SEASON OF THE WITCH: Carried on the Wind | The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic of 1962

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

In January 1962, uncontrollable laughter seized a girls’ boarding school in Kashasha, Tanganyika, then leapt from classroom to village to village. Over 18 months, waves of giggling fits, tears, fainting, and fatigue shut down 14 schools and afflicted about 1,000 people across a 100-mile region.

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

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Research:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/09/un-moves-malawi-staff-vampire-scare

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/19/malawi-mobs-kill-two-more-people-accused-of-being-vampires

https://africanarguments.org/2017/11/a-symbolic-representation-of-life-behind-malawis-blood-sucking-beliefs/

https://www.equaltimes.org/when-rumours-of-blood-suckers-and

https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-president-crack-down-vampires-witchcraft-after-lynchings/4069571.html

https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-colonialism-fueled-deadly-anti-vampire-hysteria-in-malawi

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again tomorrow!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The Whispering Woods is a UK paranormal storytelling podcast exploring true ghost stories, unexplained mysteries, haunted history and folklore from around the world.

From firsthand paranormal encounters to historical hauntings and centuries-old legends, we bring you atmospheric stories of the strange and unexplained.

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