Face of 19th-Century 'Connecticut Vampire' Reconstructed

Heritage Daily ^ | January 3, 2023 | Markus Milligan

[SunkenCiv]

Researchers have revealed the face of the 'Connecticut vampire' using forensic facial reconstruction.

In 1990, archaeologists excavating a 19th century grave in the town of Giswold, located in Connecticut, United States, found that the human remains were arranged to form skull and crossbones, a practice performed during The New England Vampire Panic to prevent a suspected vampire from rising from the grave.

The New England Vampire Panic was a period of terror and mass hysteria during the 19th century, caused by an outbreak of consumption that was blamed on vampires.

Consumption, known today as tuberculosis (TB), is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacte-rium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. The disease generally affects the lungs, causing a chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats and weight loss.

Across the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, outbreaks of tuberculosis spread amongst family members and households. So severe was the epidemic, that it claimed around 2 percent of the region's population from 1786 to 1800.

When a tuberculosis sufferer died, it was assumed that they consumed the life of their surviving relatives who also became ill from tuberculosis due to their close proximity to those already infected. To protect the survivors and ward off the symptoms of consumption, the bodies of those who died were exhumed to examine for traits of vampirism.

[Albion Wilde]

“And to think,” as my dear ninety-year-old aunt used to say, “he was once a sweet little baby!”

[SunkenCiv]

I just gnaw he was up to something. /rimshot

[Lurker]

I used to watch that show after school.

L

[stylecouncilor]

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