Fluid ImaginationFrom Boston Is Losing Its Snow Wicked Fast:
…winters in Boston, and the rest of New England, have gotten decidedly too mild. The northeastern swath of the United States and the ocean waters around it have become two of the world’s fastest-warming places… The result is that New England sees fewer snowstorms, and many of the ones that do still appear are harsher and more prolific than the historical average.
From The Great New England Vampire Panic:
Though scholars today still struggle to explain the vampire panics, a key detail unites them: The public hysteria almost invariably occurred in the midst of savage tuberculosis outbreaks….
“People find themselves in dire situations, where there’s no recourse through regular channels,” [Rhode Island folklorist Michael Bell] explains. “The folk system offers an alternative, a choice.” Sometimes, superstitions represent the only hope, he says.