The television adaptation of the famous video game of the same name, The Last of Us, is the most popular series of the moment. Created by Neil Druckman and Craig Mazin, the show is based on a video game and follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) on an intense journey through an America ravaged by a mutation of the parasitic fungus Cordyceps.
In addition to the hostile survivors, Joel and Elise have to deal with infected people who have turned into some pretty scary monsters. Because of the series, part of the public has developed a certain fear of Cordyceps, which is an actual genus of entomopathogenic fungi that infect insects or spiders.
But that’s not the only phobia that resurfaces in viewers when they watch The Last of Us. If we are to believe some testimonials on social networks like Twitter or community websites like RedditA very specific fear affects a certain segment of society.
It’s a strange phobia that keeps popping up among fans of The Last of Us
Several netizens have expressed a strange phobia that keeps resurfacing after watching The Last of Us and the various infected people in the series. This is trypophobia, which is not a phobia in the medical sense, but is a fear associated with the sight of holes, such as honeycombs, lesions caused by dermatological diseases or the lotus head with its seeds.
People with trypophobia often associate holes with infection, disease, or the presence of parasites. And in some people, it can cause anxiety, itching, goosebumps, and even nausea.
This particular fear has thus awakened in some viewers who have spoken about it on social networks, as evidenced by the reactions below.
Translation: Episode 2 of The Last of Us blew me away. Suffering from trypophobia makes the series difficult to watch. This picture just makes me sick.”
Translation: “I’m pretty tolerant of grossness, but The Last of Us is fueling a weird part of my trypophobia that I hadn’t yet discovered…”
Translation: “I’m watching The Last of Us.”
The Last of Us is not the first series that has caused or awakened trypophobia in viewers. We remember, in particular, the 7th season of the American horror story called Cult, which, as soon as it was published with honey, caused a crisis among several fans.
The Last of Us series is available on Prime Video.
Source: Allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
