In 2001, as editor I brought out Michael E. Bell's "Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires," a superb&surprising book that revealed a 19th C folk-medical practice that desperate families afflicted by tuberculosis—aka consumption—hoped would heal the sick. 1/3

The practice was an exhumation ritual, undertaken because the living feared the dead could be infecting the living. Now, 20 years later, I am Bell's agent&we are submitting his new book to publishers, "The Vampire's Grasp: Consumption & Death in New England, 1794-1900." 2/3

Bell's work is relevant amid #coronavirus bc it reveals how our forebears addressed an epidemic in their time. Bell's just done a good intv w/ @Toothpickings. More info on this thread to come as the new book moves toward publication. #vampires #tuberculosis