On August 31st of 1944, a man in southern Illinois woke up in the middle of the night to the

smell of something odd.

It wasn't a skunk or that telltale odor of something burning.

This was different.

Mostly because of the acrid, almost venomous nature of the smell, but mostly because of

the effect it had on him.

The man said that the smell left him feeling weak and nauseous and that it induced a violent

fit of vomiting, and his wife didn't fare any better.

She wondered if maybe their gasto was still on, so she tried to get out of bed and go

check on it.

But she couldn't.

In fact, she seemed to be completely paralyzed.

The next day, another resident of the same town reported a similar experience, an odd

smell followed by paralyzing effects.

Day after day, more reports just like those trickled in.

The result, as you might imagine, was group panic and everyone wanted to find the person

responsible.

They called him the mad gasser of Mattoon, and even now, over 70 years later, no one's

really sure what happened.

It's amazing how quickly hysteria can spread, isn't it?

One minute, there's nothing, and the next, an entire community is wrapped up in something

dark and horrifying.

...