His breath was heavy. Heart pounding as he ran through the darkness with his boots thumping on the wet grass. He dodged the stones and markers barely illuminated by the pale moon. In his left hand he clutched the ring, squeezing so hard it almost cut the flesh of his palm. Through the gate he pushed on, not stopping as he ran from street to street occasionally glancing over his shoulder. Now, up the front stairs of his home. Down the hall and into his bedroom slamming the door behind him. Jumping into bed, he put the ring on his finger and pulled the covers over his head.
He had done it on a dare. Breaking into the crypt. Seeing the decomposed body. Taking the ring off the corpse's finger as a souvenir to prove he had been there.
The next morning his friends came by to see the ring. His mother told them he wasn't awake yet. She went down the hall, opened the bedroom door, and screamed. On the bed lay her son, face contorted in a look of extreme terror. His eyes were frozen wide as if they'd seen something horrible. And the blood on the sheets from where the ring and his finger were torn from his hand.
This is only one of the many stories connected with what is known as the Vampire Crypt, an ominous, dark mausoleum located in Erie, PA.
Built into a hillside in Erie Cemetery, the mausoleum sits alone and could be easy to miss depending on the direction you're coming from. Look for the DO NOT ENTER sign on your way to section 19. You can park your car and walk up the curved road lined on the right with a thicket of trees until the mausoleum comes into view on your right. Or, drive in the opposite direction and loop your way up and around until you see the crypt on your left.
Some say the legend started with a Romanian businessman who owned the crypt. After he died and was interred, bodies began turning up around the area, drained of blood and bearing bite marks on their necks.
Another story says the crypt was blackened by devil worship and fire. Then there's the man who tried to rid the cemetery of the mausoleum and anyone who might be in it by attempting to burn it down. Others think it has just darkened over time.
There is no name on the crypt. It has been chiseled away leaving only the flourish of a "V" above the door. Or, is it a bat?
The name registered with the cemetery is Brown, but no one by that name is interred there. The crypt supposedly contains the remains of seven members of the Goodrich family. Their last burial was in the late 1800s.
The answers to this mystery may never be known. Will the legends go on creating thrills, chills and questions for each new generation?
If you travel to Erie Cemetery to seek out the Vampire Crypt, beware and take care. Urban legends may be just that, but there's always the possibility that some type of ghoul could rise in the night looking for you
My advice? Bring along a snack. You never know if someone or something just might be looking for a "bite."
@ 2022 Christine Shephard Photography
No portion of this article or copyrighted photos may be used without express written consent from Christine Shephard Photography.
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