Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong
Episode: The True Folklore Behind Midsommar
Date: December 8, 2025

Overview:

In this chilling episode, host Heidi Wong delves into the disturbing true folklore and real-life events that inspired Ari Aster’s 2019 horror film Midsommar. She explores the terrifying power of groupthink, shared delusions, and mass hysteria, connecting folklore like the Swedish “Horgalåten” (the devil's tune) to historical cases where entire communities descended into madness. Wong draws compelling parallels between the fictional horrors of cult rituals and the far more unsettling reality that, sometimes, collective belief alone is enough to spark true horror.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Midsommar: Horror in Broad Daylight

• Plot Recap & Main Themes

  • The film follows Dani, grieving after a family tragedy and emotionally abandoned by her boyfriend Christian, as she joins his grad school friends on a trip to a rural Swedish commune, the Harga.
  • Initially idyllic—"rolling green hills, flower crowns, traditional folk costumes" [03:16]—the setting quickly turns sinister.
  • Communal meals, “special tea” (secretly dosed with hallucinogens), and increasingly bizarre, macabre rituals underscore the community’s chilling unity and the power of collective belief to warp reality.

• Quote:

  “They eat communal meals, drink special tea and participate in dances. It’s all very wholesome and picturesque, but that special tea? Yeah, it’s drugged… Their perception of reality gets increasingly warped as the days go on.” – Heidi Wong [03:47]

• The May Queen and the Price of Belonging

  • Dani is eventually crowned May Queen, the apotheosis of her absorption into the Harga—culminating in the sacrifice of the outsiders, including Christian, to the commune’s rituals.

• Quote:

  “Dani watches it all happen with a smile on her face… This isn’t a feel good moment.” – Heidi Wong [05:01]

2. The Real Folklore Behind the Horror: Horgalåten, Dancing with the Devil

• Folktale Overview

  • Horgalåten ("the devil's fiddle" or "the hare's tune"): A story of young Swedes at a midsummer party being enchanted by a devilish fiddler and literally dancing themselves to death.

• Notable Tale Variations

  • Outcomes include the dancers’ heads found rolling on the floor, bodies turned to stone, or simply dropping dead from exhaustion.

• Quote:

  “The devil keeps playing. The sun rises and still they dance... The only thing left of the dancers is their heads, which are rolling around on the floor in time to the music.” – Heidi Wong [06:55]

• Purpose & Fear

  • Deeply rooted in 16th-17th century Scandinavian folklore, these stories acted as cautionary tales during potentially dangerous pagan celebrations—warning against losing oneself to the group or the ecstasy of the moment.

• Connection to Midsommar:

  • The film channels the fear that too much participation, too much surrender to the group's rhythm, can destroy the individual.

3. Dancing Plagues and Mass Hysteria: When Folklore Becomes Reality

• Historical Case: Strasbourg Dancing Plague of 1518

  • A woman, Frau Trofea, began compulsively dancing in the street; within weeks, hundreds joined, some reportedly dancing to their deaths.

• Vivid Descriptions:

  • “This was frantic, desperate, uncontrollable motion... She reportedly begged onlookers for help while her body kept moving.” – Heidi Wong [10:48]

• Potential Explanations:

  • Medical theories ranged from ergot poisoning (hallucinogenic fungus on grain), physical ailments, to psychological causes.

• Most Accepted Theory:

  • Mass psychogenic illness, aka mass hysteria—where psychological stress manifests as a contagion of physical symptoms and behaviors.

• Connection:

  • The Harga’s unity and mimicked emotions (e.g., their collective wailing with Dani) echo real-life outbreaks where individual identity gets subsumed by the group.

• Quote:

  “That’s the terrifying power of mass hysteria, that the group can literally override your sense of self…” – Heidi Wong [15:36]

4. The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: America’s Phantom Panic

• Case Recap:

  • In 1944 Illinois, widespread reports of a mysterious figure spraying paralyzing gas through open windows sparked mass panic, intense police investigations, and nightly patrols.

• Symptom Consistency:

  • Victims described being paralyzed, smelling sweet gas, and seeing a fleeing intruder—yet no evidence or chemical residue was ever found.

• Turning Point:

  • Suggestion of mass hysteria by authorities led to outrage—then, when belief began to wane, reports abruptly stopped.

• Quote:

  “Mass hysteria doesn’t mean people are lying… Their brains are genuinely creating physical symptoms in response to fear and suggestion.” – Heidi Wong [21:19]

• Psychological Insight:

  • Continues the theme that collective beliefs—especially under stress—can override reason and fabricate intensely real experiences.

5. Other Modern Examples: The Contagion of Belief

• Workplace Hysterias (1962 South Carolina factory), School Outbreaks (2011 LeRoy, NY), and the Salem Witch Trials

  • All marked by unexplained shared symptoms, vivid anecdotes, and a search for scapegoats that revealed more about group fears than reality.

• Quote:

  “In Midsommar, the visitors… are isolated, drugged, and surrounded by people who all believe the same things. A stressed pressure cooker. That’s when reality starts to blur.” – Heidi Wong [24:10]

• Philosophical Conclusion:

  • These anecdotes and films alike show the danger of losing oneself in the group:

    “That’s the terrifying thing about mass hysteria… your brain can be convinced of almost anything when everyone around you believes it too.” – Heidi Wong [24:52]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Don’t let yourself get so caught up in the celebration that you lose control.” – Heidi Wong [08:28]
• “Mass hysteria is like that, but cranked up to 11, and instead of yawns, it’s uncontrollable dancing…” – Heidi Wong [14:11]
• On Dani’s arc: “She ends up crowned as the May Queen, smiling as her boyfriend burns alive. Completely absorbed into the Harga’s commune’s twisted worldview, she’s lost herself entirely. But that’s what’s really scary—how happy she looks.” – Heidi Wong [25:44]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:16] — Midsommar film recap and analysis
• [06:31] — Horgalåten (“the devil’s fiddle”) folktale
• [10:19] — The Strasbourg dancing plague
• [13:20] — Theories of mass psychogenic illness
• [17:32] — The Mad Gasser of Mattoon
• [23:08] — Modern examples of mass hysteria (factories, schools, Salem witch trials)
• [24:52] — Synthesis: Midsommar and the horror of groupthink

Conclusion

Heidi Wong’s episode entwines folklore, historical accounts, and psychological insights to uncover the real horror behind Midsommar: the ease with which collective belief and shared trauma can drive people to lose themselves—and their morality—in service of the group. Midsommar doesn't just draw on the macabre; it reveals the primal terror of surrendering reason to the crowd, of losing authentic selfhood, and of finding comfort in delusion when reality is too painful to bear.

If you enjoyed this unpacking of reality and legend, be sure to tune in next week—and watch out next time the party goes too late.