Listen Now: Hysterical
Morbid
07/23/24
•6m
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Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize.
From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, this 7-part series forces us to grapple with the mysteries of our own minds, and reckon with a contagion that we thought was long dead, but may be the defining disorder of our time.
Follow Hysterical on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+ at Wondery.fm/Hysterical_Morbid.
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Previous Episode
Peter Manuel: The Beast of Birkenshaw (Part 2)
July 22, 2024
•57m
When Peter Smart failed to show up for work on the morning of January 6, 1958, officers in Lanarkshire, Scotland were dispatched to Smart’s home to conduct a well-being check. When no one came to the door, the officers forced their way inside, where they found Smart, his wife, and their eleven-year-old son all dead from gunshot wounds to the head. A week later, Peter Manuel was arrested and charged with the murders of the Smart family, but in time the police in Lanarkshire would learn that was only one of Manuel’s horrific crimes.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Birmingham Post and Gazette. 1958. "3 shot dead: no gun found." Birmingham Post and Gazette, January 7: 1.
Coventry Evening Telegraph. 1956. "Three dead in bungalow beds." Coventry Evening Telegraph, September 17: 1.
Daily Record. 1956. "Fifth tee murder." Daily Record, January 5: 1.
—. 1956. "Fifth tee murder: dramatic appeal." Daily Record, January 6: 1.
—. 1957. "Teenager vanishes." Daily Record, December 30: 1.
—. 1958. "Two sensations as trial opens." Daily Record, May 13: 7.
Daily Telegraph. 1958. "1958." Daily Telegraph, May 15: 15.
Evening Sentinel. 1956. "Bloodstains found on bed sheets." Evening Sentinel, September 17: 1.
—. 1957. "Tjhick snow hampers moors hunt." Evening Sentinel, December 11: 1.
Hull Daily Mail. 1957. "Police seek fresh clues in murder mystery." Hull Daily Mail, December 10: 5.
Lundy, Iain. 2007. "Psychopath who brought terror to the west." Evening Times, December 27.
MacLeod, Hector. 2009. Peter Manuel, Serial Killer. Edinburgh, Scotland: Mainstream Books.
Nottingham Evening News. 1956. "Bungalow riddle: two women and girl dead in bed." Nottingham Evening News, September 17: 4.
Silvester, Norman. 2022. The story of Scotland's first known serial killer Peter Manuel. October 10. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23034356.story-scotlands-first-known-serial-killer-peter-manuel/.
The Times. 1958. "Statement on 8 murders." The Times, May 22: 5.
Western Mail. 1958. "Watt denies shooting his wife." Western Mail, May 16: 5.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
Listener Tales 88
July 25, 2024
•73m
Weirdos! It's Listener Tales, and you know what THAT means! it's brought to you BY you, For you, FROM you, and ALLLLL about you! Today, it's Ash's pick and we've got a batch of tales about signs! We have deceased matchmakers, a traumatic birthday, a story about gut feelings, Ghosts that use MORBID to haunt their loved ones, and a grandmother who sends signs for her granddaughter to stop smoking the devils lettuce.
If you’ve got a listener tale please send it on over to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line :)
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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