Local collector Dr. Mervyn King isn’t quite sure how his vampire killing kit crossed the Atlantic. He is certain that it is among the most interesting pieces in his collection of antiquities.
“This kit is very, very old,” King said, later speculating that it could sell at auction for several thousands. This is in contrast to other kits, believed to have been constructed in the 1970s using older materials.
King, who traded a gun for the kit 30 years ago, says his is the real deal.
“They called it a Civil War doctor’s kit,” King said.
At first glance, the kit wouldn’t look out of place in a church — a wooden box decorated with an ornate crucifix. King made an effort to preserve the kit, the contents of which he says dates back to around 1850.
This would put it decades before literary works like Carmilla that reintroduced the very old concept of the blood-sucking ghoul and the juggernaut success of Bram Stoker’s masterpiece.
Vampires, particularly in Europe, were on the brain.
King said that at the time Europeans believed the vampiric population was burgeoning. Many of these cases derived from reports of exhumed bodies or other unusual occurrences, while others were based on rumors.
Across the pond, the 1854 incident in Jewett City, Connecticut, and the Rhode Island Mercy Brown incident of 1892, in which the living exhumed the bodies of suspected vampires, only fueled the panic stateside.
Likening the phenomenon to the witch trials of New England, King said it doesn’t matter if you personally believe in the supernatural if enough people do. King described a period in which the public’s belief in vampires was fueled by a lack of education and unique if occasional violent crimes that echoed themes associated with vampirism.
The vampire killing kits were not supplementary collectibles but practical tools that could kill the living and undead alike.
Inside the vampire kit
The kit is separated into two sections by a tray. Above the tray are items less associated with the paranormal: knives, a crucifix, a small pistol and a tool for reloading. Underneath, though, a different set of items lies hidden. King handled them like Van Helsing showing off the tools of this trade.
He placed the small bottle of what could have once held holy water gently on the table.
Next to it, a mirror to tell the living from the dead.
Last were the sharpened wooden crosses that doubled as stakes.
Each item represents a piece of vampiric lore. The knives, for example, while not made of silver, were branded with small crucifixes. This, according to King, is an important detail. In lieu of silver, branding a weapon with a crucifix was believed to negatively affect vampires far more so than ordinary knives.
King said the kit’s ammunition is made of silver. Perhaps the craftsmen behind the kit were hedging their bets because each pistol pellet is also engraved with a cross.
King said that education and the spread of literacy are largely to blame for the end of vampire panic. The mystique of the vampire as a pop culture figure remains.
King said there are a number of things that can’t necessarily be explained but are still impactful. The continued popularity of vampires in pop culture speaks to the hold this figure has on the public and why things like vampire hunting kits can exist.
“People are prone to their vivid imaginations,” King said.
King’s vampire hunting kit is a testament to that.