The inspiration for Insect Fear came when Berenbaum was a graduate student at Cornell University. She saw a poster advertising a Godzilla festival and thought a similar event based on bad insect films could be educational and enjoyable. Cornell's entomology department didn't grasp the idea's potential, but the U. of I.'s did. Since the first festival in March 1984, Berenbaum has shown 35 different feature films and more than 40 shorts. As for the source of this widespread interest, Berenbaum offered one possible explanation.
Insects remain the one familiar and conspicuous group which is politically correct to hate.