The Giant Spider Invasion
No, this title isn't a reference to that incredibly cheesy 70's drive-in flick that featured a VW bug dressed up with monster spider legs, it's a reference to what we experience each summer. Spiders! Giant spiders!Seriously, we just didn't have shit like this back in the states - in North Carolina, there were plenty of things that would bite you or poison you, but they were almost totally outside the house. Around this time each year, we can count on capturing and ejecting at least five or six beasties like this. They're getting bigger as "spider season" rolls on, too - this guy was the size of Emily's palm with legs spread out. Supposedly they are completely harmless, if one discounts the shock and surprise of seeing a creature the size of a mouse go scurrying across the floor you were about to step onto.
Want creepy? They are big enough to make noise. Set them down in their cups, and you can hear them tapping and clattering on the walls from six feet away. Fortunately they're pretty easy to catch (in our officially-designated "Bug Cup") and we've gotten polished at snagging them and carrying them out into the yard, from where they probably run right back in. We don't kill them if possible, since neither of us believe in killing anything just for convenience or sport (with the exception of mosquitos).
Today's recommended October horror film is the 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Starring Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy (!), this is one of the few remakes that equals or surpasses the original. Modern audiences weaned on "OMG-Something-must-be-happening-every-second!!" will probably lose interest, but those who enjoy a leisurely pace coupled with gradually-mounting unease and eventual terror should love it. Almost seems like an art-house flick, by today's standards, and it has one of the best endings in all scare pics (My favorite horror movie ending? John Carpenter's version of "The Thing", no question). I'll leave off with another shot of our own little unwelcome visitor...
6 Comments:
Wow, I was wondering why there were so many massive spiders around lately. I rarely see them in our apartment, but have seen three in the last week alone. Including one about the same size as the one in your cup in the shower the other day...boy, am I glad I put my glasses back on to verify what it was before stepping in!! *S*
It's a puzzle. We can't figure out where they come from, they just seem to magically find their way into the house. Usually we're alerted to their presence by the sight on one of our cats jumping a foot straight up into the air :D
They seem to be a Breton "thing" - we've gotten them here yearly since we moved. I've seen Bill Oddie pick them up and let them run around on his hands, but we haven't gotten that acclimated yet....
Ohmigosh! Keep those things up north, okay? I'm sure there are creepy crawlies around here too, but the less I see them, the better!
Nightmarishly large. That's what those things are. Snuff--er, Trevor, I hope you can appreciate the fact you've given my nightmares enough fuel to last through winter.
There is a GREAT little extra tidbit to go with this. Spiders drink. At night, in search of moisture inside a mostly dry house, one of their favorite places to drink from is the open mouth of a sleeping human. It's estimated that the average person will accidentally swallow 3-4 spiders in their sleep during the course of their life.
Fact or fiction? I'll never tell.
Pleasant dreams.....
There is a GREAT little extra tidbit to go with this. Spiders drink. At night, in search of moisture inside a mostly dry house, one of their favorite places to drink from is the open mouth of a sleeping human. It's estimated that the average person will accidentally swallow 3-4 spiders in their sleep during the course of their life.
Fact or fiction? I'll never tell.
Pleasant dreams.....
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