So I’m 30 Episodes Into The Magnus Archives So Far And While I Do Miss Being Able To Go To Bed Without

So I’m 30 episodes into The Magnus Archives so far and while I do miss being able to go to bed without fearing for my life, I’m gonna keep listening.

I have thoughts on one of the creatures we’ve met so far, the worm hive/nest specifically. The source being ‘Plight of the Living Dead’ by Matt Simon, a book I’m currently reading about parasites that zombify their hosts. I’m not an expert on parasites, I just think they’re cool and I wanna share my thoughts.

Unlike the fungus ophiocordyceps, (the zombie ant one), the worms don’t bother trying to be sneaky; they completely decimate their host making their presence obvious to uninfected individuals. Similar to how Massospora cicadina eats away at cicadas’ abdomens until they’re almost completely hollowed out. This unconcern for appearances probably means the worms don’t have a predator/threat to hide from.

Also, I’m wondering if this parasitic behavior of spreading themselves like an infection is part of the worms’ life cycle, like how real life nematodes need to get themselves into different animals’ guts to reproduce. If they are actually worms this could simply mean finding a new host, laying eggs and multiplying their numbers within the body until they’re ready to find another host. Or if they aren’t worms but grubs/larvae instead, that could mean that they have a mature adult form they could metamorphose into. Which would be so awesome and make for an episode with more insect/worm body horror! Anyway, it’s fun to analyze the ecology of fictional monsters.