SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (WCAX) – We are diving into the darker side of history in the Adirondacks, specifically in Saranac Lake, to explain what connection existed between vampires and tuberculosis patients.
“Halloween is one of those community events where kids just get really excited about,” said Amy Catania, Historic Saranac Lake Executive Director.
As Halloween creeps closer, Historic Saranac Lake’s museum is getting a makeover, blending frightful staples with the area’s storied medical history.
“We have been doing an event called Historic Scare-anac Lake, and it invites the kids in to different crafts and some educational things and some things at Halloween as well,” said Catania.
Among the exhibits is the forgotten tie between vampires and tuberculosis patients hundreds of years ago.
“They would think, ‘Oh, that is a vampire that is sneaking in at night. Our loved one, who has just recently passed away, is coming back and is turning them into vampires, and that is why they are getting paler and thinner because their blood is being taken from them.’ So, there was a whole thing that kind of ripped through the New England states, and it was just a lack of information, a lack of knowledge,” explained Alex Krach, Historic Saranac Lake Public Programs Coordinator.
Here, at Pine Ridge Cemetery, you can learn more about the village’s history by digging deeper into the stories of those who are buried underneath, many of whom were tuberculosis patients.
That includes a headstone remembering the hundreds of sailors who found themselves in the Adirondacks during World War Two.
“Tuberculosis was a common hazard of being on a ship. You are living in close quarters with other people. So, many of the sailors were diagnosed with TB and sent here during the war. They were not able to go home because the Nazis had occupied their country,” said Catania.
Local history, she says, is not just important on Halloween, but year-round.
