Monumental Mysteries

By Mercy’s gravestone.

It is remarkably surreal to see yourself on television–I must report that. I mean, there I was, sitting in the living room, watching myself talk. When you think about it, it’s not supposed to work like that!

But it was actually quite exciting to see what the producers of Monumental Mysteries have done with the story of Mercy Brown. Shot partly at her gravesite in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery and partly at a nearby historical site, this premiere episode (nobody told me I was going to be on the premiere; I’m much relieved that they didn’t, or I would have been even more nervous) does an excellent job of reporting on Mercy’s life, her tragic and macabre death–and what came after.

(I do wish to state for the record that I never said Mercy had turned over in her grave! This tidbit later became part of the legend, but it’s not part of the contemporary accounts.)

MediaLife Magazine called stories covered by the series “briskly presented and usually interesting” and that Mercy’s stories, in particular, has “a satisfyingly gruesome ending, a plausible scientific explanation and a possible connection to the writing of the novel ‘Dracula.'”

Here’s the host, Don Wildman, chatting about his new show and Mercy.