Hot steams are lost, wandering ghosts who still have some sort of business to take care of on earth. They are restless spirts who, according to Jem, can suck the soul out of you. Jem tells Dill about hot steams and teaches him the rhyme, "Angel bright, life in death; get off the road, don't suck my breath,” to ward off the phantoms who walk in the imaginations of the children in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird has many southern sayings and superstitions in it. The superstition that it is a “sin to kill a mockingbird” drives the title and major theme concerning the innocence of its characters. Perhaps the one person in the story who is surrounded most by rumors and superstitions is Boo Radley. He is blamed for freezing azaleas, peeping in windows, and eating squirrels. Children, like Scout, Jem, and Dill, always have scary stories and superstitions whether they are about “Bloody Mary” or “hot steams.”
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