You have a good point! But I think it misses, slightly.
Part of the terror of Cthulhu is that this entity is unfathomably OLD, unfathomably POWERFUL, and has unfathomable MOTIVATIONS. It isn’t just a terrible creature: it’s very existence occupies a plane that we can’t possibly understand: it is inscrutable in every way.
And Lovecraft’s contribution to horror was that this quality, specifically, possesses a unique element of terror all its own.
Yeah, they’re more creatures that were supposed to be beyond good and evil, with thought processes so alien and eldritch that the human mind just couldn’t even have an inkling of what their true purpose was. And that’s part of the allure of Lovecraft’s brand of horror, the utter insignificance of humanity in the face of these things, it really started jiving with our understanding (or lack thereof) of astronomy and the universe.
The other part IMO is the sort of shared universe we’ve gotten from the Cthulhu Mythos, it was the MCU of horror of its time, with various writers contributing to it over the years. We now have this whole sub-genre of horror fiction that’s been built up.
It’s almost as if a lot of the people who are really into Lovecraft or are out to use Lovecraftian influences kind of miss the greater concept and just end up falling on, “Yeah. Squid monster. Also he drives you insane. Got some neat language to use on that latter bit.”
I really like a lot of Lovecraft books, in the same way I like Le Carré’s spy novels: they mix the mundane in with the action to build suspense and pacing.
If it was all crazy all the time it would be boring. Compare Reanimator the schlocky b movie to the story its based on: the original story has much more poignant commentary about death in war and missing fallen soldiers when back home. The b movie is just sensationalism.
However, I also recognize that a lot of it was inspired by his racism. The cult of cthulu is likely a metaphor for interracial marriage, and the squid-human hybrids are a warning against (quelle horreur!) mixed race babies.
My hot take is that HP Lovecraft isn’t that good. His one move was to go “This shit is so scary YOU CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE HOW SCARY IT IS”.
You have a good point! But I think it misses, slightly.
Part of the terror of Cthulhu is that this entity is unfathomably OLD, unfathomably POWERFUL, and has unfathomable MOTIVATIONS. It isn’t just a terrible creature: it’s very existence occupies a plane that we can’t possibly understand: it is inscrutable in every way.
And Lovecraft’s contribution to horror was that this quality, specifically, possesses a unique element of terror all its own.
Yeah, they’re more creatures that were supposed to be beyond good and evil, with thought processes so alien and eldritch that the human mind just couldn’t even have an inkling of what their true purpose was. And that’s part of the allure of Lovecraft’s brand of horror, the utter insignificance of humanity in the face of these things, it really started jiving with our understanding (or lack thereof) of astronomy and the universe.
The other part IMO is the sort of shared universe we’ve gotten from the Cthulhu Mythos, it was the MCU of horror of its time, with various writers contributing to it over the years. We now have this whole sub-genre of horror fiction that’s been built up.
Yes! Well put.
It’s almost as if a lot of the people who are really into Lovecraft or are out to use Lovecraftian influences kind of miss the greater concept and just end up falling on, “Yeah. Squid monster. Also he drives you insane. Got some neat language to use on that latter bit.”
Not only does the guy have motivation, he got motivationS. Scary and unfathomable indeed.
I really like a lot of Lovecraft books, in the same way I like Le Carré’s spy novels: they mix the mundane in with the action to build suspense and pacing.
If it was all crazy all the time it would be boring. Compare Reanimator the schlocky b movie to the story its based on: the original story has much more poignant commentary about death in war and missing fallen soldiers when back home. The b movie is just sensationalism.
However, I also recognize that a lot of it was inspired by his racism. The cult of cthulu is likely a metaphor for interracial marriage, and the squid-human hybrids are a warning against (quelle horreur!) mixed race babies.
The Shadow over Innsmouth was inspired by Lovecraft discovering he was part Welsh.
its so scary i cant even write about it… u just gotta take my word on this
I don’t think you understand the genre of cosmic horror.