Arachnophobia

[[Edit: You have to click through each picture to really get the best view.]]

The rainforest weather is gone. Today was as hot as hell in a frying pan. And a neighbor tells me that it's pretty much gone for good this summer. Oh summer showers, I barely even knew you.

But you know what we still have? Spiders. Our yard has been overrun with creepy Hellraiser spiders. Spiders, spiders everywhere. In fact, I've even seen a few in the house, though fortunately they weren't of the variety that I photographed this morning.

I've always thought these spiders were a little on the creepy side. Well let me tell you, now that I've had the pleasure of viewing one for an hour through a macro lens, they are more creepy that you imagined. Those little black spots? Well, they look like some kind of horrible, scabby, oozy spider disease. The red spikes are over-the-top, even from a distance, but up close you notice they have little hairs on them -- so they almost look like jagged spikes.

And let me tell you about the head and legs. They're black. But they're not just black. They're so black that they absorb light. That's right, you heard me. This spider is part black-hole, part Hellraiser character, part morbid mystery disease, part stegosaurus, and did I mention it was a spider? I don't think it worries about being eaten by anything.


I heard that spiders inject a venom into the victim's body to liquefy the insides and they sucked out the juices. Not this guy. When something flies into his web he just rolls out of bed and eats it whole.

Seriously, I can't figure out why someone hasn't made a horror movie about this guy yet.

If you need something innocent to clear your mind after looking at these pictures, I recommend Susan Christie's "I Love Onions." Although, the song is a little surreal, so it could make things worse.

Or if you're an anime fan, I found an anime award site that has reviews that I actually agree with: AGB Anime Awards. This is my new go-to list for shopping new shows.

I've never had the "pleasure" of viewing the underside of an
Arachnohellspawn before.