Cactus (Botanical) by Torre Dan

Author:Torre, Dan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2018-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

The Evil Cactus

Anthropomorphism can be used to emphasize particular traits inherent to the object. In the case of the cactus plant, this can include its menacing spines and strange appearance, effectively forming the basis of an evil or outlawed character.

In the 1890s Joe Mulhatton of Arizona became known for his ‘horrific discovery’ of a group of ‘supernatural’ saguaro cacti, as recounted in the local newspapers. He claimed that the saguaros around his property had become heavily ‘magnetized’ (and essentially animated) owing to huge veins of magnetically charged copper that existed deep underground in the area. These magnetized cacti were allegedly lethal and, depending on their magnetic polarity, would either attract or repel living creatures with enormous force. On one occasion Mulhatton claimed to have witnessed two tramps who were travelling through the desert:

One of the men was at once drawn up to and impaled on the sharp blades of the cactus, while the octopus-like arms folded around him crushing him through and into the cactus, where his blood, flesh and bones turned into a pulp very much like ordinary mucilage, which trickled out slowly from the aperture made by the passing in of the man’s body. The cactus loses its magnetic power while it is digesting its victim. So we were enabled to look at this wonderful yet gruesome sight and report these particulars . . . A negative cactus repelled the second tramp and heaved his body about 100 feet against a positive one, whereupon he met the same fate.13

It appears that this story was believed widely, having tapped into the readership’s general dislike of cacti. Such a perception was quite at odds with the native peoples’ legends of the saguaro – for them it provided essential food for both humans and animals, as well as shelter for many desert creatures.

During the escalation of the Cold War, Hollywood churned out an endless stream of horror films and killer insect movies, such as The Deadly Mantis (directed by Nathan Juran, 1957), which seemed to reflect the generalized fear of ‘the enemy’ that was brewing in American society – the ever-present threat of communism and nuclear war. Comic books also revelled in this type of story, and one classic example of a killer cactus can be found in the Fantastic Fears series from Ajax Comics that featured a story titled ‘Green Horror’ (1954). The story begins with a man and a woman travelling home through the desert. On the way the woman stops so that she can collect a small cutting from a saguaro cactus, in the expectation that it will grow well in her front garden. It does grow and, amazingly, seems to reach its full towering height in just a few months. But the husband soon develops a strong dislike for the cactus, and one day he attacks it with an axe. To his horror, the plant comes to life, grabs the axe from him and kills him instantly. A few months after her husband’s tragic demise, the woman meets another man, but it seems that in the meantime the cactus has fallen in love with her.

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