Mass psychogenic illness
Subject in Social Sciences
Mass psychogenic illness has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including Morbid. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Ash KelleyCo-host of the true crime podcast Morbid
Kelley compared the Halifax hoaxes to the Salem witch trials and suggested boredom drove people to invent drama.
“It's very similar to the Salem Witch Trials. I think life was fucking boring back then”
Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 50:26
Kelley characterized the Hammersmith Ghost as a solid example of mass psychogenic illness.
“So the Hammersmith ghost is a very solid example of mass psychogenic illness, also known as mass hysteria”
Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 28:25
Alaina UrquhartCo-host of Morbid, autopsy technician and author of the Butcher novels
Urquhart said both cases were interesting because crowds believed something implausible and acted recklessly.
“Just because it's a bunch of people believing something that is unbelievable for us to think of”
Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 51:02
Podcasts
- Morbid · 1 episode
Episodes
Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith GhostMorbid · Jul 20, 2026 · 54 min
Morbid hosts Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart recount two English mass-hysteria cases: the 1803–04 Hammersmith Ghost killing and the 1938 Halifax Slasher panic.