‘Devil’s Fingers’ Is a Properly Named Fungi – Here’s Proof

Remember when the shrimp cocktails in Beetlejuice grabbed the party-goers by the face during the 'Day-o' scene? Yeah, it's like that, except it's a weird type of mushroom, and more creepy.

Devil's Fingers

Fungi are weird. It's weird that we eat them. It's even weirder that some of them are so darn delicious! No word on if these particular fungi taste good or are even safe to eat!

I'm talking about Clathrus archeri, also known as the "devil's fingers" or my personal favorite, albeit not as fitting name, "octopus stinkhorn."

Nightmare Fuel

The bright red mushroom sprouts from an egg-shaped pod with four to seven tendrils emerging. Along with the odd finger-like shape of them, a black sticky substance filled with spores covers the "fingers," making sure that after you get a look at them, you never sleep again.

Here's a time-lapse video of some of the fungi sprouting into your nightmares.

Ole octopus stinkhorn over here is native to New Zealand and Australia. However, we couldn't let that area of the world keep all of the crazy. Its satanic spores made their way across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

The good news is there's a good chance you won't run into them in the wild. The sprouting and subsequent wilting only take a few hours.

Oh, I forgot to mention, along with the grotesque Beelzebub looking hands, while sprouting, they come complete with a strong smell of rotting flesh.

Here. Click that for a church near you.