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Post by Lossentilien on Sept 10, 2004 15:51:18 GMT -5
Oh yeah I know all about Erzsebet Bathory, but to my previous knowledge 'Dracula' was no more than a character created by Bram Stoker, who took inspiration from Vlad the Impaler, Erzsebet Bathory and Mercy Brown, to name but a few. (If some of you don't know Mercy Brown I'd be more than happy to ramble about her  ) Which is why I'm confused as the character of Vlad Dracula was and male...  Oh, and for anyone who's interested, here's an online version of the book of Enoch, it's the best I've come across. www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/index.htm |
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Post by BKnight on Sept 10, 2004 16:41:28 GMT -5
Please do... About that Brown chick...
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Post by Ophelia on Sept 12, 2004 11:40:24 GMT -5
Loss , I don`t think I have to tell you this but in the Vaults - if you have something to tell of the topic - you do so . No questions asked .  O p h |
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Post by Lossentilien on Sept 15, 2004 19:47:41 GMT -5
Hehe, thanks Ophe, I just didn't want to ramble on about something y'all might already know. ;D
Ok, Mercy Brown, here we go.
The story of Mercy Lena Brown is by no means an uncommon one, what makes her different is that she was New England's 'last vampire' and has become famous for it.
The story of Mercy Brown begins in the 1800s when consumption (tuberculosis) was a very common and deadly illness. At the time the vampire wasn't like the Hollywood description of today, but was thought to be a being that came in the night, usually foretold in a dream, that would suck out one's life force. Heavy feelings on the chest were a sign that one was cursed to be taken by a vampire.
The reasons for people’s belief in vampires may be a little more understandable if I explain something about consumption...The victim becomes pale, stops eating, and pretty much just wastes away. At night, the condition becomes worse because the patient is lying on their back, ergo fluid and blood can sometimes collect in the lungs. As the illness worsens, the victim may wake up to find blood on their face, neck, and nightclothes. Breathing is laborious, and the body is starved for oxygen, partly due to this build up of fluid in the lungs. Anyhoo...
Mercy Brown was a farmer's daughter living in rural Exeter, Rhode Island. She was only 19 years old when she died of consumption on January 17, 1892.
On March 17, 1892, Mercy's body would be exhumed from the cemetery because members of the community suspected the vampire Mercy Brown was attacking her dying brother, Edwin.
The first victim of consumption within the Brown family was Mercy's mother Mary. A few months later the eldest of the Brown daughters also died of consumption. When the only son of the family, Edwin, became ill a few years later he was sent to live in a warmer climate in the hopes of stopping the disease. He stayed there for over a year, but on his return found that his youngest sister Mercy had passed on.
After Mercy’s funeral her brother’s illness got rapidly worse. His father grew more and more frantic, having already lost his wife and two daughters, he was now about to lose his only son. Medicine and science gave no answers, but folklore did. For centuries people had been blaming vampires for the deaths of those who in actual fact died of consumption. So when Edwin awoke late one night from a nightmare, claiming that Mercy had appeared to him, pressing on his chest until he couldn’t breathe, these suspicions of vampires worsened. At this time Edwin was beginning to cough blood, a sign that his time left was coming to an end. Once word got out of Edwin’s dream, a town meeting was held, where it was said that Mercy had to be the one killing off members of the Brown family and possibly even others of the town. Although many of the townsfolk did not believe this, they organized for the Brown family bodies to be dug up for proof.
(The practice of slaying these "walking dead" began in Europe -- some of the ways people dealt with vampires was to dig up the body of the suspect, drive a stake through the heart, rearrange the skeletal remains, remove vital organs, or cremate the entire corpse. All of these rituals involve desecrating the mortal remains. The practice happened with enough regularity that the general population felt it could cure, or at the very least help, whatever evil was overwhelming them.)
The first to be opened was the Mother, Mary. She being dead the longest was only bones. The next was the sister Mary Olive and she too being dead quite some time was also only bones. When Mercy's coffin was opened, many were shocked to see she looked almost alive, and her body had moved. The doctor said she was still with blood in her veins as he cut out her heart, and when he squeezed, blood poured from its arteries. This was proof that Mercy was a vampire and her heart was burned at a nearby rock. Edwin drank the ashes and returned home, only to die a few days later.
It may seem a bit coincidental that Mercy’s body had not decomposed, but there was a suggestion that she hadn’t actually been buried when she died, as the ground had been frozen hard, so she had been put in an above ground crypt until the thaw came, meaning that her body would also have been frozen.
Mercy Brown also died before embalming became a common practice. During decomposition, it is possible for bodies to sit up, jerk -- even sounds can emit from them because bloating can occur, and if wind escapes by passing over the vocal chords, there could be groans, which would explain why her body had moved.
(It was found that Bram Stoker might have used the myth of Mercy Brown to base his character description of his famous Dracula published in 1897. Newspaper clippings of The Brown family ordeal were found in his files after his death.)
Mercy's story is still being told at Halloween around the campfire. Her grave is said to attract many onlookers. Some even say, she shows herself in the middle of night just sitting and looking out from her grave. This has lead to one of Mercy's very own descendant, Lewis E Peck JR, to stand watch to keep away vandals on the haunted night of October 31. Her gravestone was taken once during the summer of 1996, only to be returned without incident. In death, she was able to leave an incredible mark in history. No matter how medicine can explain the panic in New England, Mercy Brown will always be known as the last vampire in America.
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Post by ElberethVarda on Sept 16, 2004 13:26:29 GMT -5
Whoa... that's a terrible story. *shiver*
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Post by Dragoneyes on Sept 16, 2004 13:58:54 GMT -5
At least she was dead when they cut her up, which is more than can be said for witches (not that witches were cut up but they weren't dead either. At the beginning).
I do like that story though.
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Post by Ophelia on Sept 16, 2004 14:19:10 GMT -5
Ya , this one is in my taste . Good job Loss , I`m proud of you  ophe |
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Post by BKnight on Oct 1, 2004 15:59:54 GMT -5
Wow, Lossie, horrific tale. And true, too.
But, I bet this will freak you more than many other things...
They showed at the news this year (in my country; yeah, Romania, land of all vampires... boohoohooo) in a simple backwater village in the mountains, where there was no electrical energy and even the people were a little 18th century if u get my drift. Anyway, they showed a couple of Buffys... You know... A couple of vampire slayers. Well, this two guys, father and son said that the entire village (even the whole world) was plagued by the Vampire Lord (the other son). So, this guy died a while back and when chickens begun dissaperingand people starting to have freaking dreams they decided that the boy has returned to kill em all. So, they chopped down some tools, made some stakes, went to the cemetery, dug the poor sod up, cut him open, burned his heart (they said so on the news, I'm "dead" serious; Lossie's story reminded me of this sad story) and drank the ashes. They swear that the "vampire" dissapeared since then. Well, they were charged with grave profonation, robbing, sadism, sent to jail, and to the shrink.
So, the conclusion may be... we didn't evolve too much.
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Post by Ophelia on Oct 3, 2004 11:50:50 GMT -5
Yet another case of vampires reacorded . Though I kinda ... don`t know what to think of it , I think they could be right for I know not a father who could cut up his own kid just on the base of suspicion . But ... What on earth made them think he was the source of all evil  Ophe |
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Post by BKnight on Oct 3, 2004 13:45:41 GMT -5
Well, the guys were pretty cut off on the peak of the mountains there... but an "n" number of explanation can be found, right? But I vote for insanity and superstition, though
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Post by Ophelia on Oct 3, 2004 15:16:46 GMT -5
My thoughts exactly . It`s mostly because their story included a bit of messyness and incorrect things . But what the hell , let them have their fun .
Oph
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Zandaïn
Meldielto
love Tolkiens books, all 3 LotR movies, my family & anything that grows
Posts: 8
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Post by Zandaïn on Feb 12, 2005 10:21:52 GMT -5
:DI love this vault, though it has absolutely nothing to do with LotR! Vampires are, next to elves, my favorite`people´! I have & have read every book Anne Rice has ever written, on this more than mystical beings of the night. Seen just about every movie, old and new, but I believe none of the myths... Some are plausible, maybe in another time even probable...but unfortunately, not in our time. Wouldn´t it be cool if the myth could, for a short time, become real? I´d be terrified, no doubt....just imagine?!  OOOOOOOOOOO! |
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Post by Elentari on Feb 15, 2005 13:59:44 GMT -5
I read a childrens book about Vampires when I was about 7. The Vampire was a vegetarian, which is just weird. I think the book was called "Vampire Hunt", and had a sequel in which the vampire goes to america to become an actor. I've never really read anything else about vampires since then... Or seen anything about them for that mater. Except of course in "A Legue of Extroadinary Gentlemen". That film was cool. | tari |
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Post by Dragoneyes on Feb 15, 2005 15:12:56 GMT -5
No. Nononononono. There's quite enough death as it is thankyouverymuch. And painful way to die or what? draining off all your blood from two holes in your neck or wherever. Though I suppose you'd be a bit delerious by the end so it wouldn't really matter.
/me rubs neck nervously
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Post by Ophelia on Feb 19, 2005 17:38:13 GMT -5
Whoo hoooo ! Replies ! Now now , there's no telling what dwells in this world so let's not be hasty with statements And actually Dragon , if a vampire wants to drink your blood , he'll get you in the state of trans and you will not feel a thing . So no worries mate ;D And thank you very much for the good words on Vaults Ophs |
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) Which is why I'm confused as the character of Vlad Dracula was and male... 
