21. Bouts of Collective Hysteria About Slashers Occurred All Over the World
Halifax was not alone in falling to mass panic about a slasher, as similar bouts of collective hysteria from around the world demonstrate. For example, the population of Taipei, Taiwan, was terrorized for a fortnight in 1956 by rumors of a crazed slasher roaming the streets. He supposedly sliced people with a razor blade as he brushed past them, then disappeared into the city’s crowds and teeming throngs. About twenty-one victims stepped forward, mostly poor and poorly-educated people from the lower classes.
An example of how rumors helped fuel the mass panic was that of an older Taiwanese gentleman who told police that he had been slashed by a stranger. However, a medical examination revealed that the injury was caused by a blunt object and could not have resulted from a razor. The “victim” then admitted that he did not really know how he had been injured, but assumed that he must have been slashed “because of all the talk going around“.
