HY-001 · 1692
Witch panic · Salem, Massachusetts
The Salem Witch Trials — a courtroom that mistook fear for proof, and hanged 19
Phips dissolved the court, Oct 1692 · Executions
HY-002 · 1990
Satanic panic · Manhattan Beach, California
The McMartin Preschool Trial — seven years, no convictions, lives in ruins
Charges dropped, Jul 1990 · Acquittals
HY-003 · 1954
Anticommunist panic · United States
The Red Scare — a nation hunted disloyalty and ruined the loyal
McCarthy censured, Dec 1954 · Blacklists
HY-004 · 1518
Mass psychogenic illness · Strasbourg
The Dancing Plague of 1518 — a city danced for weeks, then stopped
Faded by September 1518 · Subsided
HY-005 · 1962
Mass psychogenic illness · Bukoba district, Tanganyika
The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic — a contagion of laughter that closed fourteen schools
Faded by 1964, ~18 months on · Subsided
HY-006 · 1944
Mass hysteria · Mattoon, Illinois
The Mad Gasser of Mattoon — a phantom attacker who was never there
Reports ceased ~13 Sep 1944 · Debunked
HY-007 · 1938
Mass hysteria · Halifax, England
The Halifax Slasher — a razor phantom that the victims invented
Waddington confessed, 29 Nov 1938 · Debunked
HY-008 · 1954
Mass delusion · Washington State
The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic — a state that saw old damage and called it an attack
Pitting stopped by 17 Apr 1954 · Subsided
HY-009 · 1985
Moral panic · United States
The Poisoned Halloween Candy Panic — a national fear of a crime that never happened
Best's research, from 1985 · Debunked
HY-010 · 1910
Moral panic · United States
The White Slavery Panic — a phantom conspiracy that wrote itself into federal law
Investigations found no network · Subsided
HY-011 · 1789
Rural panic · France
The Great Fear — a phantom army of brigands that never existed, and a feudal order it helped end
Spent by 6 Aug 1789 · Subsided
HY-012 · 1962
Mass psychogenic illness · United States
The June Bug Epidemic — a factory of bites with no biter, and an insect no one could find
Closed, fumigated, over in days · Debunked
HY-013 · 1790
Phantom-attacker panic · London
The London Monster — a city’s terror, a reward, and a man convicted on doubtful proof
Williams convicted, July 1790 · Subsided
HY-014 · 1995
Mass miracle · India and the Hindu diaspora
The Hindu Milk Miracle — a continent fed milk to stone for a single day
Faded by 22 Sep 1995 · Debunked
HY-015 · 1997
Mass psychogenic illness · Japan
The Pokémon Shock — a four-second flash, then a panic that outgrew it
Days after 16 Dec 1997 · Subsided