For those who aren’t as familiar with Rick Moranis’ filmography, that was a quick bite
from Little Shop of Horrors, the legendary musical about killer plants.
People are scared of plants! This is just a fact!
In order to survive, our ancestors had to know which ones were good, and which ones
were bad. Some plants could cause wicked hallucinations,
which would be especially terrifying if you weren’t prepared for it.
Poison, barbs, the ability to choke and strangle, it's no wonder we’ve come up with all sorts
of savage, scary shrubs. Hellish herbs, vengeful verdure, wicked weeds,
you name it. Speaking of weeds, there’s another plant
we’ve been scared of for reasons that may not be totally founded.
Reefer madness anyone? Hahahaha. Back to deadly plants though, there are plenty
that walk the hallowed halls of horror history. The most popular ones are usually committed
to film at some point, famous examples being Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, or the
strange space moss from the Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill.
But as folks tend to do in our age of sound and colour, we often forget about all of the
pernicious plants that populate popular literature! Whomping Willows! Mandrakes! Other examples
that don’t show up in Harry Potter! So today we’re paying homage to the vegetation
that thrives in the undergrowth of our collective consciousness.
Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos.
I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and today we’re taking a look at the Top 5 Most
Terrifying Plants in Horror Fiction. Prepare yourself, because some evil is about
to take root deep in your mind. Before we begin, make sure to give this video
a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more fearful flora fables.
OH AND BY THE WAY: SPOILER ALERT. A lot of these plants don’t have their true abilities
or intentions revealed until later, so if you’re interested in reading any of these,
maybe skip over the entries! Let’s get started.
NUMBER FIVE: THE HUNGRIES - THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
While technically zombies hungry for human flesh, these horrifying people-eaters are
actually plant-based. In this story by M.R. Carey, we’re introduced
to a world that has been infected by a variant of the ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus.
Originally thought to only parasitize insects, it has somehow adapted to attack humans.
People afflicted with this mushroomy monster will lose their mental powers, and develop
a taste for human flesh. This infection can be spread through bodily
fluids, including saliva and blood. So classic zombie rules, but with a bit of
a twist. If left long enough, the spores will sprout
fruiting bodies on their hosts, and then release more spores into the atmosphere, which will
spread much faster than biting. They almost sorta kinda remind me of the Infected
from The Last of Us. On top of the whole spores in the air twist,
we also have the caveat of some children being infected, but remaining sapient and sentient.
This causes all SORTS of moral dilemmas, and changes the end-of-world scenario immensely.
If these children can live like normal people, just with an additional taste for raw flesh,
what are we supposed to do with them? The book’s main character, Melanie, is one
of these cognisant hungries. She has to adapt to her own hunger, and work
with other humans in order to protect those she loves, and survive.
This makes for some wonderfully tense moments between her and assorted survivors and researchers,
who are often torn between trusting her and wanting to kill her.
It’s a hard life for a mushroom person out here.
NUMBER FOUR: AUKOWIES - THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD
This book by Dave Zeltserman is short and sweet, and kind of reads like an episode of
the Twilight Zone. The killer plants are a huge deal to our main
character, but maybe not so much to everyone else.
This is a psychological horror with a potentially unreliable narrator: Jack Durkin.
He is the latest in a long line of Durkins who have been tasked with weeding Lorne Field.
The weeds seem normal to any outsider, but the Durkins know that they are really Aukowies,
a race of terrible plant monsters who will destroy humanity as we know it if allowed
to grow too large. Plenty of moving parts in the story keep you
unsure as to whether these monster plants are real or not.
If they are real, it’s bad news for everyone, especially those who don’t believe.
But if they aren’t real, it still doesn’t bode well, as our main character and many
before him have suffered from grand delusions. The position of Lorne Field Caretaker used
to be one of great respect, but over time has been dismissed as superstitious.
Townsfolk and family alike scoff at Jack as he spends each day meticulously weeding the
fields. Soon enough, Jack’s family starts to work
against him, looking for an exit, a way into a new life.
If they were to leave, they would likely be happier, but would the world come to an abrupt
end? Would Jack be able to leave the field, or
will the paranoia and obsession keep him there? Horror, mystery, and a little bit of Stephen
King all come together to make this book a tense, slow burn.
The Aukowies will haunt your dreams. Keep weeding, Jack!
NUMBER THREE: THE GREEN GOD - THE HORROR UNDER WARRENDOWN
Of course there’s a Lovecraftian plant god! Ramsey Campbell, horror author extrordinaire,
came up with this horrific monstrosity for his book The Horror Under Warrendown.
In the original book it had no name, but eventually gained the title of the Green God when added
to the game The Call of Cthulu. Residing in an underground labyrinth, it resembles
an Easter Island head covered in plant matter. However, it isn’t simply covered in the
dense vegetation, it is entirely comprised of it.
This big ole dome is capable of sending out long viney appendages, which it employs to
grab victims or offer communion to its degenerate cult of mutant worshippers.
That doesn’t seem so bad, especially because it can’t get too far, right?
Well, it has another ability: the transmutation of anyone who partakes in its flesh.
Anyone who consumes it will slowly transform into a disgusting, rabbit-like creature.
Hopping, degenerate mutants covered in coarse, dark hair, with elongated ears, large eyes,
and rodent-like teeth. Peter Cottontail, these are not.
They avoid light, and prefer to live in warrens near the Green God.
Once transformed, they take on the purpose of expanding the Horror’s cult.
They do this by offering up seemingly innocent veggies to normal humans.
Once eaten, these innocent healthy eaters will slowly change into one of the monstrosities.
As if there weren’t enough reasons for kids not to want to eat their greens.
NUMBER TWO: THE TRIFFIDS - THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS
Human-made horrors tend to be pretty effective, don’t you think?
Hubris and whatnot. Unlike in the movie adaptation, which had
the Triffids come from outer space, John Wyndham’s book has them genetically engineered by humans.
In fact, there’s even a little cold-war bio-weapon paranoia slipped in.
So the good folks down at the vegetable lab bred some tall, venomous, carnivorous plants
capable of locomotion, because they have valuable oils and nothing could possibly go wrong!
Of course, something goes wrong. Our comfy position at the top of the food
chain is compromised when a beautiful and bright meteor shower touches down, blinding
everyone but a select handful of humans. Our protagonist is one of the lucky sighted,
left to survive in a world of the sightless. The triffids end up being only part of the
problem, as a mysterious plague breaks out among the blind, and many folks forcefully
enlist those with sight into being slaves for the newly blind.
Some of these plot points equivocate blind people to completely useless dependents, which
is sort of odd. I guess the world order would just have to
immediately collapse if all of the sudden people couldn’t see, there’s definitely
no way to avoid this. A product of the times, perhaps.
The story is more about the restructuring of society post-biohazard, but the triffids
are a real threat indeed. These 7 foot viney villains can kill folks
with a single whip of their venomous vines, and are apt to make blind people easy pickings.
I just wish their names were a little scarier. Triffid doesn’t sound like a plant that’s
gonna come and dissolve your bones. It sounds like something grandma would grow
in her garden. Maybe that’s part of it!
NUMBER ONE: THE VINES - THE RUINS Oh yeah, these are some nasty suckers.
They’ll infiltrate your body, they’ll burn you with acid, they’ll imitate your
friends and then laugh as you scream. Yikes.
In this book by Scott Smith, we follow a group of friends vacationing in Mexico.
They end up on a vine-covered hill surrounded by barren earth, and soon realize that the
locals aren’t gonna let them out. Upon finding the body of another tourist overgrown
with vines, they realize that the locals are very afraid of the native flora.
One by one, each of the pals is taken down in gruesome style by the vines.
One is lured into a pit by the sound of a cell phone, only to realize that the vines
are capable of imitating any sounds they hear. This plays out later with the vines pretending
to be other members of the group after they’ve been killed.
So not only are the vines predatory, they are sadistic as well.
Sheesh. They’re also able to infest victims through
open wounds, crawling into their bodies like a parasite.
Imagine knowing that acidic vines could be worming their way through your body.
Kinda makes you want to die, doesn’t it? Well, that’s the route some of the characters
take, begging their comrades to kill them in order to escape the madness.
Don’t go into this book expecting a happy ending for anyone, it gets real dark.
These vines are pretty good at hiding evidence, allowing new victims to stumble in unawares.
Oh man. OUTRO
Forget beasts, plants are scary as hell! Makes me take a second look at my fruit and
veg intake. What do you think?
Any famous fictional flowers I left off the list?
Let me know down in the comments. Speaking of comments, let's take a look at
some of your more ferocious ones from the most disturbing horror movie monster transformations:
Ashley Brown says “I’ve seen a lot of jacked up things in my time. Immune to most
everything. Justin Long as a walrus? Not immune to that.”
I feel the same way. Most stuff feels pretty boiler plate until you run into something
that absolutely ruins your day. Love to stumble across those.
Red Nightshade says “Yeah, these are pretty scary, but nothing is scarier than when I
run out of coffee.” Scary for you, or for the people around you?
Do you fall into deep psychosis, or go on a murderous rampage? I need to know!
Richard Clark says “I was so sure brundlefly was going to be number one, but well done
for not being predictable.” I figured we had all seen the fly on a bunch
of other lists, why not take a look at an equally terrifying, less scientific transformation
by Cronenberg!” Nerd says “Introductions are too long”
Whatever you say, NERD!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA Sarah Herbison says “Videodrome predicted
the dark web.” Among other things! Entertainment becoming
more depraved, being more turned on by screens than people, the new flesh. A prescient flick
to say the least! That’s all the time we have for today, thanks
for watching, and I’ll see you next time.