On May 24, 2024, TikTok user Simone Vezzani (@simone.vezzani) posted a video appearing to show a large worm crawling on a street and into a pipe hole on a building. Commenters named the creature “wall eel.” The caption and hashtags placed the video’s recording in the Italian city of Noto, Sicily. The caption translated from Italian to English read, “We are closed for holidays. Noto, February 2024.”
The Video
Vezzani’s video received over 19.7 million views in four days.
The TikTok video caption contained multiple hashtags:
Siamo chiusi per ferie
Noto, February 2024
#simonevezzani #noto #cittadinoto #sicilytour #outofwater #vfx #oceanvisitors #deephole #octonation #fiahinglife #deepsea #citywalk #streetart #diacoverurban #tentacles #urbanscene #trasher #urbanjungle #lovecraftian #horror #worm #wormtail #wormcomposting #hell
Vezzani also reposted the “wall eel” video on Instagram.
TikTok User Comments
The top-voted TikTok comment read, “Isn’t it sad and alarming we can’t tell what’s real and what’s not anymore?”
A different user said, “Not me googling ‘wall eel’ cause I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”
One person also joked in the comments, “Yeah it’s called “Murena Dei Muri” (eel of the walls). I thought they were extinct but maybe a few are still found in the south of Italy as they like the hot weather.”
Other users mentioned artificial intelligence (AI). For example, one user commented, “That is 100% AI.” Another user remarked, “I don’t know. I think this is AI. I don’t believe anything any more.”
Real or Fake?
However, Vezzani’s “wall eel” TikTok video was fake. The TikTok bio for @simone.vezzani read, “Visual artist from Modena, Italy.”
Another video posted by Vezzani also displayed visual effects depicting creatures found only in one’s imagination.
Other videos such as this one presented beautiful, vibrant visual effects.
More About Vezzani
On Vezzani’s website, he describes himself as follows:
Simone Vezzani is an Italian visual artist and 3D designer.
Starting his career working as interior designer and later in advertising and commercials, he has always dedicated himself full time to the study of 3D softwares. Within a few years he mastered the most popular 3D modeling and animation programs, experimenting with any possible applications. Between 2018 and 2020 the growing social popularity of his videos, together with the disruptive style of his animations earned him the attention and requests for collaborations with prestigious international brands, including Warner Music, Universal Music, Valentino Garavani, Riot Games, Aprilia and Bode-Museum in Berlin. In 2019 and 2021, the London BBC Click show dedicated an exclusive report to him, broadcasted worldwide.
He lives and works in Modena, Italy.
Readers looking to see more of Vezzani’s videos can visit the user’s accounts on either Instagram or TikTok. For further reading, I recommend my five-part series, “An Unsolved Murder Mystery in Boston from 1885.”
Thanks everyone for reading. Vezzani’s work is pretty impressive!