In time, however, the ominously cloaked rustics, perhaps in superstitious fear of that very machinery, had dispersed to their homes and haunts.
* * * * * * * * * *
What Pynchon is saying here is that racist bigots are superstitious hicks who might not just live in houses but also haunts. The definition for a haunt is "a place frequented by a specified person or group of people" such as a Country Club or a Whites Only Restroom. Notice that Pynchon doesn't remark on their economic fears or their nice and engaging qualities which they only show to other people who look, act, and think like them. Also, the use of "superstitious fear" in regards to a strange piece of scientific equipment can also be extrapolated to how they view other things they aren't familiar with, like people of other races or, probably, cats & spiders.
Take that, racists trying to read Pynchon! Do you think that's a thing or do you think racists only read Nietzsche and then only those curated by his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche? Also I'm curious about the things they would brag about reading and not the things that would automatically out them as bigots and racists.
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