Can creatures live underground like the graboids? We spoke to Allen Lipke, a former science teacher who worked at an underground lab to ask him what it’s like being half a mile underground.
Kelly: “How is life different that deep underground? Is there any water?”
Allen Lipke: “The water seeps in here and there. Some of it is coming from above. It comes down the shaft. And other water is extremely salty.”
Meg: “Salty? Why?”
Allen Lipke: “It’s been underground for millions of years. It’s the saltwater leftover from an inland sea. It’s ancient, ancient water, and so there’s bacteria there. Recently, I was sitting around with some friends and one of them brought up an article about multicellular nematodes existing in some of these underground mines that are feeding on the bacteria down there. That just blows my mind.”
Meg: “So, there is life underground?”
Allen Lipke: “There are indications of life deep underground that you just wouldn’t expect to have gotten there. The bacteria were there because water from the inland sea seeped down and carried bacteria with it. They’re a lithotrophic type of bacteria that break down rock and get their energy from the molecules that they break down. That leads to the idea of what will we find when we are able to do more research or look at Mars or the moons of Jupiter or the moons of Saturn. Some of these moons really look like they’re possible for life to exist.”
Bacteria can survive deep underground.
The article Mr. Lipke was referring to explains that rocks more than two miles underground were discovered to be over two hundred million years old, older than the dinosaurs, and were teeming with bacteria. These rocks provided proof that life can and does exist in places thought previously impossible to support life. Signs of life have been found everywhere from mines to the Arctic and under pressures and temperatures exceeding what were thought to be uninhabitable environments. The creatures of the deep are diverse and range from single-celled archaea to multicellular nematodes.2 Nematodes can range in size from less than a millimeter long to as long as twenty-six feet when living inside of a sperm whale. Most species of nematodes have no effect on humans and their endeavors. They feed on bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and even other nematodes, and play a very important role in nutrient cycling and release of nutrients for plant growth. Other nematodes attack insects, and help to control insect pests.
What kinds of animals burrow underground like the graboids? Earthworms dig tunnels by ingesting the soil in front of them and excreting it with mucus to form burrow walls. Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and even fish are known to burrow and make homes underground to use for protection from predators and climate or to store food. Burrows have been around for millions of years such as dinosaur burrows, which were recently discovered on multiple continents. They are not only dug into sand, however. Scabies mites burrow into human or animal skin to create their home while termites burrow into wood. These tunnels and holes can cause extensive damage to land and the environment as well as cause problems for humans.
Another aspect of the movie Tremors are the tremors themselves. What can make the ground shake? Earthquakes are one way we experience tremors of the earth. Naturally occurring earthquakes are explained by the moving of tectonic plates. When they shift, seismic activity is created and causes the ground to tremble. Earthquakes can also be caused by volcanic eruptions, mudslides, mining blasts, and nuclear tests. In ancient times people believed earthquakes were restless or angry gods. In Greek mythology Poseidon was also known as “earth shaker” and was credited with creating earthquakes with his giant trident. In Japan, people though a giant catfish was shaking the ground. Others believed gases were trying to escape the center of the earth or that there were volcanic eruptions underground.
In Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018) the graboids have moved to the underground arctic. Are there subterranean creatures that can survive in the cold? Antarctica has already been known to teem with microscopic life. Tiny organisms dwell on the ice, live inside glaciers, and exist in a rich microbial ecosystem underneath the thick ice sheet, where no sunlight has been felt for millions of years. In 2017 scientists discovered an underground oasis in Antarctica that was being heated by an active volcano. On the surface the average temperature is around -4 degrees Fahrenheit while the temperature in the caves can reach 77 degrees. The researchers found DNA traces of life in the caves including small animals, moss, and algae. They also speculate that there could be undiscovered species living underground.
When we think of the dark and seemingly endless boundaries of our oceans, it is easy to imagine there are species we may not have discovered. Closer to home, beneath our very feet, it is frightening to think there could be similar creatures. In Tremors, there are obscure hints, like atypical seismic waves, that point to the “graboids” beneath. We can only hope that if a new species is forming in the dirt, we get a tremor of a clue.
CHAPTER THIRTY
THE WOLF MAN
Year of Release: 1941
Director: George Waggner
Writer: Curt Siodmak
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains
Budget: $180,000
Box Office: $2.4 million
“Even a man who is pure in heart,
and says his prayers by night;
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.”
This poem, recited throughout The Wolf Man, tells a tale within a few simple lines. No one is safe from becoming a wolf if the circumstances are right. This is a horror film that allows the audience to connect with its monster because he is a person, just like we are.
The Wolf Man is considered to have had a tremendous influence on how Hollywood has portrayed werewolves on screen ever since its release in 1941. The film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See before You Die states that the film “still remains the most recognizable and most cherished version of the [werewolf] myth.”1 Not only did the film portray werewolves in an interesting way, it also allowed the audience to feel empathy for them. Perhaps the reason why has to do with the writer. Curt Siodmak was Jewish and left Germany during the rise of Nazism. In an interview with the Writers Guild of America in 1999, Siodmak said, “I am the wolf man. I was forced into a fate I didn’t want.” Movie historian Constantine Nasr observed that Siodmak saw this movie as “the story of an outsider whose destiny was cursed by forces he could not control.” The Wolf Man premiered just three days after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, but was able to be a box-office success despite the real-world atrocities taking place at the time.