Cocooned Corpse Model

“Slumped against a tree lay a large cocoon. There is no definition in its limbs, yet I can still see a silhouette reminiscent of a person. A tight membrane has been coiled around the outside, pale and shrivelled, highlighting the anatomy of the bones. Whilst I approach, I conclude this was the work of no caterpillar nor spider.”

This model was initially designed as an exercise in creating a puppet with a latex skin. While it didn’t evolve past the clay sculpting stage, it was great to get some more hands-on sculpting skills, and a bit of texture creation in Blender.

The corpse was inspired by a short story for a creative writing course in university, back in 2022. The story (full thing below) is set around a forager who discovers this horrific site in the forests, to then learn more of the disturbing scene, and what caused it.

The first step was, of course, planning. In Inkscape I drafted up a basic outline of the upper body, to use as a diagram to indicate intended - or possible, space and complexity depending - functionality and details.

After gathering reference images for cocoons and textures in PureRef, I jumped into Blender to begin sculpting the bust of a body, following anatomy from previous sculpting experiences as well as a textbook. Because of the “membrane“ around the corpse, I didn’t need to be too detailed in the end results of the anatomy. As usual with creature sculpting, the basic shapes are fleshed out, then the details are continually added as the model gets more refined.

Just for a bit of fun, I wanted to create a custom texture for the corpse for rendering. The most important part of that, in this case, was subsurface scattering. Since I had last used it, the SS controls has received a significant change, so I needed to re-learn how they worked. It took very careful balancing of colours, and intensity of normal maps and SS to get the right look.

The 3D model was preliminary for the clay sculpting – because my 3D design skills are stronger, I fabricated it digitally and then mimicked it in clay afterwards. The clay armature is 3D printed from a smaller, much geometrically simpler model of the bust. It was eventually mounted onto a stand to raise it off the pinewood base for molding.

Monster Clay was warmed up and pushed onto the armature in chunks to build up the volume to its intended level. As with the digital sculpting, details were continuously refined over time. A number of tools were used, and if I had decided to continue with the project, I would have also made up a variety of rakes to smooth the surface.

So, while the project wasn’t taken to completion, I’m still happy with the design of the corpse, as well as the clay sculpting skills I developed.

Crawling

The days shorten and the mornings bear chills as the last weeks of Fall fleet. In our small town, we work collectively to brace ourselves for the darker months ahead. Lumberjacks collect and treat pine to the East, while the hunters and gatherers work towards the West, in thicker woods. Myself being a gatherer, I lug wicker baskets to scavenge for fruits and apothecarial ingredients, with a knife on my waist. Both roles carry oak maces with iron caps, which when pounded into the ground sends a thunderous quake to ward off snakes indulging in the last moments of scant warmth. It would also warn the elk we were nearby - the cost of a life saved.

I start my work in the South-West of the woods, where thicker foliage a short distance from the lake creates a thriving atmosphere for mushrooms. Here, the dense canopies served as a constant evening sky, trapping moisture. It is an unpleasant slog to forage through, but my reward is almost guaranteed. Before too long I come across a mound of faeces, decomposing with the aid of brown fungi. With my knife unsheathed, I carve along the stems and place them by the handful into my left basket. As I start to go back for another picking, I notice in my peripherals a solid white mass. My instinctive reaction is a community of mushrooms, but as it comes into focus, I realise it was something unnatural - something disturbing.

Slumped against a tree lay a large cocoon. There is no definition in its limbs, yet I can still see a silhouette reminiscent of a person. A tight membrane has been coiled around the outside, pale and shrivelled, highlighting the anatomy of the bones. Whilst I approach, I conclude this was the work of no caterpillar or spider. Dotted along the corpse' body are openings, dripping with pus. As if the sight alone didn't make me gag, the stench was intolerable. But being blinded by curiosity, I can't resist turning away. I crawl forward, knife in hand and create an incision on the neck, to reveal what this membrane is. I lightly slide the knife under and lift it up to learn there is no membrane at all. Whatever had done this had transformed the skin into this delicate wrapping. Underneath, the flesh is soft, yet still moist and full of colour.

The release of a new miasma of stench sends me stumbling back, desperate to regain my breath. I hover over the excrement for fresher air. Crouching a few feet away from the husk, I try to reason how this thing came to be. Upon studying it, I find what disturbs me most. In the cold, humid forest, vapour flows from the foul orifices in this body. It bellows out in rounds, only a few times a minute.

The body isn't just warm; it's respiring.

My heart pauses. My vision blurs and my thoughts slow as I try to regain a sense of consciousness. But adrenaline kicks in when I feel a set of pins exploring the hairs on my arm. Instinctively I shake my limb and swat the sensation off of me, and laying there on the ground is an arachnid like creature. It dances around my feet, once again trying to make its way up my skin. Its feeble attempt is halted with one generous stomp by me. With my sandal removed from the ground I see it crawled into a ball, a sign it had accepted death. Yet my ears begin to itch when I hear jittering from the corpse. From the cavities crawls a colony of these beings, who make haste towards me.

I grab my mace, raise it above my head, and assist gravity with pulling it back down. The ground shakes and the arachnids jump back, only to quickly resume their advance. I raise the mace above my head again and realise there's something above me; another carcass, that having been shifted by my movements, begins to sway in its suspended state, before breaking free and forcing me to the ground. I'm able to roll free from the lifeless mass, but not before they reach my extremities. I can feel every twitch and skitter. Though paralyzed from the shock, I have to break free, lest they reach the inside of me like the others. So I leap up and run my hands down my arms, legs and back. I pull them from my neck and from inside my tunic, before they clamber out of my reach.

My skin is clear but the phantom feeling remains. I allow myself to feel the cool breeze from the lake and run towards it. I shortly arrive, its surface still and gentle, like a respite from what dwelled in the forest. Without hesitation I run into the near frozen shoreline and submerge myself entirely. Whatever may have remained on me would drown or enter a hypothermic state.

With the lingering sensation around my body settling, I make my way back to the village, taking the obvious detour around the dense woods.

There is no time to waste, for my muscles chill and my skin begins to turn pale.