There was an omnipresent sense of crisis.

What is superstition , but misguided, unobjective science? And when it comes down to that, is it to be wondered if people grasp at superstition in this rotten, hate-filled, half-doomed world of today? Lord knows, I'd welcome the blackest of black magic, if it could do anything to stave off the atom bomb.

A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.

There was an omnipresent sense of crisis.

Of course, if you assume a big enough conspiracy, you can explain anything, including the cosmos itself.

What was life worth, anyway, if you had to sit around remembering not to mention this, that, and the other thing because someone else might be upset?

There are vampires and vampires, and not all of them suck blood.