The Lurking Horror

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In previous episodes, we have examined stories of impossibly oversized creatures, whose mere existence appears to defy belief, and this week, we will be looking at perhaps the most horrifying of these alleged beasts. A gigantic species of spider, known to those who have survived encounters with it as The Lurking Horror.

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Turn off the lights, get into bed and plug in your earphones. It's time for a creepy bedtime story. For the discerning horror fan, we cover the most chilling cases throughout history. From the paranormal to the supernatural, unsolved mysteries and strange deaths to cryptids, conspiracy theories and the most disturbing of true crimes, all told in a unique and creepy way. Join us every week for a new scary story.

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[BedtimeStoriesChannel]

Just a quick correction: Simon was thinking of the Japanese Spider Crab when referring to the species which can grow up to 12 feet, not the Coconut Crab. The Coconut crab only grows to about a metre in diameter.

[BedtimeStoriesChannel]

We know we said Clearview was coming this week, but since we published our Buffalo Ranch episode, we have been in contact with someone who spent time on the property in question and we're going to take some extra time on it to include their experiences. On the plus side, this will only make the end result better! Stay tuned and we hope you enjoy this week's episode.

[RelativelyBest]

"It was a spider the size of a dog. Most horrible thing I ever saw."
"You exaggerate."
"Sir, I'm Australian."
"My God!"

[sashosimeonov]

Something about being caught in a web, surrounded by giant spiders is way more scarier than poltergeist hauntings and alien abductions.

[tonilarios]

If an Australian soldier tells you that spider is too big to be just a big spider; you simply listen to that man and run the opposite way as fast as your legs allow you to.

[Agent_Chieftain]

I find the ending quite funny, because the spider is all shadowing and menacing, but the snake looks so normal and kinda innocent. 😂

[carmenvanderhoof]

I once saw what I thought to be a giant spider on a road trip through New Mexico. Was on a one way road through the desert and noticed a large black shape in the middle of the road roughly the size of a basketball. As I drove closer it scuttled toward me, rising up much like a tarantula in self defense. I practically swerved off the road to dodge it. This was in the middle of the day. Bright sunlight. It scared me half to death

[weekendmom]

Makes me nostalgic for the April Fool's episode in 2021 about Baldsquatch. He looked so much friendlier than a giant killer spider.

[fankidtastic]

I love that the aussie attacked the spider *then* ran.

[calebtovar]

I have a personal story about oversized spiders: back in 2001 I moved to live by myself on one of family propieties, in northeast mexico. That house had been unhabited for several years, so it was my responsability to make it functional again; one of the characteristics is that it has a huge patio, not sure but maybe 35 x 25 mts. My parents told me that until 1960, there was a Water well at the end, but it was closed and concealed by the city town hall.

There were something peculiar on the piece of land, i frequently joke aboout everything grew large on that place, from fruits to insects. While a was clearing the patio from overgrown grass found remains of quite large cockroaches 7 or 8 cm large, and make things worse, those giant roaches, can fly, and found several "common" spiders of the area, the Menemerus bivittatus a very tiny spider that lives in small holes in wall, grow to several over grown sizes being the larger to a size of a tarantula or more or less almost like the average size of an adult hand palm, I killed like 3 of them and some other smaller in size but uncommonly large. I catch a rare (at least for me) yellow and chrome spider Argiope trifasciata.

Plants grew very fast and huge; I had a lemon tree, that gave lemons all year long and the average size were 6 or 7 cm in diameter, but the tree wasnt the of the species that grew such lemons. several friends were witnesses of my findings and there were impressed about how "common" household insects grew such sizes never seen before. too bad I didnt had a camera back then. So, makes sense, that spiders can grew much larger when near a water source.

[rebeccalove]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your writing, narrating and images are exception! Every story you tell is so detailed and keeps me intrigued the entire time! I'm so glad I don't live anywhere near where these giant spiders call home!!!

[creepypuppetspresents]

Did my Master's in Entomology. Couple things:
1] its actually a law of physics (the square-cube law) that keeps terrestrial arthropods tiny. As things get bigger, surface area decreases relative to volume. High surface area relative to volume is critical for diffusion of gasses and waste in and out of cells. You can either increase the surface area of cellular interface (capillaries) or increase the oxygenation of the fluid. Hermit crabs, including coconut crabs, do this through relatively better lungs than chelicerates (arachnids, horseshoe crabs, euryptera) .

2] Hermit crabs are only very distantly related to chelicerates--you are more closely related to a trout--so the probability of of a similar mechanism arising in a chelicerate is very unlikely. mistaken hermit crab? maybe, but then the problem arises in the other direction with the silk and venom.

3] Japanese Spider Demons are based on Old World Wolf Spiders which do live in Japan and surrounding countries. "Tarantula" originally referred to Old World Wolf Spiders, and what we call tarantulas used to be called "New World Wolf Spiders." Most lay people probably couldn't tell the difference between generic tarantula and generic Wolf Spider. Which is a problem in the sleazier side of the exotic pet trade because wolf spiders are *much* more venomous than tarantulas.

[markcambrone]

Thanks, Bedtime Stories crew… I needed a reason to never sleep again.

[DarthVader-uxuk]

My uncle Jim was an Australian soldier in ww2 he has heard stories of spiders of large size from the local people of Papua New Guinea. He never saw any though he did once claim to have seen a salt water crocodile later on the war that was 30 feet long lol .

[grapeshot]

It seems like arachnophobia along with the fear of snake seems to be an ancient phobia for humans. They asked a group of small kids from the city what were they afraid of and it wasn't what you thought it would be they immediately said spiders and snakes.

[larenlaniado]

This is, by far, the most terrifying episode to date.

[HalfLifeExpert]

Ah F**k. I knew this day would come. I'm quite an arachnophobe myself, but I pressed through this episode regardless because I'm such a devoted fan of your work. Had to just close my eyes and listen at certain points. The points about the scientific improbability of spiders that large are very sound. If these horrific beasts do exist, I'm not going within a 100 mile radius of their habitat without A) A flamethrower, B) 19 other people also armed with Flamethrowers, and C) A squadron of loitering aircraft with a full complement of Napalm canisters. And since I've heard vague stories about giant spiders in the Amazon, all I can say is thank god for the Panama Canal.

[BananaMike]

Coconut crabs do NOT get 12 feet in width, they get to be 3 feet across, tops
you may be thinking of the japanese spider crab, a deep sea crab whos legs can span 12 feet.

[ContessaChalice]

Pros — Bedtime Stories, bringing their own unique take on something strange and horrible. Soothing narration. Learning something new.
Cons — Giant spiders. Arachnophobia. Pictures of giant spiders.

(deep breath, hits the Like button) Okay, let’s do this.

[GhostOfATotalStranger]

My brother and I used to keep tarantulas and had a wide array of them from a Mombasa golden sunburst to a baboon spider, to the African trapdoor tarantula (cousin of the deadly Australian trapdoor) and looked like a crab, to the beautiful Ornamental tarantulas. My brother owned a cousin to a Goliath Bird Eater, which is smaller by comparison but was still larger than his hand. Its cousin reaches sizes larger than a dinner plate. A family friend if ours owned one for years and it was intimidating, needless to say. I myself was bit by a brown recluse when I was 2yrs old and had the early stages of Necrosis, I had my 3rd birthday party in hospital, provided by the nurses.There were very few cases of recorded bites, especially here in Ohio since they were primarily down south back in '85. The hospital I was treated had never seen a case like that and had to refer to books and consult institutions and had anti venom flown in. My parents gave permission for my bites to be photographed for a medical textbook for study for doctors/nurses. I had the early stages of Necrosis but thankfully recovered. Years later I heard a 5 yr old girl was bit by one and quickly succumbed, I was 2 when I was bit