Dead Men Walk
During the Middle Ages—and continuing well beyond—numerous apocryphal tales emerged of men who, meeting death through some strange misadventure, would later be seen walking the streets of their local village or hamlet. These eerie appearances often coincided with mysterious deaths, frequently involving the loss of blood. When authorities investigated, they allegedly discovered the bodies in their coffins, remarkably preserved, some even bloated as though they had transformed into grotesque, bloodsucking creatures, feeding on the living. These "undead" were quickly dealt with by decapitation, stuffing their mouths with garlic, sealing their jaws with stone blocks, hammering spikes into their hearts, and various other gruesome measures. The last of these vampire exhumations, it is said, took place in New Hampshire during the 1890s.
