Popular Superstitions: Vampyrism, Wehrwolves, Witchcraft, Somnambulism, Trances, Mesmerism, The Divining Rod, Ghosts, Catalepsy, Delusions

Herbert Mayo’s Popular Superstitions is a sweeping exploration of the strange beliefs and occult phenomena that haunted both folklore and science. From tales of vampires and werewolves to the mysteries of mesmerism, trances, and ghostly visitations, this work examines the borderland where superstition and reason collide.

Mayo—both physician and scholar—approaches each subject with a mixture of skepticism and fascination, investigating how fear, imagination, and hidden forces shaped the traditions of witchcraft, possession, and supernatural delusions. Yet his clinical eye only deepens the mystery, for many of the phenomena defy simple explanation.

Part occult compendium, part psychological study, Popular Superstitions is a remarkable catalog of mankind’s oldest fears and fascinations—revealing how the unseen world has shaped human history, belief, and dread.

Complete edition of Herbert Mayo’s 19th-century classic

Covers vampires, werewolves, witchcraft, ghosts, trances, mesmerism, and more

A unique blend of folklore, superstition, and early psychological inquiry

Essential for students of occult history, paranormal studies, and gothic lore

To open these pages is to confront the whole gallery of superstition—from the vampire’s thirst to the witch’s curse, from spectral hauntings to the shadows of the mind itself.