Most mushrooms come with two simple categories: delicious or deadly. But a strange fungus in China has apparently unlocked a third option—“makes you see tiny dancing elves.” Every year, hundreds of people who eat this mushroom raw or undercooked end up hallucinating miniature humans marching around their homes like they’ve wandered into a very confusing fantasy novel. Doctors say it’s rarely dangerous, but scientists are baffled because the chemical responsible isn’t any known psychedelic. In other words, this mushroom isn’t trying to poison you—it’s just very determined to turn dinner into a full-blown fairy tale.
