Dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) is a ghoulish looking fungus that might make you imagine you can see the blackened fingers of a corpse reaching out of the earth! What you’re really seeing are structures known as ‘stroma’ - they are made of dense fungal material and house many tiny fruiting bodies. Autumn is the best time to see Dead man’s fingers and the fruiting bodies of many other fungal species, most recognisably mushrooms. This is because climatic conditions are just right for them to emerge and release millions of minute seed-like spores which are dispersed on the wind. 

Incidentally, there is also a marine coral on our shores known as ‘Dead man’s fingers’ (Alcyonium digitatum). Click the link to learn more!

The Ghost slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda) is an uncanny looking predatory slug which slides through the soil at night on the hunt for earthworms! It is relatively new to science, having been formally described and named as recently as 2008. The main haunt of the ghost slug is South Wales, but there have been sightings in England too.  Part of its scientific name comes from the word ‘ysbryd’, which is Welsh for ghost.

However, it’s not thought to be native to the UK; it has also been found in mountain forests in the Crimea. We are yet to learn of its ghostly origins!

The Death’s- head hawk-moth (Acherontia atropos) is a spectacular moth which has long been used as an omen of death in horror movies, folklore and literature; famously appearing on posters for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. If you’re lucky enough to see one, you can understand why! The wingspan of the Death’s-head hawk-moth can reach 12 cm, making it the largest moth to be found in the UK. Best of all, it’s forewings are dark and velvety, in contrast to its bright yellow underwings, and it has a pale skull-shaped mark on its thorax, the upper part of its back! 

Every year between August and October a few reach the UK, blown here on warm winds from Africa and continental Europe. They can be found at night in gardens and allotments, mostly in the southeast of England, and sometimes (organic) potato fields - the potato being a relative of Deadly Nightshade, their caterpillar food plant and another Halloween classic! They are also notorious for raiding beehives for honey and if you or the angry bees try to stop them - they will squeak in alarm! Sadly, the Death's-head hawk-moth is unable to survive our cold winters.

Giant spiders are a ‘must-have’ Halloween decoration, and this is also the time of year when our own species of giant house spider (Eratigena atrica) is making itself known! House spiders are most active at night and unfortunately, their long legs and the way they scuttle rapidly across our floors does little to endear them to many of us. In fact, they can run up to half a meter per second! 

But they find their way into our homes only by accident. Late summer to autumn is breeding season for these beasts and those we find indoors are usually males looking for a mate, distinguishable from the females by their reproductive organs which look like little arms in front of their body sporting boxing gloves! 

These spiders naturally make their homes in tree hollows and rocky crevices but find our garages and garden sheds equally comfortable. Their sheet-like webs are sticky platforms on which to snare their prey. They’re unlikely to stay too close to us because they don’t like disturbance.

A pale spectral form gliding silently across an open field at dusk is enough to give anybody the shivers, especially if it lets out an eerie shriek! Don’t be afraid – if you see such a thing, it’s probably a barn owl (Tyto alba)! Barn owls have broad wings and light bodies which enables them to fly slowly without stalling and hover effortlessly. Like other owls, their wings also have specially adapted feathers which muffle the sound of their approach, so they can silently hunt unsuspecting mice and voles on the ground below. 

The barn owl’s repertoire of screeches, shrieks and hisses has earnt it the nickname ‘screech owl’ for centuries. These calls all have a particular use, like warning others that a threat has been chased away, or inviting to females to inspect a nest prepared by a hopeful male. There is even a call used by females to demand supper from their partners! 

Of course, no spooky graveyard scene in any horror movie would be complete without the haunting ‘ke- wick! hoo-ooo-oo!’ of the tawny owl (Strix aluco). These two sounds are heard as much separately as they are together, and particularly at this time of year when tawny owls are courting. The quavering ‘hoo-ooo-oo’ tends to belong to the males and is used to re-establish territorial rights or to stake a new claim by younger birds. This is in preparation for the nesting season, which can be as early as February. Females use the ‘ke-wick!’ call to stay in touch with their partner and also with their chicks, later the following year.

Beware the venomous shrew! Did you know that the humble water shrew (Neomys fodiens) has a venomous bite?! As the name suggests, water shrews live in wetland habitats like streams, ponds and reedbeds, where they retreat to small burrows in the bank. In the absence of webbed feet, stiff hairs on their tails and back feet make them excellent swimmers above and below the water’s surface.

The water shrew is the only venomous mammal in the UK - the poison in its saliva is strong enough to immobilise frogs and small fish. It only weighs as much as 18 grams, but it is a formidable little animal and can tackle prey up to 60 times heavier than itself! 

No haunted house would be complete without a cloud of bats dramatically silhouetted against the full moon! There are 17 species of bat which breed here in the UK and many of them do indeed like to roost in quiet secluded spaces inside buildings, others prefer caves and the hollows of trees. Did you know that 1 in 4 species of mammal around the world is a bat?! That’s a staggering 1,300 species! Like spiders (which they are sometimes partial to!), bats are ecosystem heroes regulating insect populations. 

If you’re brave enough to venture into a cave at twilight you might find the rocky walls glittering with gold! But beware – this is goblin’s gold!

Goblin’s Gold moss (Schistostega pennata) is an example of nature’s genius! It thrives in dimly lit places like rocky crevices and cave entrances, even old stone ruins and rabbit burrows. Its cells behave like a lens, concentrating even the faintest light onto the chloroplasts - the green structures inside a plant cell that enable it to photosynthesis and generate its own food. This means that Goblin's gold moss can grow in semi-darkness where other plants couldn’t survive.

As a side effect, some light is reflected, causing the moss to glow a shimmering golden-green - hence the evocative name. Also known as dragon’s gold, it can be found mostly in the west of the British Isles, particularly in the southwest of England!