On April 22, the world will celebrate Earth Day, an annual reminder of our collective responsibility to protect our planet. As environmental concerns grow more urgent, a fascinating literary genre has emerged that explores humanity's complex relationship with nature: eco horror. What if the Earth itself fought back against human negligence? Not just through intensifying natural disasters, but in more fantastical ways—sentient trees hunting humans, or coordinated shark attacks targeting coastal communities. These unsettling scenarios invite us to confront our environmental anxieties through the lens of horror, offering both entertainment and a sobering reflection on our stewardship of the natural world.

Ecological horror movies look at humans and their abusive relationship with the planet. Many of the scenarios involve nature striking back harshly against humans. For example, maybe a massive plague, a new species of plants that murder humans, or even catastrophic weather events would be featured within the movie. One of the earlier movie examples of ecological horror is Alfred Hichcock's 1963 classic The Birds. The movie follows a series of violent killings at the hands, or in this case beaks of flocks of birds. It doesn't just have to be humans neglect of the planet, it could also be too much scientific curiosity creating chaos. Jurassic Park (1993) deals with a scientist who takes genetic cloning way too far, and while he creates an awe inspiring park full of dinosaurs that are living, they must also deal with the consequences of their actions.

Modern ecological horror has many roots in the environmental movements of the late 1960's and 1970's. A few years before The Birds was released, Rachel Carlson would release Silent Spring. This book exposed the dangers of pesticides like DDT, sparking public concern about the impact of chemicals on the environment and wildlife. The late 60's and early 70's saw many environmental disasters. In January of 1969, you had the Santa Barbra oil spill. Union Oil had a blow out on platform A of the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field. In the end, the spill released eighty to one-hundred thousand barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean. While there were no long-term effects, nearly 3,900 birds died because of the spill, many fish species dropped for a short period of time after the spill, and an unknown number of sea lions and other mammals died as a result. On the one year anniversary of the blowout, citizens of Santa Barbra gathered together for Environmental Rights Day. This incident coupled with the Cuyahoga River catching fire months earlier helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency, and ushered in the official recognition of Earth Day in the United States.

Thanks to these movements, ecological horror became a writer and director's way of making us think twice about fooling Mother Nature.

One of the most famous films came two years after the first Earth Day was celebrated. 1972's Frogs took us to Florida to meet Jason Crockett, a cranky millionaire who wanted to eradicate frogs, so his family of spoiled brats can enjoy a nice Independence Day on their private island. Florida's nature had other ideas. The frogs began to get their revenge by enlisting alligators, snakes, and snapping turtles to get revenge on those brats.

Frogs came out the same year DDT was officially banned by the United States. Once found to be a great mosquito repellant, it was also killing off the bald eagle population by making their eggshells too leathery for the hatchlings to grow. After Frogs, you had Night of the Lepus, where an invasive species was decimating the American Southwest and Australia. Invasive species is still a huge topic in the environmental world, both plant or animal. This would be a case of science thinking it could fool mother nature, as the scientists in the movie inadvertently create killer giant rabbits (And no, while as funny as a Monty Python skit, it wasn't to be intended as such.)

Even through the 1980's and 1990's, you would have films like Arachnophobia, the aforementioned Jurassic Park, and Cujo, just to name a few. As we go through the sixth extension phase of Earth, and we lose twenty percent of all animal species on the planet, do not expect them to fade quietly into that sweet night. Their cinematic revenge is still only in the opening stages.

While many environmental disaster and horror films would be classified as documentaries, there are good fictional horror films that have the power to wake up the populous about our abusive ways towards Mother Earth. The most famous film from this category has to be The Day After Tomorrow. The film follows Jack Hall, who must get to his son while dealing with rapid onset climate change that plunges the Earth into a new ice age. Snowpiercer (2013) shows what happens when we try to stop climate change, not by actually changing ourselves, but by spraying aerosols into the air. This would backfire, and plunge the world into an ice age. Earth's only survivors are stuck on a circumnavigational train.

While many of these films would be considered more action or science fiction, mother nature will have her revenge.

Plant revenge can go from the downright campy to the bone chilling. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes from 1978 was a horror comedy about sentient tomatoes that went on a killing spree. However, you could read this movie as a commentary on genetically modified organisms. The bone chilling would come in 2008 when M. Night Shyamalan would release The Happening. This is a movie where plants would release a neurotoxin causing people to commit heinous acts such as suicide and mass murder. You can look at the movie in a few directions as possibly a criticism on overpopulation, or the destructive nature of cities. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978) would see plants turn people into emotionless husks of themselves. The film uses plants as more of a critique of consumerism and conformity.

Modern movies have shown a flair for reminding us that unsustainable capitalism can do to not just our environment, but plot our inevitable demise. In Gaia (2021), forest ranger Gabi who becomes separated from her colleague during a routine mission in a primeval forest. After injuring herself, she's rescued by a survivalist father and son who live in isolation. As Gabi recovers, she discovers the pair worship a fungal entity they call "the Mother" that has infected much of the surrounding forest. The film reveals that this sentient fungal network is preparing to reclaim the Earth from humanity, whom it views as a disease. As Gabi becomes increasingly infected by fungal spores, she must decide whether to embrace this new natural order or fight against it, ultimately questioning humanity's place in the natural world.

We have witnessed decades of ecological horror depicting nature's vengeance against humanity, and as we continue to encroach upon wild territories, this genre promises to expand with more visceral tales of the natural world fighting back. Ecological horror's fundamental message remains clear: Mother Nature, not humanity, commands the apex of existence. Like folk horror, which we explored previously, ecological horror positions humans as the true antagonists—despoilers of a sacred balance with a rapidly diminishing chance for redemption. When these genres intertwine, they reveal our urgent need to reconcile with our destructive past and radically transform our relationship with the environment to ensure any future at all. Perhaps most disturbing is the realization that today's most terrifying ecological horror narratives aren't found in fiction at all, but in what we clinically label as "documentaries”, scientific records of our planet's ongoing collapse that unfold in real-time as we continue to poison our only home.

A little support goes a long way! If you’d like to help me keep creating, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/macabretavern