Lately, I’ve been noticing a rising trend in fungal-themed horror novels, or what some corners of the internet are starting to dub “sporror.” (Get it? Like spores?) Mushrooms and their kin have many characteristics that lend themselves quite well to horror. For one thing, there’s still so much that we don’t know about these organisms—only in the last decade or so have we started to understand the vast mycelium networks that exist unseen beneath the soil, linking miles of forest and providing all sorts of important contributions to the ecosystem. On top of that, mushrooms, molds, and yeasts are strange, almost alien in the way that they defy categorization. They have elements of both plant and animal, and yet are neither. They are also associated with dark, damp, underground spaces and are noted for their role in decomposition. Through the recreational use of psychedelic mushrooms, these organisms have also been linked with the fantastical and surreal, with hallucinatory visions and altered states of mind. There are many poisonous mushrooms that can be fatal to humans, and some of them look deceptively similar to their less toxic brethren. Then there are the parasitic fungi, which can infect and feed off of plants, animals, insects, and humans in often gruesome ways. With so many potentially horrific directions to go in, I think we will only continue to see even more mushroom horror in the future. Below is just a sampling of works that feature frightening fungi:
