Sometimes the specifics vanish almost as quickly as they arose, but the addiction to sensation, to fear and fantasy, persists, like a low-grade fever. Now, with the rise of social media, fears and fads and fancies race instantly through entire populations.
In the past, rumor and a rudimentary press coverage could fan the fires. The title page of Cotton Mather’s ‘Wonders of the Invisible World,’ which describes the execution of witches in Salem, Massachusetts.
