Column: In our increasingly technological world, why do humans so love the supernatural?

Logic, science and common sense have blazed the trail to humankind’s triumphs. But oh, how we love to wander off that bright path toward the campfire shadows, to hear legends of things that go bump in the night. The mysterious and the implausible — from bizarre tales that gained traction in the 2016 presidential campaign, to macabre old legends of the supernatural — are irresistible. Each month, more than 2.5 million people tune into Aaron Mahnke’s podcast “Lore.” He drills far into the factual origins of unsettling tales of vampires, lost adventurers, premature burials, spiritual powers, spectral sightings, dream coincidences and witchery. This year, “Lore” is being adapted into an Amazon TV anthology series, bringing the visual to the aural. Mahnke muses about how humans always believe that a good scare is a good idea.

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