[Horror] [Low-Tech] Hearthfires going cold and other Low-Tech spookiness

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

"The calf were born dead, an wi' two heads, milord! T'is witchcraft afoot!"

In winter, deformed babies were often exposed, left to die in the cold. In particularly harsh Scandinavian winters, unwanted infants, even if healthy, might be given this treatment as well, giving rise to stories of vengeful little ghosts called mylings or utburds.

Even in cultures that don't officially stigmatize infanticide, parents are fighting evolutionary imperative to kill their children.
I could easily imagine a Tell-Tale Heart mystery. Someone, usually a poor woman but perhaps a man instead or in addition, hear a soft baby cry in the distance. It's driving them crazy as they ask, then demand others to find the source.
Human nature being what it is, eventually those unaffiliated start to hear it too. And bam, you got yourself a full blown mass hysteria.