I am not fond of moths. Very, very much so, though not as much as I'm not fond of their larvae. They certainly deserve to be a Halloween staple - I'm sure Mothra would be a lot more popular if they were.
But apart from the nightmares of giant squeaking moths crawling into my orifices you're going to give me tonight, this is a great article! Most fond of those tentacle-shrooms, meself.
If I'd have to choose some Halloween mascots, I'd choose... well, a few from other articles here, really. The vampire squids, some varieties of leeches, and the bagworm that makes its home out of insect corpses come to mind. For another, I'd quite like to see hyenas take the place of wolves; their laughter is much creepier, and their (slightly - but only slightly - undeserved) reputation for being scavengers and even graveyard-raiding shapeshifters much more chilling than the hunter wolves. I'd also say those lovely glow-worms - the predatory larvae with their haunting lights would make the most lovely Halloween decorations, webs with a twist - and some more deep sea denizens, particularly the most famous gulper eels and angler fish. That's my two cents... too bad we don't celebrate Halloween in a big way here.
scythemantis
· 2 months ago
Aww, but most moth larvae are indistinguishable from butterfly larvae! Moths are such cute fluffy doe-eyed things, like birds, only better because they're invertebrates :p
Penanggalan Monster
· 2 months ago
JAWSOME ARTICLE! I very much approve of all those. :>
saucylobster
· 2 months ago
I think something with a name like 'Devil's coach horse beetle' could get in on the halloween action. Sauntering into homes and hissing at people, an omen said to bring instant death. Various other myths are attributed to them but I think what they do to worms is pretty halloween worthy, they open thm up and eat all but thier skin leaving an empty worm husk. Pretty epic considering the size difference.
danielle
· 2 months ago
Wow, such fascinating choices! I am edutainified, and slightly mortified by that Shrikes killer thing. O_O You seem to have a problem with your web code, or maybe i am having issues with my laptop. It seems like u have text being cut off and overlapped completely by all your graphics and it does this on several newer pages. Maybe you should give them a lookover. If its just me baby and not you, then could you reccomend a way to fix this on my screen? Thanks.
scythemantis
· 2 months ago
Lots of people have had that complaint, but I utterly cannot figure out what causes it for some people....there seems to be nothing that they have in common, and I can't mess with the code, I actually build the whole site in the only page-maker program I have access to :(
danielle
· 2 months ago
What program do you use? I am unfamiliar with using Flash but I hear that you can build decent webpages in it and I know youre into using that program more than other drawing ones. Photoshop I think now can make pages too and if youve never tried Indesign give it a shot someday cos its pretty similar and easy to use. By the way, every time I roll over that shrikes part, I always lolz cos I immedieatly without fail hear that very short climatic musical score cliche that they always use in cartoons like in Spongebob or Ren and Stimpy when something awful occurs, with the few notes going "Bum!....BUM!.......BUM!! .......BUUUUUUUMMM!" It just fits so well, haha.
scythemantis
· 2 months ago
I use yahoo sitebuilder, which is notoriously buggy, because it comes with my webhosting service :x
danielle
· 2 months ago
heyy joe! its me Penny dani's sis : ) i loved this whole article brilliant!! x D especially the butcher bird lmaoo! but u kno wat terryfying creature u missed tht is pure evil?? o.o the sea lousse...mayb u heard of it but if not... it begins with the male lousse creates his evil lair waiting for a beautiful naive female to pass by. when she does, the male wil abduct her into his lair and rape her (which after hes done throws her to the "dungen" with all his other victims) then, his children will slowly eat the females organs and when they finally hatch leave nothing but her skeleton... its soo sad... : (
scythemantis
· 2 months ago
Almost all animals reproduce in some cruel way, in many bugs it's the female that does the raping and killing too :p
Never heard of that, though! There are tons of animals they call sea lice, I'll have to figure out which it is.
Doesn't seem particularly halloween-themed, though. I didn't mean this as a list of "creepy" animals, but animals that fit into Halloween for super-specific reasons :)
Amoredre
· 2 months ago
Hey Johnathan! I love every one of these articles, and this one is something I've been hoping for for a long time! About time Carrion beetles and moths get their due! I'd also just like to point out, the Indian Clay Pipe plant is often said to be cold and clammy to the touch, giving the nickname the Corpse Plant. And when touched, wherever you touch turns black. If picked, the whole plant turns black. Just sayin. :) Great article, I can't wait for the next one! You're one amazing dude!
saturndjinni
· 2 months ago
Death's-head Moths have always been among my absolute favorite animals. Pretty as well as spooky. :)
josiahbell
· 2 months ago
i like the Vlad bird, because it's pudgy appearance betrays it's personality
dodoman1
· 2 months ago
I like shrikes.
"Can you turn into a moth?" "No, that's bull-"
rasecwizzlbang
· 2 months ago
Couldn't have chosen better creatures myself!
colter_t
· 2 months ago
Awesome article
Ben
· 2 months ago
I love it! Especially the last one. Bug? Check! Bug crawling with bugs? Check! Rotting corpses? Check! Making love over rotting corpses! Etc..
g
· 2 months ago
the text often overlaps/underlaps your images/titles
scythemantis
· 1 month ago
I know, seems like 10% of people have this problem but there's been absolutely no way to figure out what causes it :/
GR
· 2 months ago
Cool site. I bookmarked it and will visit frequently.
PartlySmith
· 1 month ago
Are there any videos of the death's head moth's "scream"?
All Comments
But apart from the nightmares of giant squeaking moths crawling into my orifices you're going to give me tonight, this is a great article! Most fond of those tentacle-shrooms, meself.
If I'd have to choose some Halloween mascots, I'd choose... well, a few from other articles here, really. The vampire squids, some varieties of leeches, and the bagworm that makes its home out of insect corpses come to mind. For another, I'd quite like to see hyenas take the place of wolves; their laughter is much creepier, and their (slightly - but only slightly - undeserved) reputation for being scavengers and even graveyard-raiding shapeshifters much more chilling than the hunter wolves. I'd also say those lovely glow-worms - the predatory larvae with their haunting lights would make the most lovely Halloween decorations, webs with a twist - and some more deep sea denizens, particularly the most famous gulper eels and angler fish. That's my two cents... too bad we don't celebrate Halloween in a big way here.
Never heard of that, though! There are tons of animals they call sea lice, I'll have to figure out which it is.
Doesn't seem particularly halloween-themed, though. I didn't mean this as a list of "creepy" animals, but animals that fit into Halloween for super-specific reasons :)
"Can you turn into a moth?" "No, that's bull-"