A colorful history of popular delusions

Rumor and gossip : "psssst"

Fads : the next big thing

Crazes : going overboard

Manias : "what ardently we wish, we soon believe"

Urban legends : living folklore

Stampedes and panics

Anxiety hysteria : the power of sudden fear

Classical mass hysteria : psychological gremlins

Immediate community threats : defending the homeland

Moral panics : imagining our worst fears

Riots : the breakdown of social order

Small group panics : people who scared themselves

Postscript : lessons to heed.