A few years ago I was reading a historical fiction novel set in the 17th century on my way to work. During a particularly evocative chapter describing a rat infected with the bubonic plague arriving at the city, I raise my eyes from the book and glance out of the bus window... just to see a freaking rat run across the street. I don't think I've even seen a rat in my city till then, though I knew there were some.

Even more chilling? The book I was reading was set in the same city I was at.