September 11, 1997 (NEWPORT, R.I./AP) - Rhode Islanders have been guarding themselves for months against mosquitoes infected with a potentially deadly virus, but Christopher Rondina says the state's past is filled with stories of a far scarier bloodsucker: vampires.

After 10 years of research, the 29-year-old Newport man has written and illustrated a book, "Vampire Legends of Rhode Island" (ISBN 0-924771-91-7 Covered Bridge Press, 1997). Last Halloween, Rondina and two friends camped amid the cold ruins and dark shadows of Castle Dracula in Romania. They're traveling for 18 days in the Transylvania countryside tracking both the Dracula of history and sites associated with the bloodsucking legend made famous by the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker.

"I personally believe that Stoker based a lot of the domestic events of his story on the Rhode Island legends," said Rondina, noting Stoker read newspaper clippings on New England vampire tales while researching the book.

"One article focused on Rhode Island and reported dozens of cases over a number of years," Rondina said. "It mentions Newport frequently, and vaguely refers to a legend not far from Newport. "Unfortunately no one has been able to pin down a vampire story in Newport -- excuse the pun."

Tuberculosis caused the mysterious deaths once attributed to Rhode Island vampires, including the case of Mercy Brown. Brown died in 1892 at age 19. Her death followed those of her mother and older sister. At the time, her brother, Edwin, was seriously ill and the family was desperate to save him. Family members attributed the deaths to a curse on the family and decided to dig up the bodies of the women, including Mercy, who had been buried for about a month. When Mercy's body was exhumed, observers noted it appeared to have moved inside the coffin and blood was present in her heart and veins. Fearing she was a vampire, townspeople removed her heart and burned it on a rock before reburying her. The family dissolved the ashes in medicine and gave it to Edwin, who died two months later.

Modern science may have driven the stake through the heart of local vampire tales but Dracula still grips Rondina's fascination. "I still enjoy the romance of the story, the snappy wardrobe and the bats -- I love bats," Rondina said.

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Posted by Vladimir Sat, 03/24/2007 - 22:55

 

The Other

What is more important
giving her what she wants
or expressing the love
that she knows you feel?

How do you express this love
when the biggest-most important
way to do so is no longer
allowed but is now tabooed?

Why would she fight something
thats a part of me, the person
that she says she loves so much?

She says that she loves me and
I know that its true but than
why wouldn't she want to be with
me so we can both express it to
the other?

Prince Angel
September 13, 2001

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Christopher Lee remains busy

It's difficult to believe that it's been 50 years since Christopher Lee thrilled horror fans with his portrayals of the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Mummy in a memorable series of Hammer Films.

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Shadows

The sun is void
There is no day
Dark cast over the truth
Hidden evils
Once captive now roam
Where the misunderstood
And the outcasts govern
Where the sidewalk ends
And the world is turned
You may never have seen us
But we're so definitely there
Haunting your subconscious
You're not quite aware
But we'll stay in the shadows
In the dark shades
Of what you don't know.

Howling Stars
October 9, 2001

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Vampire Sleuth Stakes Out Rhode Island Bloodsuckers

September 11, 1997 (NEWPORT, R.I./AP) - Rhode Islanders have been guarding themselves for months against mosquitoes infected with a potentially deadly virus, but Christopher Rondina says the state's past is filled with stories of a far scarier bloodsucker: vampires.

read more...

Requiem for a Memory

When I am alone in the night
The velvet darkness reminds me:
Of the whisper-soft touchof your hair,
Of the deep midnight pools of your eyes,
Of your raiment; so like the night itself;
Clinging, cloaking, shielding
With dark mirrors of illusion,
Of the jewels at your throat; jet on ivory.
The images invoked by my memory
Catalysed by the very darkness
We shared.
Your image is engraved upon my eyelids
Inescapable.
I am a prisoner of my memories,
Trapped in a glass box
Like a killing jar,

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