Programming – 2 for 1 Night – and ASFacts:
♣ New Mexico author & Bubonicon friend Benjamin Radford returns for his semi-annual visit! Radford will be talking on Mysterious Menaces and Sinister Syringes: The 2021 Needle Spiking Panic.
♥ Plus we’ll have our club officer elections for moderator, alternator and executive secretary for 2025. Not to mention choosing a “challenge” ingredient or theme for our December 2025 Dessert Cook-Off (or deciding just to have a holiday potluck)…
First up, Benjamin Radford talks on Mysterious Menaces and Sinister Syringes: “In late 2021 a panic swept through the United Kingdom after dozens of people reported being attacked by needle-wielding strangers in bars and nightclubs. Dubbed ‘needle spiking,’ the phenomenon involved alleged injections of unidentified drugs, usually believed to be a powerful sedative. Victims reported feeling sick or passing out, sometimes with associated amnesia, though none claimed to have been otherwise assaulted. Police in Nottinghamshire reported fifteen such incidents in the first three weeks of October, sharing common themes: most of the victims were college-age women; the incidents happened at nightclubs; and usually in college towns. British tabloids splashed lurid headlines warning the public of the terrifying new threat as many took to social media—TikTok in particular—to warn others. Yet investigators found no evidence of the mysterious menaces wielding sinister syringes and no arrests were made. Gradually news reports exhibited skepticism about the attacks, with pharmacologists and criminologists noting their highly unlikely nature and suggesting that ordinary scrapes and unrelated minor injuries were being reinterpreted as evidence of the attacks. Just as the panic waned in the UK it emerged in America, this time in the context of concerts such as Travis Scott’s tragic show in Houston, where several people died. Concerns about needle spiking draw on folkloric themes of phantom attackers (such as Spring Heeled Jack and evil clowns), and similar reports emerged some three decades earlier in New York City amid the AIDS epidemic when rumors circulated of gay men wielding AIDS-infected needles. In each case the perceived threat varied by social context, suggesting elements of a moral panic.”
Radford is author or contributor to over 25 books (such as Mysterious New Mexico and Big-If True: Adventures in Oddity), and has appeared on Good Morning America, MysteryQuest, MonsterQuest, Is It Real? and many other shows.
After Radford is done, we’ll have our annual Club Officer Elections! And choose an ingredient or theme for the December cook-off/party.
Finally, the Halloween issue of ASFacts will be on hand. Deadline for submissions is 6:00 pm Sunday, October 6.
Newcomers are welcome with a $1.00 contribution to help pay our rent…
Remember, no outside food is allowed at St. Andrew. Please be discreet with any candy. Water/soda bottles and lidded beverage cups are permitted.
DOORS OPEN AT 7:15 PM. Enter through the back doors (northside) of church – the courtyard is locked up at 5:00 pm each day. Please do not arrive before 7:15 pm. We have to set up the room ourselves, and straighten/clean-up around 9:50 pm.
- Click for PDF version.
Meeting Location:
ACTIVITY ROOM (west end of building, enter through door on northside of church)
St. Andrew Presbyterian Church
5301 Ponderosa Ave NE
Albuquerque, NM
(First street north of Erna Ferguson Library on San Mateo. Ponderosa is the northern border of Montgomery Park, and intersects with both San Mateo and San Pedro. The street is north of Comanche and south of Montgomery)
Club Contacts:
Craig C/Jesica C. at 266-8905 or Craig