Tingler

The Tingler: a parasite that feeds on terror!

Origin: The Tingler (1959 film)

Description

Scene from The Tingler (1959 film)...

"Interesting. This man's vertebrae are cracked. They're nearly splintered in two... I've seen this phenomenon many times in people who were badly frightened - just before they died. There's a force in us that science knows nothing about. The force of fear. That it's strong enough to shatter the spinal column, we know. Maybe it's what makes your spine tingle when you're scared? It's odd. I've been experimenting with this force for years, but never had a name for it until now. Now I think I'll call it 'the Tingler....' But what it is - what causes it to appear and disappear - we don't know. Some day I hope to find out. Many people die in fear. I wonder how many die of fear? Fear causes tremendous tensions in the body. If you can't relieve them, why can't they become strong enough to kill you? We know that it exists. If roentgen rays can't penetrate it, we know it's solid. We know that fear energizes it, gives it strength. That's about all we know... except that it exists in every human being, and that it's extremely powerful. We think we know that fear causes the Tingler to spread along the spinal column, and, with those arm-like things between the vertebrae, forces it to become arched and rigid. At least screaming seems to paralyze it, or stop it from bending the spinal column. Screaming may dissolve it, or, if it's a living organism, kill it. But I'd guess it is made of sinews of some very powerful material...."

— Dr. Chapin, describing his discovery

"The Tingler" - scream, scream for your life!

A "Tingler" is a dark, centipede-like mass that materializes along the spine of a victim of great terror, apparently attracted to - and feeding upon - its victim's fear. The Tingler seizes its victim's spine and, if not interrupted by its victim's screams, will crush the vertebrae while its victim slowly dies of heart failure induced by the fear. For some reason, the Tingler has an aversion to human screams; perhaps the vibrations of the sound are repellent to the Tingler, or the release of nervous tension associated with a scream of terror spoil the environment that a Tingler would otherwise thrive in.

It's unknown where the Tingler comes from or goes to when it materializes and de-materializes: it might dwell somewhere on the Other Side, emerging into this world when it senses fear and retreating back to that mysterious place away from its victim's screams. Or, perhaps the Tingler exists in our world, alongside its victims, in the air and solid matter and space around us, unseen by human eyes but always present. Or, the Tingler might exist only in nightmare regions of the Dreamlands, hitch-hiking into the waking world upon the backs of terrified dreamers. Or, the Tingler in its physical form might be a construct of ectoplasm, formed by the psychically sensitive under the influence of creatures that otherwise exist on the Astral Plane. Or, perhaps the Tingler is present in human bodies naturally, as a parasite, or a tumor, or an organ with unknown purpose. Whatever the case, many human beings have experienced the "spine-tingling" sensation of a Tingler's presence under strange, eerie, or terrifying circumstances, yet the Tingler has only rarely been physically seen or identified even by those who have performed countless careful autopsies of the Tingler's victims who failed to scream in time to prevent the spine-crushing, heart-stopping death associated with the Tingler.

Heresies and Controversies

• The Tingler's origins are uncertain, possibly including any of the following possibilities (fan theories):
  • it originates somewhere on the Other Side, attracted to this world by its host's fear
  • it exists in our world, alongside its victims, in the air and solid matter and space around us, undetected by human senses, but always present and ready to latch onto a likely host
  • it exists naturally in nightmare regions of the Dreamlands, and hitch-hikes into the waking world upon the backs of terrified dreamers
  • in its physical form it might be a construct of ectoplasm, formed by a sensitive medium under the influence of creatures that otherwise exist on the Astral Plane
  • it is present in human bodies naturally, as a parasite, or a tumor, or an organ with unknown purpose

Quotes

Dr. Chapin: "Interesting. This man's vertebrae are cracked. They're nearly splintered in two."
Dave Morris: "Two thousand volts!"
Dr. Chapin: "Electricity had nothing to do with this. I've seen this phenomenon many times in people who were badly frightened - just before they died. There's a force in us that science knows nothing about. The force of fear. That it's strong enough to shatter the spinal column, we know. But what it is - what causes it to appear and disappear - we don't know. Some day I hope to find out."
Dave Morris: "Maybe it's what makes your spine tingle when you're scared."
Dr. Chapin: "Exactly."
Dave Morris: "Tingle?"
Dr. Chapin: "It can do a great deal more than that. It's odd. I've been experimenting with this force for years, but never had a name for it until now. Now I think I'll call it 'the Tingler.'"
Dave Morris: "You do all the autopsies out here?"
Dr. Chapin: "Most of them, and for the county too. It ties in with my experimental work in fear. Many people die in fear. I wonder how many die of fear?"
Dave Morris: "You mean, being scared to death?"
Dr. Chapin: "Not on the death certificate. Fear causes tremendous tensions in the body. If you can't relieve them, why can't they become strong enough to kill you?"
Dave Morris: "Never thought of it that way."
Dr. Chapin: "I've thought of little else for some years now. That man's vertebrae are cracked. Sensation of fear alone can't have done that. Something real and powerful broke those bones. And on the death certificate, I'll write down that 'death was caused by heart failure due to electrically-induced shock'...."
...
Dave Morris: "What do we know about The Tingler? What do we think we know, and what have we got to find out?"
Dr. Chapin: "First, we know that it exists. If roentgen rays can't penetrate it, we know it's solid. We know that fear energizes it, gives it strength. That's about all we know... except that it exists in every human being, and that it's extremely powerful."
Dave Morris: "What do we think we know?"
Dr. Chapin: "That fear causes the Tingler to spread along the spinal column, and, with those arm-like things between the vertebrae, forces it to become arched and rigid."
Dave Morris: "And you believe that screaming - or any sound the human in fear can make - paralyzes it?"
Dr. Chapin: "At least screaming seems to stop it from bending the spinal column. Screaming may dissolve it, or if it's a living organism, kill it. And these are things we have to find out."
Dave Morris: "What do you think it's made of?"
Dr. Chapin: "I don't know. But I'd guess sinews of some very powerful material."
Dave Morris: "You said, 'living organism.' Could the Tingler be alive? A separate and living thing inside our bodies?"
Dr. Chapin: "Why not? You know, of course, that after death many things continue to live in the body. Fingernails grow, so does hair, and the formation of calcium in the bones continues. Life is not merely a matter of breathing and a beating heart. We've come a long way."
Dave Morris: "We got a long way to go."
Dr. Chapin: "Perhaps. And perhaps not. We now know that at the peak of terror the Tingler is a solid mass extending from the coccyx to the cervicals. If one could stand the pain without screaming or otherwise releasing their tension until they died, an autopsy would give us a Tingler we could work with."
Dave Morris: "The advancement of human knowledge is fine, but dying for it?"
Dr. Chapin: "If that's your attitude, we'll have to find someone else who's willing to die for science. And eventually we will."
— The Tingler (1959 film)

Associated Mythos Elements

• TO DO

References

• Film: The Tingler (1959 film)