I was watching the Nova TV show “What Darwin didn’t know” and discovered that Charles Darwin was very squeamish, especially about how the byproducts of diversity meet a horrible end, usually by being eaten alive.
Being eaten alive is the most gruesome horror idea, an almost primal fear that is universal in humans, who used to be prey animals.
You cannot live on a ranch for long before seeing a critter being eaten alive, and I’ll never forget watching our barn cat chowing-down on hot bunny chitins while the baby rabbit screamed in horror as he watched himself being eaten alive.
I’ve also seen a frog being eaten alive by a snake, struggling in vain to save himself, and I’ve seen so many fish being eaten alive that it doesn’t even bother me anymore.
Oriental people are especially fond of eating their food alive, and some it is still horrifying to Western sensibilities. Check out this video of an Asian person eating a fish alive as it wiggles on the plate:
Fish being eaten alive
Like Darwin, it’s hard not to be repulsed by seeing an animal being eaten alive, like this snake who is dining on a newly-hatched baby chick. The chick peeps in horror as he is being eaten: