Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The tarantulas are migrating because pesticides have destroyed their natural food supply, forcing them to band together and hunt larger prey. Arachnologist Diane Ashley explains that as their food sources were wiped out, the spiders began clustering in massive groups called spider hills and started attacking farm animals, then eventually humans, in a desperate search for sustenance.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes show dead animals on farms with mysterious symptoms, hinting at the spiders' growing desperation and coordinated attacks.

• tarantula migration
• spider attack
• pesticide
• ecological imbalance
• spider hill

Diane Ashley warns that pesticide is only a temporary solution because the spiders will simply relocate along their migration path to find new prey. The chemical attack forces them to scatter and adapt, but doesn't eliminate the root cause of their behavior. The crop duster operation backfires completely when the pilot is attacked mid-flight, causing the plane to crash and spray toxic chemicals on residential areas instead of the spiders.

Foreshadowing: Ashley proposes introducing birds and rats to restore ecological balance, but the mayor dismisses this solution.

• pesticide failure
• crop duster crash
• ecological solution
• spider migration

Sheriff Smith drives into town to coordinate a defense against the spiders, but while navigating the besieged streets, another panicked driver crashes into a support post beneath the town's water tower. The impact causes the tower to collapse directly onto Smith's vehicle, killing him instantly. His death leaves the survivors without any law enforcement leadership.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show townspeople panicking and cars speeding through dangerous areas as the spider threat intensifies.

• Sheriff Smith death
• water tower collapse
• Camp Verde
• spider attack

The spiders deliberately destroy the fuse box, shutting off power to the lodge. When Hansen ventures into the basement to replace the fuse, he succeeds in restoring power, but the spiders break through a basement window and overwhelm him with venom. He manages to return upstairs before collapsing and fainting from the spider bite.

Foreshadowing: The spiders have been shown throughout the film as organized and strategic, cutting off communication and escape routes.

• power outage
• Washburn Lodge
• Hansen bitten
• spider attack basement

Camp Verde became completely isolated from the outside world as the spider infestation spread. Sheriff Smith confirms early on that the town is cut off, and the survivors' attempts to reach the outside world via radio yield only silence. When a signal finally comes through, Hansen discovers the devastating truth: the entire town and the lodge itself have been encased in spider silk cocoons, meaning no outside help was ever coming because no one outside knew what was happening.

Foreshadowing: The film's escalating body count and the town's isolation are established early, building to the hopeless conclusion.

• Camp Verde isolation
• no rescue
• spider cocoons
• radio silence

Walter Colby is attacked by tarantulas while driving his truck on his property. The spiders swarm his vehicle, causing him to lose control and crash off the side of a hill. When Hansen and Sheriff Smith arrive at the scene, they find Colby's body encased in spider silk, killed by multiple venomous bites from the massive arachnid attack.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Colby's dog dies from a massive spider venom injection, and his bull is dragged away by tarantulas, foreshadowing his own fate.

• Walter Colby death
• spider attack truck
• spider silk
• Camp Verde

Hansen enters the basement to replace the fuse the spiders destroyed, successfully restoring power to the lodge. However, spiders burst through a basement window and attack him with venom. He fights his way upstairs but collapses and faints from the effects of the spider bites, leaving the other survivors to fend for themselves.

Foreshadowing: The basement windows were never properly secured, and earlier scenes show spiders finding any opening to enter buildings.

• Hansen bitten
• spider venom
• Washburn Lodge basement
• faints

The final scene reveals that the spiders have achieved total domination over Camp Verde. Every building, street, and presumably every person who didn't escape is wrapped in glistening spider silk cocoons. This chilling image signifies the complete collapse of human civilization in the valley, nature has reclaimed the town entirely, leaving behind only the silent, suffocating aftermath of the spider takeover.

Foreshadowing: The film steadily escalates from failed countermeasures to total human helplessness, with each attempt to fight the spiders making things worse.

• spider silk cocoons
• town destroyed
• ending
• nature takeover
• Camp Verde

Mayor Connors rejects Ashley's proposal to introduce birds and rats to restore the natural predator-prey balance that would control the spider population. The mayor fears that releasing rats and having visible spiders would scare away visitors to the county fair, prioritizing the economic interests of the event over the long-term ecological solution. This decision proves catastrophic as the temporary pesticide fix fails and the spider problem spirals out of control.

Foreshadowing: The mayor's focus on the county fair is mentioned early in the film as a key concern for the town.

• ecological solution
• mayor
• county fair
• birds
• rats
• spider control

When Hansen and Ashley attempt to burn the spider hill, Walter Colby douses it with gasoline and lights it. However, many spiders escape through a hidden underground tunnel beneath the hill. This escape allows the surviving spiders to continue their migration and eventually swarm the town, making the burning operation counterproductive as it disperses the arachnids rather than eliminating them.

Foreshadowing: The discovery of the massive spider hill hints at an extensive network that would be difficult to destroy completely.

• burn spider hill
• spiders escape tunnel
• Colby ranch
• failed attack

The spiders overwhelmed Camp Verde through a combination of sheer numbers, coordinated attacks, and the complete failure of human countermeasures. Their migration path brought thousands of tarantulas into the town, and their highly toxic venom, five times more potent than normal, proved deadly to both animals and humans. Every attempt to fight them (pesticides, burning, evacuation) either failed or made things worse. The spiders cut off communication, destroyed transportation, and systematically cocooned the entire town.

Foreshadowing: Early venom tests showing the spiders are five times more toxic than normal foreshadows the deadly scale of the attack.

• spider takeover
• Camp Verde overrun
• spider numbers
• toxic venom
• town siege