The Marshfield Vampire

Almost thirty years ago a guy in a small New England town killed his grandmother, burned her house down, and tried to drink her blood. He claimed he was a 700 year old vampire and that he needed to drink her blood, but that she was a dried up old woman and couldn't give him enough to survive. His name was Jim Riva and I knew him a little. He was the crazy guy who used to collect road kill.

Today he's eligible for parole.

Jim is a prime example of somebody who is, at least in my opinion, completely nuts. I also think he's a prime example of a nut who should stay in the nuthouse. But that doesn't mean I don't feel sympathy, only that I feel concern for public safety. His website once featured bizarre and disturbing artwork. It now contains a rambling and barely coherent personal statement: ( http://www.jamesriva.com/).

Jim spent some of his youth in mental institutions and told his mother for some time that he was a vampire, and that his grandmother was one as well, often feeding from him at night. I know some of Jim Riva's family, and they did try for years to get him help.

I bring it up not just because he is now eligible for parole, but because vampires are such a hot topic now. They weren't when this incident took place, in April of 1980. I had just started high school. Vampires suddenly became very hot in Marshfield. We've always been a little ahead of the curve.

This town is a little bit notorious for ghosts. Penelope Winslow, the daughter-in-law of the first Governor of Massachusetts, has been seen by at least one third of the people I know. (More about Penelope here.) Daniel Webster, who owned all of Green Harbor, was heard riding his horse Traveler all over this area at night until, some years back, the body of that horse was found on the hill above my property. He'd been buried standing up with his saddle on, just as legend said. When the folks who were digging a hole for their pool had Traveler re-interned the sound of hoofbeats stopped. His battle with the Devil was alleged to take place elsewhere. He loved Green Harbor, wrote about her often, and likely faced very few demons here. Though my home sits on his apple orchard and he caught fish in the river behind us. You never know.

Then again I had a horse at the time named Becky who was something of an escape artist, so it may not have been Traveler at all.

Green Harbor, a village of Marshfield, has its share of spooks, haunts, and even vampires. What are the infamous legends of your home town?

For more on Jim Riva:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/vampires/6.html
http://roswell.fortunecity.com/seance/500/killers/riva.html