Monday, October 31, 2016

Vampires, Ghosts, and Witches

It's Halloween, so what better time to look for stories of ghosts, goblins, and haunted houses in Waterbury? Here's what I've been able to find so far.


Baby Vampire?

The New-York Gazette reported a bizarre story on September 10, 1770: "We hear from Waterbury, that a Woman of that Town, who in the fourth or fifth Month of her Pregnancy, was taken with a most violent Longing to eat the Flesh from her husband's Arms---he indulged her in making several Attempts, but her Teeth were not sufficient for her Purpose;---and her accountable Longing continued until her Deliver, which was about three Weeks ago. The infant refusing the Breast, or any other Sustenance usually given to Infants, it was offered the raw Flesh of a Fowl, cut fine and dipt in the Fowl's Blood; on which it has fed heartily every Day since its Birth, and is the only Food the Child has taken, till a few Days since, when it eat a little Milk mixt with Blood."