At one point in history, a town in Rhode Island was absolutely convinced that vampires existed. A ghost story out of Exeter centers around a young girl named Mercy L. Brown, who many believed was New England's last vampire. According to legend, she left her grave at night and stalked the town, wreaking sickness and death.

The Mercy Brown story is famous well beyond Rhode Island borders. Newspaper stories about her exhumation were found in "Dracula" author Bram Stoker's files, and Mercy is believed to be the inspiration for his Lucy Westenra character. The tale is in the H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Shunned House". You can also read about the incident in Caitlín R. Kiernan's short story "So Runs the World Away", Sarah L. Thomson's young adult novel "Mercy: The Last New England Vampire", and Michael E. Bell's "Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires".

The story of Mercy Brown is a legendary Rhode Island ghost story involving a girl who died when she was only 19 years old.

Her famous grave is located at the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church Cemetery in Exeter.

It begins on a small farm in Exeter in the late 1800's. George Brown was hit hard by an outbreak of consumption (tuberculous) in his family.

First his wife Mary died, then his eldest daughter, Mary Olive succumbed to the illness. Another daughter, Mercy, also became ill.

Mercy died in January of 1892. Since the ground was frozen, she was placed in this crypt on the cemetery grounds.

At the time, belief in vampires was commonplace.

There was a New England vampire panic underway because of the tuberculous outbreak. The panic went on in the late 19th century in Rhode Island, Vermont, and eastern Connecticut.

George's only son Edwin became sick, and the superstition suggested that one of the deceased family members was rising from their graves to suck the life out of the boy.

The townspeople insisted George do something.

He agreed to exhume the bodies of his wife and daughters. Both the Marys were found to be in a proper state of decay.

However, when they checked Mercy's body in the crypt, it was found to be in perfect condition.

They also claimed the body had shifted in the coffin. Not only that, but when the doctor cut her heart out, it dripped blood, the tell-tale sign of a vampire.

The only solution according to vampire lore was to burn the heart of Mercy Brown.

Her heart was then buried, and the rest of her remains were given a proper burial in the spring. The heart's ashes were given to Edwin to drink in an attempt to cure him, but he died 2 months later.

The Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Exeter where the cemetery is located has become a worldwide destination for vampire legend fans.

The church is on the National Register of Historic Places and the cemetery is also known as "Historic Cemetery #22"

The graves of Mercy's mother and father are also at the cemetery.

George wound up outliving his entire family by quite a margin, living until the age of 80.

"Friends of Mercy" come to visit her grave, pay homage, and leave gifts for "New England's Last Vampire" on a regular basis.

OK, so maybe this ghost story isn't so baffling after all. Townspeople got whipped into a vampire frenzy, and freezing temperatures kept the Mercy's from decomposing. But that didn't stop this ghost story from being passed down into Rhode Island legend and worldwide vampire lore. Got any ghost stories of your own? Let us know in the comments.