Matango

Encyclopedia Entry:
A monster mushroom shaped like a woman that lives in the damp places in the forest. They stick their roots into the ground or large trees and absorb nutrients through their roots. Since they put down roots, they cannot move around. They are very often dazed, since the nutrients that they get from the ground are not sufficient to supply the nutrients they need for activity.

They spread a large amount of spores at regular intervals. If a human male breathes one of these in, it will expand and grow as it slowly seizes the thoughts of the male. Men who have their thoughts seized can only think of the matango that scattered that spore and will go to that matango, led by the spore inside them. After capturing a man in this way, the matango will absorb semen through sexual intercourse. A matango that has taken in enough nutrients will become active, continuing to have intercourse with its prey and sending out even more spores. Men who have sex with the matango for a long time will have many spores implanted in their body. When mushrooms start to grow on the men’s outsides, they turn into a “mushroom person” who can think of nothing but continuing to have sex with the matango.

If human women should breathe in the spores, the spores will grow inside them, as with men. The mushroom, having grabbed a part of the woman’s mind, will drastically increase its host’s sexual desires, making her attack men and absorb their semen. This makes the mushroom grow rapidly, and it soon changes the woman into a matango. If a woman in a village breathes in the spores, that village will soon become a “village of the matango.”

Trivia

 * There has been some confusion in regards to the Matango's name, a frequent mistranslation, "Mandako," to be precise.
 * It has been confirmed that the Japanese spelling "マタンゴ " does spell Matango in English.