It started out like any ordinary day. I stepped outside to water the flowers and check if the cats had scattered the trash again — something they loved to do. But as soon as I opened the gate, I was hit by an awful smell — thick, sour, and almost metallic. It made my chest tighten instantly.

I followed the odor and froze in my tracks. Next to the flower bed, something strange was moving. It looked like a pale, slimy egg — and from inside, faint red shapes seemed to pulse, like they were alive. My first thought was “Is that an animal? A creature? Something dead?”

The smell was unbearable, like rotting meat. I stepped closer, holding my breath, and saw a clear, gelatinous membrane covering what looked like red tentacles pushing their way out. My heart pounded so fast I almost dropped my phone. I snapped a photo and ran back inside, desperate to find out what it was.

When I searched online for “red slimy thing with awful smell,” I didn’t expect the answer I found. What I had seen wasn’t an animal at all — it was a Clathrus archeri, better known as the Devil’s Fingers fungus.

It’s one of the strangest and creepiest mushrooms on Earth. It starts as a white “egg” shape that bursts open to reveal long, red, finger-like arms covered in a black, foul-smelling slime — meant to attract flies that spread its spores.

It may look like something out of a horror movie, but it’s a rare natural phenomenon. Still, I’ll admit it — I’m not going near that flower bed again anytime soon. 🫣