A walk through the woods near Manayunk turned into a terrifying ordeal for 16-year-old Mary Schulz in the spring of 1895.
What began as a simple drink from a running stream became, in Mary’s mind, a death sentence. After her companion spotted a spider on the water, Mary became convinced she had swallowed it, and no amount of reasoning could persuade her otherwise.
The fear took hold with such force that within days she was refusing food, losing sleep, and wasting away…