Book Fetish

Festering Fungi! Mushroom Goodies For Fungal Horror Fans

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Jamie Canaves

Contributing Editor

Jamie Canavés is the Tailored Book Recommendations coordinator and Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter writer–in case you’re wondering what you do with a Liberal Arts degree. She’s never met a beach she didn’t like, always says yes to dessert, loves ‘80s nostalgia, all forms of entertainment, and can hold a conversation using only gifs. You can definitely talk books with her on Litsy and Goodreads. Depending on social media’s stability maybe also Twitter and Bluesky.

Festering fungi. Sporror. Frightening fungi. Malevolent Mushrooms.

The amount of fun there is in creating a term for mushrooms existing in the horror genre, as the horror, may be my favorite thing about the genre. And I’m all ears if you know or can think of any more!

Related to fungal horror books, Leah Rachel von Essen explored the idea of why horror novels are so obsessed with mushrooms. And Slate asked why it felt like mushrooms were taking over horror lately in relation to a blockbuster HBO series. But whether you read or watch horror, you’ve certainly encountered mushrooms in literature. For example, even if as a child you didn’t watch or read Alice in Wonderland, the imagery is certainly embedded in pop culture and therefore your brain. Most people feel the book has characters and a story that they know, even if technically they don’t. It was all this thinking about our fungi friends that made me wonder what the fungal finds (sorry, I can’t stop) would be on Etsy.

Turns out there’s creepy, cool, and cute depending on how you like — or dislike — fungi. I personally love mushroom pizza, but that’s not on Etsy. What is are non-edible mushroom goodies for readers who enjoy some fungi in their books, including art, tarot cards, journals, and more.

black coffee mug with illustration of a forest with mushrooms and a crescent moon

Boho Botanical Mushroom Floral Moon Coffee Mug ($23): This looks like a lovely night to sit in the forest, drink a little tea, and wait for fairies. Or is it meant to lure you in for what really awaits you…

a deck of tarot cards using graphic illustrations of mushrooms

The Mushroom Hunter’s Tarot Deck ($48): Are you someone who likes to see your future? Or read others? Does it involve malevolent mushrooms…

a canvas print illustration of a mushroom in dark tones and colors

Midnight Mushroom- Gallery Canvas Wraps ($40+): Sure, fall asleep on the sofa below that painting. What could go wrong?

beige journal with an illustration of a dark forest filled with mushrooms

Wild Mushroom Journal ($25): It’s calling to you to put your deepest, darkest thoughts inside.

black and beige graphic illustration of mushrooms phone case

Mushroom Collection by Misentangledvision Phone Case ($26+): Not going to lie, I would spend a lot of time just zoning out staring at this if it was my phone case.

wood cut art piece of skull with mushrooms growing out of it

Hand-Cut Wooden Mushroom Skull Print ($47): This is just cool, and clearly it can’t actually pose any danger since it already took its victim.

a t-shirt with a skull illustration and mushrooms and butterflies surrounding the skull

Mushroom Skull Shirt ($11+): If you love the mushroom + skull theme but don’t have space on your walls (but do have space on your chest), here’s a T-shirt.

a desk mat with an illustration of a dark forest with all kinds of mushrooms by DeskNeko

Mushroom Desk Mat Cottagecore Mousepad ($22): If you spend the day at the computer, it’s always nice to have something pleasing to let your eyes stare at, so here’s a forest of mushrooms that may or may not be inviting.

an illustrated bookmark with a pretty mushroom design on one side that says "enjoy the mystery" and the back is a reading log by TreasuresDelightsetc

Mushroom Reading List Bookmark ($5): I love bookmarks that let you keep track of your reading on one side, and this has a really sweet mushroom illustration but what exactly is the mystery?…

resin sculptures of mushrooms with fun creepy faces by StatueGallery

Mutated Scary Mushrooms Ornament Mini Resin ($29.99): I hope they come with care instructions because I wonder if they can’t get wet? Be fed after midnight?

Now if I left you craving a book on mushrooms be sure to checkout 10 Marvelous Mushroom Books.