Cosmic Horror

"By the end of The Terror‘s first season, what proves to be the most brilliant aspect of this desperate and unforgiving tale is that it does not take you where you expect.

You will often be reminded of Lovecraft and whether or not you could call The Terror cosmic horror is up for debate, but in spite of the naked presence of the supernatural in this story—and in spite of the refrain that the Arctic is a place that is “trying to kill” the men—the greatest threat to these men has nothing to do with the supernatural or even the Arctic..."

"The teaser trailer alone shows the epic scale of this entry in the found footage series, with brief shots of what looks like someone filming from outer space. Extraterrestrials and UFOs have been tackled in the franchise before, yes, but this time we’ll be getting aliens and cosmic horror galore!..."

"Critical Role's new podcast, "Moonward," is a wild, four-episode dive into cosmic horrors...

CR rolled out "Moonward" in August, a spinoff of the company's 2023 acquisition of the "Midst" audio drama. In "Moonward," CR cofounders Liam O'Brien and Marisha Ray step into the space Western-style, cosmic horror narrative that Xen, the narrator of "Moonward," wove to explore the ruins of a fallen moon.

BI sat down with O'Brien and Xen to talk about the new podcast venture and what comes next..."

"Continuing Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla decent into "Lovecraftian maritime madness," White Boat #2 is available starting today from DSTLRY and we have an exclusive preview just for Daily Dead readers that you won't want to miss!

"[White Boat #1]... showcased a new mythological extreme of horror from the creative team of writer Scott Snyder & artist Francesco Francavilla (Batman). The Lovecraftian psychological mind-bender introduced a maritime journalist, Lee Derry, to a hulking ship and the bizarre secrets hidden deep in its hull—all leading to a bizarre island where a cult of the obscenely wealthy concoct crimes against science. White Boat's ticket is far from punched. The journey continues this July in White Boat #2, another 48-page white-knuckle descent into clandestine history of dread."

Series Synopsis: "White Boats are the mega-yachts that the super-rich use to traverse the globe-floating islands where your every desire can be fulfilled. And getting invited on board one should be a dream come true...that is until the crew traps and transports you to a remote island where secret cults have existed for millennia, working on something called "The Human Project." Does the White Boat ship you to paradise or sink you into hell on earth?..."

"Here’s a rundown on the game, plus a trailer:

Your bestie seems to be hiding something. There’s something about your world that seems odd as well, like it has…secrets. Dive into the Cthulhu Mythos universe of this horror game and witness a “friendship” that rewrites the world..."

"Perhaps its strongest selling point so far is that Directive 8020 has been described as "The Thing in Space," and based on this brief presentation, it seems to nail that vibe..."

"An upcoming Lovecraftian movie seems incredibly exciting, but I am disappointed that it is not a TV series instead. While every horror subgenre has its own distinctive strengths and weaknesses, I am particularly fascinated by cosmic horror because of how it attempts to capture intangible terrors and ideas through fictional storytelling. As HP Lovecraft's stories suggest, written storytelling is usually better at capturing the existential dread that comes with cosmic horror because it relies heavily on the power of suggestion and leaves a lot to a reader's imagination.

Movies, video games, and TV shows, in contrast, always have to stimulate the viewer's senses by directly presenting visual and auditory cues. This leaves little room for audiovisual storytelling to fully embrace the ineffable elements that come with Lovecraftian narratives. However, every once in a while, a movie, show, or video game comes along and manages to capture Lovecraftian horror despite the limitations of its medium. One of these brilliant Lovecraftian horror video games is now getting a movie adaptation, but it would have worked better as a TV show..."

"It’s the kind of Lovecraftian mindf*ck I can’t get enough of, and it bounces from subgenre to subgenre in a way that feels totally natural. It’s almost like writer/director Matt Warren took Benson and Moorhead’s Resolution and The Endless and transposed them into a more classically horrific key, so if you’re a fan of that filmmaking duo’s trademark Lovecraftian style, I think you’re really going to like Delicate Arch..."

"Your pineal gland will burst through your forehead and dance the cha-cha when it vibrates to the unhinged Lovecraft adaptation Unspeakable: Beyond The Wall Of Sleep from the especially odd auteur Chad Ferrin...

... Unspeakable: Beyond The Wall Of Sleep has the rewired retro thrills to pay the bills. It will reveal to you that beyond the vast gulf beyond comprehension there lies fresh frontiers of sexy surreal madness waiting for hungry members to chew on. Check this s**t out."

"Now this may sound like an overreaction, but believe me when I say that it’s outright CRIMINAL I hadn’t heard anything about this movie anywhere else other than from the creators. Is there a reason for that? Did I wrong you in some way? Were y’all purposely keeping this from me for some reason beyond my comprehension? Or was keeping me in the dark part of some sick pleasure you’ve been enjoying at my expense? Let’s break some basics before we get back on track—Shadow People..."

"Cosmic horror can be minds and dimensions beyond human ken - Cthulhu's incomprehensible moral guidance or whole ecologies swirling around us unseen. Or Azathoth, “mindless” because what it has instead is so vast and all-encompassing as to make mind-ness irrelevant. But cosmic horror can also be implacably simple - hunger, say, combined with being further up the food chain than we apex omnivores would like to believe possible. Maybe much further..."

From the team behind the animated Castlevania series (including the writer Warren Ellis, which may put some off):

Ep. 101: The Cold Spot

Starring James Callis and Alicia Witt

Dr. John Carnack is an investigator for the Department Of Experimental Oversight. Responding to a whistleblower call, he arrives at a lab to discover Dr. Sylvie Bestler’s personal experiment: to see what’s on the other side of the universe.

Official website

"Beach vacations sound like nothing but fun in the sun unless one has seen Jeffery A. Brown’s directorial debut, The Beach House. What starts as an uncomfortable, accidental couple’s weekend in a nearly abandoned seaside town ends in a cosmic horror nightmare that would impress H.P. Lovecraft himself. Liana Liberato stars as Emily, a college senior giving her relationship with Randall (Noah Le Gros) one last chance. Their romantic getaway crashes the older couple, Mitch (Jake Weber) and Jane’s (Maryann Nagel), own stay at the same house. As the couples shakily occupy the space, an oceanic microorganism rapidly works through every living organism it comes in contact with..."

On The Cover - Bob Eggleton

"Ridley Scott’s Alien redefined the sci-fi genre in many ways, through its exploration of cosmic horror, existentialism, ethical dilemmas surrounding AI, and more. Romulus is an echo of all these tried and tested thematic discussions. However, the film does it diligently and with an earnest respect for the genre that you almost forgive its shortcomings..."

"The literature of author H. P. Lovecraft has inspired wave after wave of horror directors. From all out body horror such as Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh, to more subtle affairs like the works of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, the Cthulhu loving writer’s work has been adapted, interpreted, and used as a sounding board for years. Lovecraft’s popularity shows no signs of waning, with Matt Devino and David Michael Yohe’s The Dæmon the latest film to utilise the late author’s work as a starting point..."

"Welcome viewers and fans of HP Lovecraft, known for his influential and macabre works that have captivated the imaginations of people around the world for decades. We have compiled a spectacular list of movies inspired by the master of horror that have been brought to life on the big screen. From terrifying creatures, dark dimensions, and existential dread, our HP Lovecraft movie roundup promises to deliver an unforgettable cinematic journey. Join us as we unveil the top picks that have left audiences spellbound and eager for more. Dive into the uncharted realms of horror, where the unknown is more terrifying than imaginable. So, prepare yourselves for a chilling and thrilling adventure, as we present the HP Lovecraft Movies roundup just for you!

John Carpenter's The Thing as performed by the claymated, Antarctic cast of the hit children's animation Pingu.

IMDb

"For anyone who doesn't mind getting their brain dirty with a bit of forbidden knowledge, developer Crazy Goat Games has some very good news. Worshippers of Cthulhu, the studio's Lovecraftian city builder and cult management sim, will be summoned into this realm – er, released – on October 21, 2024, and a free demo is already available to play on PC..."

"... I'm going to take a quick look at a Lovecraft work slightly off the trail of cosmic horror: The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. Like Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, I consider 'Dream-Quest' to be a flawed, but imaginatively powerful, novella/short novel of fantasy adventure with elements of cosmic horror.

I have a fair amount to say regarding 'Dream-Quest' (and the Dreamlands tales in general), but that is for another day. Tonight, I want to look at an artistic tribute to HPL's novel: Tom Sutton's 1978 portfolio, 'The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath'..."

"The final story illustration for my upcoming anthology "The Never Dead". This is for the Patrick Lacey story "Bad Sounds" and pictures cultists worshipping Nyarlathotep. India ink on Bristol Board. 11" by 15"..."

Dan Henk's website