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Gnome Anne May Perceive Me@annethegnome · Oct 8, 2024

tysm for asking HERE IS MY LIST OF MUSHROOMS THAT ARE SCARIER THAN CHICKEN OF THE WOODS for all your Infected design…

12 tweets1 min read♥ 234Koriginal

Summary

A thread showcasing creepy and visually striking mushroom species including Devil's Fingers (which smells like corpses), Bleeding Tooth fungus (with red droplets), Earthstars (puffing spores), Dead Man's Fingers (zombie-like appearance), and bioluminescent Ghost Fungus. The author explains why these would be perfect for horror/infected designs despite not being particularly dangerous.

Summarized by ThreadOut AI from the full thread. May miss nuance — read the thread below.

  1. #1

    tysm for asking HERE IS MY LIST OF MUSHROOMS THAT ARE SCARIER THAN CHICKEN OF THE WOODS for all your Infected design needs 🧟‍♂️🍄 Starting STRONG with Clathrus Archeri, Devil's Fingers. This lil stinker smells like dead bodies to attract insects that help disperse its spores! 🧵

    possum faerie@i_am_remy_bot · Oct 7, 2024

    @annethegnome can you please give us your top five scary zombie shrooms?

  2. #2

    It's closely related cousin, Clathrus ruber or Red Cage fungus. Both these friends "hatch" from "eggs" (grow from white spherical bases) that is full of green spore-bearing slime (called gleba)☺️ This friend ALSO smells like rotting meat.

  3. #3

    Since we're talking gore, let's check in with hydnellum peckii, the Bleeding Tooth fungus! It "bleeds" bright red guttation droplets that actually has anticoagulant properties similar to heparin! Underneath, it has teeth instead of gills 🦷🦷 Cute!

  4. #4

    Next, ink caps! This is a family that contains a bunch of cool mushrooms that turn to black ink as they age (or after they are picked). Some have a toxin called coprine that stops you from beign able to metabolize alcohol (but shaggy manes don't). And the ink is useable!

  5. #5

    This cutie is geastrum triplex, or the Collared Earthstar. These lil guys look like star-shaped cookies and puff out spores if they are disturbed. A lot of mushrooms do this (including the hat thrower mushroom, which is the fastest accelerating organism on earth!).

  6. #6

    Xylaria polymorpha, or dead man's fingers, is the most zombie-looking mushroom -- it can look like a dead hand emerging from the ground! Maybe a little too on the nose? It often grows in clusters of multiple "digits", and has a weird scaly texture. Neat!

  7. #7

    Bonus: bioluminescent mushrooms that grow green in the dark, like the ominously-named Ghost Fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis). It doesn't look too exceptional when the lights are on, but imagine the lights going out and there's just a creepy green shine on your bud's skin? 😱

  8. #8

    Realistically, I know they didn't use these mushrooms because many of them don't look mushroom-y enough, and it would read as fungal in the zombie design, but I still think they are cool! None of these mushrooms are particularly poisonous or dangerous, just creepy looking.

  9. #9

    And if you're thinking "but what mushrooms DID they use the design?" GOOD NEWS! I already wrote a thread about that! Here you go!

    Gnome Anne May Perceive Me@annethegnome · Feb 25, 2023

    Mushroom zombies! 🍄🧟‍♀️ Let's talk about #TheLastofUs #tlou and these spooky boys, their character design, and their real-world counterparts! 🧵

  10. #10

    And if you're thinkig "my hunger for mushroom facts is not sated. I crave spores!" check out my other threads here:

    Gnome Anne May Perceive Me@annethegnome · Jan 10, 2024

    Are you here for educational threads, frequently (but not always) related to mushrooms? Then bookmark this tweet bc I’m going to try to qrt all my threads in replies to keep them accessible 🫡

  11. #11

    If you want to tip your friendly internet mushroom nerd, you can do so here ko-fi.com/gnome_anne or buy me a lil present 🎁 here throne.com/gnome_anne

  12. #12

    Also follow me on twitch, where I mostly talk about D&D and other TTRPGs but also rant about mushrooms and hating capitalism twitch.tv/gnome_anne