In the late summer of 1944, a quiet Illinois town was suddenly thrown into fear.

Residents woke up paralyzed in their beds.

A sweet, chemical smell drifted through open windows.

And sightings of a shadowy figure sparked a panic that swept through Mattoon for nearly two weeks.

Was someone really creeping through neighborhoods with a homemade gas sprayer?

A factory chemist?

A disguised prowler?

A local eccentric?

Or did the town accidentally create a phantom out of fear, wartime anxiety, and a few strange coincidences?

In this episode, we dive into the real eyewitness accounts, the suspects the town whispered about, and how the Mad Gasser of Mattoon became one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in Midwestern history.

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About the show

Kat Has Questions is a curiosity-driven podcast about real stories that sound unreal — from unsolved crimes and strange history to the quietly weird corners of human behavior.

New episodes every week.

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Sources & Further Reading

- “Mad Gasser of Mattoon” — Wikipedia: overview of events, timeline, and common theories
- Belt Magazine: “Looking Back at the Mad Gasser of Mattoon — A Case of Mass Hysteria”
- Atlas Obscura: “Airing Out the Mystery of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon”
- University of Illinois Library: Historical summary and WW2-era context
- Eastern Illinois University (EIU) Archives: Newspaper clippings, victim list, and contemporary reporting
- Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology (1945): Early academic analysis identifying mass hysteria patterns
- Historian blogs and Illinois folklore sites discussing the Kearney incident, suspects, and local oral history

🎵 Music: “Scrunchy” by Night Drift

Licensed by Uppbeat

License code: CAHWZR9T33BFXDNY

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Contact

📩 ⁠kathasquestionspod@gmail.com⁠

Instagram: @KatHasQuestions

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