Editing Parasitism (section)

=== Fiction ===

{{further|List of fictional parasites|Parasites in fiction}}

[[File:Parasites Katrin Alvarez.jpg|thumb|Fictional parasitism: oil painting ''Parasites'' by Katrin Alvarez, 2011]]

In [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 [[Gothic fiction|Gothic horror]] novel ''[[Dracula]]'', and [[Dracula in popular culture|its many film adaptations]], the eponymous [[Count Dracula]] is a [[hematophagy|blood-drinking]] parasite (a vampire). The critic [[Laura Otis]] argues that as a "thief, seducer, creator, and mimic, Dracula is the ultimate parasite. The whole point of vampirism is sucking other people's blood—living at other people's expense."<ref>{{cite book |last=Otis |first=Laura |title=Networking: Communicating with Bodies and Machines in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VEimJkOmW1kC&pg=PA216 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-11213-5 |page=216}}</ref>

Disgusting and terrifying [[Parasites in fiction|parasitic alien species]] are widespread in [[science fiction]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Parasitism and Symbiosis |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/parasitism_and_symbiosis |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |date=10 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Dove2011">{{cite web |last1=Dove |first1=Alistair |title=This is clearly an important species we're dealing with |url=http://www.deepseanews.com/2011/05/this-is-clearly-an-important-species-were-dealing-with/ |publisher=Deep Sea News |date=9 May 2011}}</ref> as for instance in [[Ridley Scott]]'s 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.<ref name="Pappas2012">{{cite web |last1=Pappas |first1=Stephanie |title=5 Alien Parasites and Their Real-World Counterparts |url=https://www.livescience.com/20624-5-alien-parasites-real-inspiration.html |publisher=Live Science |date=29 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Sercel2017>{{cite web |last1=Sercel |first1=Alex |title=Parasitism in the Alien Movies |url=http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |publisher=Signal to Noise Magazine |date=19 May 2017 |access-date=11 February 2018 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033850/http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |url-status=usurped }}</ref> In one scene, a [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|Xenomorph]] bursts out of the chest of a dead man, with blood squirting out under high pressure assisted by [[bullet hit squib|explosive squibs]]. [[Organ (anatomy)|Animal organs]] were used to reinforce the shock effect. The scene was filmed in a single take, and the startled reaction of the actors was genuine.<ref name=Guardian2009>{{cite news |title=The Making of Alien's Chestburster Scene |date=13 October 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster |access-date=29 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430221033/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster |archive-date=30 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Nordine2017>{{cite news |last=Nordine |first=Michael |title='Alien' Evolution: Explore Every Stage in the Xenomorph's Gruesome Life Cycle. Celebrate Alien Day with a look at the past, present and future of cinema's most terrifying extraterrestrial |url=http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/alien-xenomorph-life-cycle-1201808503/ |work=IndieWire |date=25 April 2017}}</ref>

The [[entomopathogenic fungus]] ''[[Cordyceps]]'' is represented culturally as a deadly threat to the human race. The video game series ''[[The Last of Us (franchise)|The Last of Us]]'' (2013–present) and its [[The Last of Us (TV series)|television adaptation]] present ''Cordyceps'' as a parasite of humans, causing a [[zombie apocalypse]].<ref name="Hill 2013 SciAm"/> Its human hosts initially become violent "infected" beings, before turning into blind zombie "clickers", complete with fruiting bodies growing out from their faces.<ref name="Hill 2013 SciAm">{{cite magazine |last=Hill |first=Kyle |title=The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/the-fungus-that-reduced-humanity-to-the-last-of-us/ |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |access-date=4 May 2021 |date=25 June 2013 <!--subscription required-->}}</ref>