Phantom Fungus Name Generator

Phantom Fungus names and their meanings

Select a name to copy it. Every name below is free to use.

Hush Name

A soft, short household name given the way a family names a hen or a cat.

• Shulo'soft' joined to a household ending used for the low shelf regular
• Nessa'nestle' turned into the name for a snug corner dweller
• Lolla'low' lengthened into a name for its floor-hugging cap
• Nulo'nook' rounded into a quiet name for the pantry corner
• Shomun'soft-lidded' for the crock whose cover it nudges loose
• Selnou'low-shelf sleeper,' named for the flour dust it gathers
• Nolshu'candle-leaner,' from the wick that tilts toward its nook
• Lomesh'spoon hider,' for the little hollow beneath the pantry step
• Shemul'damp hem,' after the linen edge it keeps tucked under
• Nushel'round as a plum,' for the soft swell beside the jars
• Mollun'quiet stack,' recalling the lids nested by the stair
• Surnoa'dry-step friend,' named for its favorite patch of stone
• Shunel'crumb keeper,' for the bread bits tucked behind its shelf
• Melsu'cool crock nose,' for the jar it noses open at dusk
• Sonnul'still-water nook,' for the corner beside the covered wash bowl

Crock Epithet

A bare name followed by the jar, shelf or step the growth is known to disturb.

• Mim of the plum crockIt noses the plum crock lid loose whenever rain darkens the stones
• Sly of the dry stepIt leaves the dry step dusted with a neat crescent of spores
• Nell of the salt jarIt stacks salt jar rings beside the shelf's crooked wooden peg
• Lush of the low shelfIt favors the low shelf where the candle soot gathers thickest
• Moss of the milk crockIt clouds the milk crock rim with a faint, pearly bloom
• Shin of the bean jarIt nudges the bean jar until its label faces the wall
• Mel of the cracked bowlIt nests under the cracked bowl and steals its last warmth
• Sool of the stair crockIt leaves tiny white beads along the stair crock's chipped handle
• Nim of the coal binIt gathers coal dust into tidy rings around the bin's feet
• Len of the candle shelfIt bends toward the candle shelf and powders the wick tin

Lid Stacker

A working title built from the growth's habit of nesting lids at the stairs.

• LidnesterIt nests three mismatched lids on the stair's broadest wooden tread
• CovererIt covers the onion crock with lids borrowed from the jam shelf
• StackerIt stacks tin lids in a leaning tower beside the drain
• LidgathererIt gathers every loose lid beneath the cellar's lowest shelf
• NestlerIt nests small crock lids inside the largest chipped saucer
• LidhaulerIt hauls lids from the pantry corner and piles them near the stairs
• PilerIt piles round jar covers where the dry step widens
• LidfilerIt files lids by size along the dampest stretch of wall
• GathererIt gathers kettle covers and hides them behind the flour bin
• LidstackerIt stacks crock lids until the candle's shadow reaches the ceiling

Duster's Mark

A flat, practical label a flour-thrower might use for a growth after seeing it white and swollen.

• Pale KnobA flour-dusted swollen knob appears beside the cellar's old drainpipe
• White PuffThe flour thrower marked its rounded white swelling on the bean shelf
• Gray ButtonA gray button cap keeps rising through flour scattered near the stairs
• Soft LumpThe soft lump presses against the salt crock after each cold night
• Round BloomA round bloom swells beneath the shelf where onion skins collect
• Milk BulbIts milk-colored bulb leaves powder on the cracked bowl's rim
• Chalk PuffA chalky puff forms beside the candle stub and the coal scuttle
• Dusky ButtonThe dusky button stains the shelf paper beneath the plum crock
• Pale CushionIts pale cushion shape bulges through flour beside the dry step
• White KnuckleA white knuckle of fungus grips the damp boards behind the jars

Cellar Elder

The long, accumulated name of a growth that has outlived several owners of the house.

• Not That CrockThe first owner complained whenever it loosened the pickle crock lid
• Leave the Step DryThe next household protested its powdery trail across the dry stair
• Save the Candle StubA former cook grumbled that its cap leaned toward the candle stub
• Those Lids AgainTwo owners found their lids stacked beneath the crooked stair rail
• Keep Flour CoveredThe pantry keeper complained of spores settling into the flour crock
• Mind the Salt JarA householder cursed the salt jar's lid tucked beneath its pale mound
• Not the Onion ShelfThe cellar tenant objected when it clouded the onion shelf again
• Wipe the Low CornerIts old corner bloom kept returning after every careful sweeping
• Put Back the SpoonOne owner blamed it for burying the wooden spoon under saucers
• There Goes the MilkThe household complained as its powder clouded another crock of milk

How phantom fungus names are made

Names for a phantom fungus are given by the household that shares the cellar, and they sound like it. The palette is soft: sibilants, liquids and nasals (s, sh, l, m, n), with low, rounded vowels, so a name can be said down a stairwell without waking anything. Most run one or two syllables. Few reach three, and those usually carry a place on the end. The usual structure is a short name plus an epithet drawn from the cellar: the crock it unlids, the shelf it favors, the step that stays dry.

Names come from small domestic facts, what it took, what it stacked, which corner the candle leans toward, and almost never from ancestry or deeds. Nobody names it for a dead relative, and nobody uses a word meaning ghost, empty or nothing, which are taken as an insult or an invitation. A young growth gets a bare name. An old one that has outlived two owners of the house collects epithets until the name is a short sentence. Example shapes: a two-syllable hush name ending in a soft vowel; a one-syllable name plus "of the plum crock"; a stacking verb turned into a title.

The phantom fungus: bestiary entry

Questions about phantom fungus names