Michael Bell

Michael E. Bell is the retired State Folklorist of Rhode Island, with a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University, an M.A. in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA, and a B.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Arizona. He is renowned for his research on New England vampire folklore, authoring books such as *Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires* (2001, enlarged 2011), a BookSense 76 Pick and Lord Ruthven Assembly Award winner, and *Vampire’s Grasp: The Hidden History of Consumption in New England* (2024). Over twenty years, he has tracked vampire legends in cemeteries across southern Rhode Island, northern Connecticut, and Vermont.[1][4][5]