The ‘Dead Man’s Fingers’ Fungus looks as creepy as it sounds

This Earth is home to all kinds of creatures and plants, many of which we’ve never encountered.

Back in 2020, Regan Daniels from North Carolina was out for a regular walk in her local park when she came across something spooky yet captivating.

Thinking the Facebook group Mushroomcore would appreciate it, Daniels posted photos of the oddly shaped fungus there, not expecting her post to draw thousands of eyes.

What she found was the so-called Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha), a fungus that looks like a dead person’s toes or fingers pushing through the ground. “Saw this Dead Man’s Fingers (or toes here) fungus. I really thought it was a Halloween decoration!” she wrote, showing the swollen, blackened “fingers.”