For the Fungi anthology, we asked contributors to tell us why they had written about fungi. Today, Jeff VanderMeer answers this question. We also talk about how his story ended in our anthology. Who is he? Jeff VanderMeer is a two time winner of the World Fantasy Award whose stories have been published by Tor.com, Clarkesworld, Conjunctions, Arc, Black Clock, and several year’s best anthologies. Recent books include the Nebula [...]
I know what you are thinking with this headline: Mario. Yes, it is true that the Mario Bros. games, with their trippy duo of plumbers, a princess and a dragon, include numerous cute mushrooms. In the Alice in Wonderland tradition, the ingestion of said mushrooms has certain side-effects. Some of these cute little mushrooms also have facial features…eh, not so cute anymore. There are also bad mushrooms called goombas. You [...]
By Orrin Grey This review originally appeared at Innsmouth Free Press. Matango (1963). Director: Ishiro Honda. Cast: Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Hiroshi Koizumi. Country: Japan. When I was first approached about writing this column for Innsmouth Free Press, one of the first questions I asked was whether or not I would be given free rein to cover old movies as well as new ones, and when I asked that question, [...]
Intestinal problems may be linked to fungi: New research suggests that fungi, though not as common in the intestines as bacteria, may play a role in causing and modulating disease An ancestral fungus may have influenced coal formation: Fungi may have played a key role in ending the development of coal deposits around 360 to 300 million years ago. Fungi can kill frogs kills by dehydrating them: The fungus Batrachochytrium [...]
Fungi is an eclectic anthology with stories that run the gamut from horror to dark fantasy. A mushroom submarine, anthropomorphic cats, hallucinogenic fungi, mushroom people, private investigators, and mercenaries make for a very different kind of anthology. The paperback ($14.99) and e-book ($6.99) editions of Fungi will be identical. However, Fungi will also be available as a hardcover ($28.00) with three extra stories not included in the paperback and ten [...]
There is still time to contribute to our list of fungi in fiction! We are looking for mentions of fungi in speculative (dark fiction and horror) stories, novels, movies, TV shows, video games and any other media. Please give us a hand! See the entries we already have here. Add a new entry here.