ST:  It seems that the people of New England, steeped in Puritanical teachings and beliefs would be the last people to initiate a practice of exhuming bodies, and desecrating the dead in such a horrific manner. Where on earth did they learn this practice?

MB: It is significant, I think, that all of the cases in New England took place outside of the Puritan area that included much of Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut. The people in these areas--that included Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and southern Maine--were more open to what today we might call "alternative world views." Divination, dowsing, treasure-seeking, astrology, spiritualism and many other practices often labeled as "magical" or "superstitious" were common and existed alongside of more orthodox religions. People seemed able to reconcile folk and official belief systems. Where this practice came from, and how it arrived in New England, is open to question. I'm still blazing this trail. Identical procedures were employed in Eastern Europe (yes, including Transylvania and Romania!), but the great majority of early New Englanders had their roots in England (which has never had a vigorous vampire tradition). Since there is some variation in the procedures used (burning the heart and ingesting the ashes vs. burning the entire corpse and inhaling the smoke, for example), it is possible that this practice came to several areas of New England at different times and from more than one area of Europe. But I'm convinced the vampire tradition as it was practiced in New England has its roots in Europe.