🍄 Scarlet Rot at the End of the World: Fans Searching for Mycological Authenticity within Elden Rings Cosmic Horror (forthcoming)

Abstract: This chapter investigates the lore-crafting community of the popular open-world RPG Elden Ring (FromSoftware, 2022) and their use of realism to imbue the game’s world-building with authenticity. Focusing on Scarlet Rot—a devastating and otherworldly blight—and its fungal manifestations, the chapter examines how fans engage in paratextual practices, such as YouTube essays and Reddit threads, to align the game’s representations with real-world mycology. These fans, often operating as amateur mycologists rather than conventional “fan-historians” (Stevens & Webber, 2020, 2022), analyze in-game elements to address perceived gaps in the game’s lore. By scrutinizing these paratexts, this chapter demonstrates how the community’s focus on the biological realism of Scarlet Rot offers new insights into Elden Ring’s narrative complexity. It explores how fungal imagery not only deepens fans’ understanding of the fictional origins and spread of Scarlet Rot but also reflects broader cultural preoccupations with fungus and decay in popular media. Linking these fan interpretations to trends in the new weird literary genre and survival horror games, the chapter highlights how Scarlet Rot operates as a potent symbol of environmental collapse and cosmic horror. This analysis contributes to the study of videogame paratexts by showcasing how fan communities use scientific realism to enhance fictional world-building. It also positions fungal aesthetics as a site for examining intersections of ecological anxiety and speculative storytelling, offering a deeper understanding of how fans reinterpret games as tools for engaging with broader cultural and environmental narratives.

Keywords: Elden Ring, fan communities, fungal aesthetics, Scarlet Rot, realism, paratexts, speculative storytelling, mycology

Recommended citation: Bailey, A. (2026). “Scarlet Rot at the End of the World: Fans Searching for Mycological Authenticity within Elden Rings Cosmic Horror.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Fungal Horror in Popular Culture. Edited by Katarina Gregersdotter and Berit Astrom. Palgrave Macmillan.