" in Malay and Indonesia.

It is usually described as a stiff corpse dressed in official garments  from the Qing Dynasty and it moves around by hopping, with its arms outstretched. It kills living creatures to absorb their qi/chi, or "life force", usually at night, during the day, it rests in a coffin or hides in dark places abandon buildings caves etc.

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A Jiangshi's appearance can range from somewhat normal  (Someone that was just recently buried to horrifying (rotting flesh  and / or full rigor mortise typical of corpses that has been in the ground for an extended piriod of time.

. The Chinese character for "jiang" (僵) in "jiangshi" literally means "hard" or "stiff". It is believed that the jiangshi is so stiff that it cannot bend its limbs and body, so it has to move around by hopping while keeping its arms stretched out for mobility.

Jiangshi are depicted in popular culture to have a paper Talisman (with a sealing spell) attached to and hanging off the forehead in portrait orientation, and wear a coat-like robe and round-top tall rimmed hat characteristic of a mandarin  (Chinese official from the Qing dynasty).

Its is often described as having a  greenish-white skin; one theory is that this greenish color comes from mold or fungus on the deceased body

 It is also  said to have long white hair  and may behave like an animal.

 The influence of western vampire stories brought the blood-sucking aspect to the Chinese myth in more modern times also sometimes combined with the story's of the hungry ghost.

However in traditional versions of the creature  they only feed on the qi (Lfe Force) of the  living  in order to grow more powerful.


Jiangshi are also sad to be terrified d of there own reflections.


Jiangshi in modern media

These creatures though not as prevalent in media as there western counterpart have been in many Anime, games and moves of the years..


Anime Yozakura Quartet and   Rosario+ Vampire



                           ==========Rin Azuma from Yozakura Quartet======

                           and below is LingLing from Rosario+ Vampire
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Vampires like most monsters can be found on every continent so don't stay out too late and  maybe cary some garlic just in case lol

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