Fatal Fungi - Mushrooms, Mold, and Fungus in Horror
There’s the romantic notion that when we meet our end and we’re laid in the ground to rest, our bodies will be broken down and returned to the Earth. Continuing a never ending and eternal circle of life, death, and rebirth. After a lifetime of consuming, it’s now our turn to be consumed and return all of that energy and nutrients back to the planet. But if we really dig into the details of that process and look closely at the organisms that lay claim to our bodies once we’re done with them things can begin to feel unsettling, disturbing, and even horrifying.
The Engines of Decomposition
Decomposition is a pretty complicated process and I am in no way an expert but I’ll do my best to provide a quick breakdown of how the breakdown happens. Once any organic material is ready for decomposition, the FBI are called in to get to work. And by FBI I mean Fungi, Bacteria, and invertebrates (like worms and insects). This power trio starts to break down the material into smaller pieces and in the process create new compounds Fungi are able to break down complex organic material like carbohydrates and proteins by secreting enzymes. In this process they only absorb a small amount of the energy and nutrients that’s released, leaving the majority that remains free to be absorbed by surrounding soil, air, and water. There’s a lot more involved when it comes to decomposition but for our purposes that should be enough to get us started.
Invasion of the Body Reclaimers
Part of the terror of mushrooms and fungus in horror comes from the idea that these seemingly invasive organisms can grow from our own bodies. The betrayal of our flesh handing itself over to be used as fuel for alien invaders. The spore growth acts as a reminder of our impending mortality and of nature counting down the days until it can reclaim our bodies that we were graciously given on loan.
Fungal horror shares a lot of its DNA with body horror. The real world power of fungi to break down organic matter and transform it into something else is the perfect petri dish to serve up mutilation, mutation, and manipulation. The massive success of The Last of Us games and TV show demonstrate how much that fear resonates with us. The fictional cordyceps from that franchise are similar to a real life species of cordyceps (a species of fungus) that can infect and mind control insects. As the dominant species on the planet, humans feel a false sense of security when it comes to the dangers of smaller threats like this. Sometimes all it takes is a tiny patch of invisible black mold hidden in a wall or ingesting the wrong kind of mushroom to strike you down and hit you with some humility. A reminder of how fragile we can be in the grand scope of the natural world. Just because we are the current dominant species, doesn’t mean we always will be. Fungus has been around for nearly a billion years and will continue to reduce, reuse, and recycle the organic matter of the planet long after we’ve pushed it past the threshold of being able to support us.
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan
“She remembered the courtyard between the four towers, kids kicking soccer balls as hard as they could at each other, cookouts before the weather got too hot each summer, the sound of Alma’s brother screaming as someone pumped a shotgun into his chest and left him spluttering in the center of the grass, a dying star.”
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan takes place in the near-future in Toronto, Canada. It portrays a bleak and dystopian society that isn’t so far away from our current situation - it feels less like a Blade Runner type setting and more like a Black Mirror scenario. This book is a creature feature where ultimately the true monster is climate change, capitalism, and landlords. The fact that this horror story takes place in a future we’re heading towards makes it even scarier.
The story starts by introducing us to the current state of society and more specifically Toronto, a large and populous city in which corporations and the gig economy have infiltrated pretty much every aspect of people’s lives. We are also introduced to “The Marigold”
The Marigold is a tall and looming condo tower. One of the last buildings constructed that represents luxury and wealth. Built as more of a status symbol than actually providing quality housing. Stanley Marigold saw to the completion of this tower and did it as a true capitalist - cutting all the corners he could and only concerning himself with making sure the building itself holds up as an investment to hold his money.
Even though the Marigold tower looks golden from the outside there is a toxic mold that is slowly infesting and climbing up the tower. It’s quickly revealed that the mold isn’t your typical black mold; somehow it’s able to manipulate its victims by communicating telepathically and exploiting their fears, desires, and insecurities. Once people are lured in and close enough to the mold, some body-horror shenanigans ensue which are all very sudden, violent, and fairly horrifying.
There are several main point of view characters; a health inspector named Kathy, a rideshare driver nicknamed Soda, a 13 year old girl named Henrietta who finds herself exploring tunnels under the city, and of course the owner of the Marigold himself, Stanley Marigold.
Each of these characters discover the toxic mold in their own horrifying way and as they investigate it from their own angles they reveal a corporate conspiracy that has been covered up for as long as construction and development records go back. All of this is happening with the backdrop of unpredictable weather from climate change, constant corporate surveillance, and a canyon sized wealth gap making the lives of everyday people more difficult by the hour.
Stanley Marigold is trying to start construction on a second luxury skyscraper and the price to get that process started is literally humans as capital. Even though the existing tower is rotting from the inside due to the deadly mold that is beginning to seep up from the ground and streets around the city - the corporate greed of Stanley and the shareholders can’t be bothered by it.
That’s all that I’ll say about the basic premise and set up of the story. The narrative of The Marigold is a vast and complicated web of interconnected storylines that brush against each other but ultimately leads to destruction, corruption, and disaster. Capitalism and corporate greed are the true villains in this story and how their unending drive for growth and profits destroyed the environment. Sentient mold and fungus are horrors grown from the Earth itself as retribution for the damage done to the planet. Almost as if the fungus is saying “alright, you had your chance and you really made a mess of things. It looks like we’ll have to get back in the driver's seat for a while.”
Mellow Mushrooms
Humans have had a long relationship with psychedelics. Many cultures in many countries in many different periods of time have all had their own ceremonies, stories, and rituals involving mind altering substances. Evidence of psilocybin mushrooms being used in religious and spiritual ceremonies can be found throughout human history. The Aztecs often consumed a species of psilocybin mushrooms they called teōnanācatl (Te-Oh-Nah-Nah-Cah-Toh), which translates to God’s flesh or divine flesh. It’s said that they were served at the coronation of their ruler Moctezuma II in 1502. Rock art that dates back to nearly 10,000 BCE has been discovered in Algeria that historians believe depicts psychedelic mushrooms and the transformation the user experienced while under their influence.
The visual and auditory hallucinations experienced after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms have long been considered mystical, spiritual, and religious. This interpretation is still valid in modern times - we may be tempted to roll our eyes at the college freshman who won’t stop talking about how his latest mushroom trip changed his life, but if we look past the jam bands and birkenstock sandals there is some truth there. I can admit that I might have felt like I had an Earth shattering realization or two when I was younger and on a mushroom fueled spiritual journey.
Now that we’ve talked about the spiritual and mystical side of magic mushrooms, here’s a quick rundown of the nuts and bolts and chemistry behind how the magic happens. Psilocybin and psilocin are psychedelic tryptamines and they have similar molecular structures to serotonin. Serotonin regulates our moods, sleep cycles, and stress-coping mechanisms. Because of their similarity, psilocin activates the same receptors in the brain that serotonin activates and more specifically a receptor site known as 5HT2A (not a very catchy name). This receptor mediates things like mood, imagination, learning, and perception.
Psilocin sits into these receptors and activates them which produces the “trip” of magic mushrooms. There has also been recent research that shows psilocin has an effect on a part of the brain known as the Default Mode Network or DMN. A very basic explanation is that our DMN’s are essentially the brain’s main information highways, they act as consolidation centers and compile information quietly in the background. They also allow us to manipulate time in our minds, giving us the ability to think back to the past as well as think and plan into the future. Psilocin temporarily disables some of the DMN’s connector hubs. This shutdown forces our brain to find new ways to connect with the different parts of itself. With the main highway shut down, the brain essentially has to create detours along more scenic back roads.
But imagine that while you’re enjoying the sights and sounds of the road less traveled you make a different kind of connection? Instead of discovering new ways of thinking and connecting with different parts of yourself, you make a connection to a different reality or plane of existence. And while you’re there you even connect with people who have long left our plane of existence behind.
Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman
“Other animals sense danger and the need for self-preservation, but we’re the only ones who know death is coming. We know it’s there, always there, just waiting for us.”
What if you could take a drug that gave you the ability to see and speak with the ghosts of your loved ones who have passed away? How addictive do you think a high like that would be, and do you think the potential side effects would be worth it? And how would you feel about having some white guilt sprinkled in?
“Ghost Eaters” by Clay Mcleod Chapman answers these questions and more in horrifying detail. The book centers around four friends; Erin, Tobias, Amara, and Silas - Erin being our main protagonist. The book opens with the four friends tripping on acid in a famous cemetery in Richmond, VA called Hollywood Cemetery. This section sets up the fun and spooky mood and also establishes that Silas is the wild one of the group and overall the mastermind getting them into shenanigans. There is a pretty intense encounter that happens during this opening which I think foreshadows the rest of the story perfectly. The narrative starts to pick up shortly after they have graduated college and are all trying to navigate that weird aimless era that is your mid 20’s. Working part time jobs and trying to figure out what to do with your life. We find out that Silas has let his carefree “I want to experience everything life has to offer” attitude land him in rehab, and not for the first time. Erin and Silas have been intensely on and off again since college which leads her to helping him escape rehab. This encounter sets into motion the introduction of a drug called Ghost that lets you see the spirits of those who have died.
This is a good time to talk about the setting of the novel. “Ghost Eaters” takes place in Richmond, VA - which happens to be the city that I live in! Clay Mcleod Chapman is a Richmond native, born and raised, and several of the locations in the book are based on real places and areas in the city. This isn’t a critique of the book in any way and it’s more of a personal experience I had reading it but since I’m so familiar with the setting it was a little distracting at first; there’s a bar the characters visit that I used to play open mics at and they actually walk through the neighborhood that I live in during one section. So instead of using my mind to paint a picture while reading, I found myself trying to locate and recreate the streets in my head.
Anyways, the setting of Richmond is important because the drug, Ghost, lets you see ghosts and under controlled circumstances you can be guided to reunite with your loved ones. But it also enables you to pretty much see all ghosts and if you’re familiar with Richmond then you know not only is the city haunted in general but it’s also haunted by its history. Richmond, VA was the capital of the confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. Now the city is a mecca of breweries, art school hipsters, live music, and beautiful murals on the side of every building. But just underneath the murals you can still see Richmond’s history that’s steeped in racism, prejudice, and class division. I think the book does a great job at exploring these themes; for example we find out that Erin is actually from an extremely well off family; her parents live in an area of Richmond where the McMansions are located and it’s heavily implied she comes from a long line of southern wealth. If there is a white family in Richmond who has held on to wealth for generations then it’s a pretty safe bet to assume they amassed that money through the use of slavery.
I think following Erin and looking through this lens the book explores white guilt by literally making it confront the ghosts of its past. At one point Erin is high on the drug, Ghost, and she is roaming the streets of Richmond. Beyond the horror of seeing disfigured ghosts roaming the streets she is able to recognize the ghosts of not just african americans but also ghosts of indigenous peoples. Before Richmond was colonized the area was home to several indigenous people, one of the larger tribes being the Powhatan tribe. Part of what makes these encounters more horrific is it not only describes seeing ghosts that look like they are still suffering from the way in which they were killed but it also reminds of us of the real life history and terror these people were subjected to as their homes and families were ripped away from them; by the white colonists. And they are still in Richmond, stuck haunting the city and the streets. I think the book explores white guilt in an interesting way by implying that these ghosts have always been in the city streets but most people just aren’t able or willing to see them.
Other themes explored in the book are death and the process of letting go of your loved ones as well as addiction. The book itself isn’t terribly scary, there are some disturbing sections and striking descriptions but nothing that will keep you up at night or sleeping with the lights on. Some of the horror that shines through comes from the effects that the drug Ghost has on people. It’s revealed to be incredibly addictive - I mean it allows you to see your dead friends and family again so who wouldn’t be tempted to use it all the time. I can see some serious parallels of the drug Ghost with the real life opioid epidemic; how seemingly normal and everyday people can get trapped and spiral down the funnel of addiction. For people struggling with addictions of all kinds it can seem like a ghost that’s haunting them in the background probably for the rest of their lives.
In this story mushrooms play a role in the plot by being a component used to create the drug, ghost. In the previous book we discussed, mold and fungus was a reactive aggressor; a monster sent to hunt down the protagonists of that story. In Ghost Eaters the characters are willingly consuming the drug and mushrooms. They are chasing a high and chasing a connection from another world that they can’t seem to find in ours.
Hidden Rot
There’s a disease that affects trees, woody plants, palms, succulents, ferns, and other herbaceous plants. This disease can remain hidden, causing unseen damage that can occur for a period of months or even years. The disease is called Armillaria Root Rot. The disease is caused by a fungus named Armillaria or more commonly known as Oak Root Fungus. The fungus attacks and kills the vascular cambium (the tissue that generates bark and wood) in woody roots and eventually can spread to the main stem. This damages the base of the trunk, killing the entire tree. Armillaria destroys the strength of the wood in roots and at the base of infected tree trunks which increases the chance of tree failure.
The armillaria fungus has a dual nature. It is both a pathogen (something that invades a system and causes disease) and a saprobe (a decomposer that feeds on dead and decaying organic matter). It almost feels like the most optimum situation for the fungus is to slowly kill small pieces of a tree, then feed on the dead matter and then repeat as needed. Drawing out this process ensures the fungus has a steady supply of nutrients and a place to grow. The tree continues to live but its health begins to deteriorate. Small things in the beginning. Maybe less leaves and fewer new branches one year, maybe the color isn’t quite right during the spring bloom. Regardless of the damage being done beneath the surface the tree continues to press on the best it can. Existing in a state of living death until eventually the fungus has taken everything it has to offer and the tree finally falls.
There are many parallels we can make between Armillaria root rot and the plethora of hidden diseases and illnesses a person can be inflicted with. Cancer is an obvious one. Something small and unseen starts to grow deep within a body. Going undetected for years in some cases until it can’t be ignored any longer. The discovery of the disease violently bringing into focus all of the minor and gradual health changes over the past few years. Maybe the changes presented themselves as minor aches and pains or maybe you had caught a cold more times than usual.
What if the fungus and rot could infect more than just physical bodies? What if the rot could lay claim to an entire family line, making the entire lineage sick but dependent on it. The rot decomposing and feeding off of their souls and the roots of the family tree. Binding itself and the family to a never ending cycle of a blighted life, death, and rebirth.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
“The world might indeed be a cursed circle; the snake swallowed its tail and there could be no end, only an eternal ruination and endless devouring.”
Both old houses and old money can have a lot to hide. A once wealthy and powerful family on their last leg is doing everything they can to rekindle the flame of their family name, even if that means sacrificing those they deem beneath them.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia takes place in 1950’s Mexico. It’s a slow-burn reimagining of the classic gothic horror novel using the tried and true setting of an isolated and decrepit mansion in the Mexican countryside. Our protagonist, Noemi, is enjoying life as a socialite in Mexico City when she receives a strange and cryptid letter from her cousin. Her cousin was recently married and left home to live with her new husband's family in the country. The letter says that her cousin has fallen ill but it is also rambling with hints of madness and cries for help. Noemi sets off to see to her sick cousin and see if she needs to be rescued.
Noemi arrives at a decrepit mansion on a hill, surrounded by fog. A house given the name High Place and a house none of the local villagers dare to visit. Noemi’s in-laws are strange and slightly hostile towards her, but they allow her to see her cousin. The longer Noemi stays at High Place the more she begins to suspect the family is hiding something and hurting her cousin. She investigates the history of the house and the family, discovering a horrible secret they have been hiding in their bloodline for generations.
This book tackles some really interesting themes like colonialism, sexism, and female independence. The family that Noemi’s cousin marries into are European, they came to Mexico and opened a silver mine. They see the local Mexicans as beneath them even though they relied on them to work the mines, taking the country's natural resources for their own gain. They reluctantly allowed their son to marry Noemi’s cousin (a Mexican woman) because they had no other choice if they wanted to continue their bloodline. Noemi is a socialite and the only expectation that is placed on wealthy young women of the time is to enjoy leisure activities while looking for a husband. Noemi has decided she doesn’t want to rely on a husband and has decided to dedicate her time to studying anthropology at a university. She also is constantly challenging the highly patriarchal household of High Place. The patriarch of her in-laws is used to being unchallenged but when Noemi shows up she constantly pushes back against the sexist rules and customs of the house.
Mushrooms do play an important role in this book but I won’t say exactly how so I don’t give too much away. They do fit nicely into the genre of gothic horror - rot and decay hidden in the corners of a once nice estate. Time takes its toll on structures and families, leaving them broken down, weathered, and damp. The perfect breeding ground for fungus.