Archive 81 Presents: Spirits Podcast – The Shuddering of Creekside Mushrooms

Episode Date: October 31, 2025
Host: Dead Signals (Archive 81)
Featured Podcast: Spirits – Hosted by Amanda and Julia
Episode Focus: Revisiting the scariest listener-submitted urban legend: “The Shuddering of Creekside Mushrooms”

Overview

This special Halloween episode of Archive 81 features a full crossover with the Spirits podcast. Hosts Amanda and Julia dive into one of their most unforgettable, horrifying listener stories – “The Shuddering of Creekside Mushrooms,” written by Michael K. With themes of fungal horror, the haunted past of American industry, and a distinctly rust belt brand of urban legend, the story interweaves deep unease, humor, and speculation about what really lurks beneath the surface. The episode revisits this tale with added expertise from Mushroom Month and a few years’ hindsight, making it especially chilling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Spirits and the Story

• Amanda describes Spirits as "A boozy dive into mythology, legends and folklore."
  [01:43]
• Julia: Wraps up Mushroom Month by revisiting Creekside Mushrooms, “the scariest story we have ever told on this podcast.”
  [01:52]
• Emphasis: Revisiting the story with new knowledge of mushrooms, horror tropes, and historical context.
  [02:40–03:01]

Setting the Scene: Worthington, Pennsylvania & Creekside Mushrooms

• The story is set in rural Pennsylvania, noted for oddities such as a gas station/hot tub store and recent notoriety for racism.
  [04:06–04:33]
• Creekside Mushrooms operated since 1937 in an abandoned limestone quarry – once the largest underground mushroom farm in the USA.
  [05:38]

Julia: “Mining in particular is a truly haunted industry because of how dangerous it is and how those caves are not good for people and labor conditions.” [06:01]

• The plant shut down due to a “mysterious mushroom virus” and could never be fully sanitized.
  [06:52–07:08]

Industrial Decay, Fungal Science, and Horror

• Creekside’s “Bio Products Division” worked with non-edible and utility fungi: medicines, insecticides, and more.
  [08:35–10:03]
• The hosts discuss real-world corporate malfeasance (e.g., seed megacorps like Monsanto) and the unsettling implications of fungal research.
  [10:14–10:52]
• Cordyceps and Metarhizium (insect-killing fungi) are highlighted as a scientific background for the story’s horror elements.
  [11:17–12:06]

Amanda: “You can Google pictures if you want an extra nightmare or two. Or if not, just imagine an army of dead bugs covered in bright green mold.” [11:56]

The Disappearance & Corporate Conspiracy

• In 2007, a new hire (notably with bright red hair) disappears in the mines during a shift.
  [13:32–14:05]
• The company and law enforcement quickly hush the event; upper management then disappears for several days.
  [15:14]
• After their return, the bio-products division ceases insecticide work and Creekside is shut down, hinting at deep, possibly supernatural reasons that transcend profit.
  [16:17–17:34]

Julia: “For businesses to be like, 'Oh, wait, we're making profit, but we need to shut it down anyway.' Red flags. Red flags everywhere.” [16:17]

Physical and Psychological Decay

• The hosts reflect on the haunted, physically dangerous nature of old industrial spaces.
• Tales of abandoned equipment, dangerous quarries, and the mine’s labyrinthine, multi-level structure sets a vividly claustrophobic scene.
  [18:21–19:49]
• Michael, the narrator, begins working there as a researcher post-shutdown, mostly above ground, creating new mushroom hybrids.
  [19:49–20:12]

Julia: “You are about to create a mushroom monster in a sci fi movie. Like, you need to understand.” [20:12]

The Day of the Event

• In 2017, Michael is sent to the farm to fix a supposedly malfunctioning CO₂ sensor. He enters alone at dusk, acknowledges the “extra air of foreboding,” and describes the building's poor condition (walls marked with “bright red X,” risk of electrocution, minimal heat).
  [23:15–25:02]
• Encounters “Moonlight,” a small orange cat with a mushroom-themed collar, who behaves strangely and leads Michael deep into the tunnels.
  [26:11]

Amanda: “I love the idea of the—untouched by the sun—underground, like, freaky white mushroom.” [26:21]

The Descent: Fungal Horror at its Core

• Moonlight leads Michael through dark, decaying tunnels, beyond routine areas, and deeper into the labyrinth, far from safety and cell service.
  [28:12–29:23]
• Discussion on the primal fear of darkness, echoing animal cries, and classic horror tropes as Michael follows the cat.
  [28:28–30:08]
• Julia postulates: “Is it possible that this cat might have been a version of that [fungus-infected zombification]?” [33:08]

The Discovery: The Underground Lake

• As Michael ventures further, guided now only by his phone’s light, he encounters a sharp, “sickly sweet decay” smell.
• Comes upon an underground lake, a metal canoe at the edge—and the chilling realization that all surfaces are coated in “bright green mold.”
  [35:49–36:58]

Julia: “That’s the one that he mentioned before. That’s the one that they used as the insecticide.”
[36:58]

• Sees a “vaguely human proportioned” shape floating in the lake, enveloped by spores. The “room came to life,” and Michael’s next memory is suddenly of driving home, with no recollection of his frantic escape.
  [37:05–38:54]

Aftermath and Haunting Implications

• Michael covers up his experience with a plausible workplace mishap story to avoid sounding “nuts.” His boss soon disappears, Creekside is condemned with “safety concerns,” and the entire operation relocates.
  [40:34–41:56]
• Years later, prompted by curiosity, Michael asks about the cat Moonlight. “What cat?” is the only response—nobody else admits ever seeing it.
  [43:51–44:44]

Julia: “Who put the mushroom collar on the cat? Did the cat even exist? What’s happening?” [44:54]

• Chilling notion: The cat and the redheaded woman are parallel mysteries, both potentially erased by supernatural or conspiratorial forces within the tunnels.

Listener Speculation and Follow-up

• Michael’s follow-up email mentions people breaking into the mines with AR-15s and flashbang grenades—officially attributed to “kids looking to steal stuff,” but stirring further conspiracy theories.
  [46:20–46:54]

Julia: “That sounds like a local news story to cover up something, for sure.” [46:54]

• The episode ends with Amanda and Julia inviting listener stories and reaffirming the uniquely American brand of “rust belt biological horror.”
• Julia instructs listeners to “Google Creekside Mushrooms, Worthington, Pennsylvania”—even marketing photos are “big spooky.”
  [48:06–48:33]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Julia, on the mine’s labor history:
  “We've talked now many times about how mining in particular is a truly haunted industry... those caves are not good for people and labor conditions.” [06:01]

• Amanda, on fungal insecticide imagery:
  “Imagine an army of dead bugs covered in bright green mold.” [11:56]

• Julia and Amanda, on horror tropes:
  “I could practically hear the opening narration for half a dozen true crime podcasts playing in the background as I decided what to do.” [29:40]

• Revelation:
  “The thing I had tripped over was a canoe, because moonlight had led me to the shore of an underground lake hundreds of feet in diameter... every surface in the whole cavern was covered by a thick layer of bright green mold.” [35:13–36:58]

• Julia, response to the ambiguous ending:
  “Who put the mushroom collar on the cat? Did the cat even exist? What’s happening? What the fuck?” [44:54]

• Amanda, on the ultimate horror of lost time:
  “The next memory I have was staring out the windshield of my car... drenched in sweat... I have no memory of anything in between the lake and the car.” [38:54]

• Closing note on the horror’s persistence:
  Amanda: “Three years later this shit is haunting me and I love it.” [45:00]

Notable Timestamps

• 01:43 – Spirits podcast introduction
• 05:38 – Creekside Mushrooms & underground setting described
• 13:32 – Disappearance of the redheaded worker
• 23:15 – Michael’s journey underground begins
• 26:11 – The introduction of Moonlight the cat
• 28:28 – Entering deeper into the tunnels, following Moonlight
• 33:08 – Speculation that Moonlight could be a fungal “zombie” host
• 35:49 – Discovery of the underground lake and the horror within
• 38:54 – Michael snaps back to reality, missing time
• 43:51 – The chilling “What cat?” exchange
• 46:20 – Reference to armed break-in and cover-up news stories
• 48:33 – Hosts urge listeners to search for images of real Creekside Mushrooms

Tone & Language

The episode masterfully interweaves dry wit, genuine horror, and research-based skepticism. Amanda and Julia riff off each other with dark humor but never lose the thread of mounting dread. They use forthright, accessible language and regularly break the tension with quips and pop culture references, only to pull listeners back into the depth of horror with deliberateness and care.

Final Thoughts

The Shuddering of Creekside Mushrooms remains the defining tale of Spirits' brand of urban legend: meticulously detailed, simultaneously plausible and supernatural, and steeped in the real history and anxieties of rural America. With speculation about biology, labor, capitalism, and the uncanny, the hosts give listeners not just chills, but deeper social context and a powerful sense of ambiguity that lingers long after the episode ends.

Closing advice from Julia:
“And remember, the next time that you are surrounded by pestilent spores, stay creepy.” [48:41]

Amanda adds:
“Stay cool. Put on a fucking mask.” [48:49]