![Cthulhu3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Cthulhu3.jpg)
Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of
horror fiction
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
and
weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horr ...
that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock.
It is named after American author
H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). His work emphasizes themes of
cosmic dread, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries, which are now associated with Lovecraftian horror as a subgenre. The cosmic themes of Lovecraftian horror can also be found in other media, notably
horror films
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...
,
horror games, and comics.
Origin
![H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/H._P._Lovecraft_in_DeLand_Florida%2C_June_1934.png)
American author
H. P. Lovecraft refined this style of storytelling into his own
mythos
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
that involved a set of
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
, pre-human, and
extraterrestrial elements.
His work
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
was influenced by authors such as
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
,
Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary crit ...
,
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...
,
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...
,
Robert W. Chambers,
and
Lord Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...
.
However, Lovecraft was keen to distinguish his work from existing
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
and
supernatural fiction
Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that exploits or is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting naturalist assumptions of the real world.
Description
In its broadest definition, super ...
, elevating the horror, in his own words, to a "cosmic" level.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
has said the best of Lovecraft's works are "uniquely terrible in all of American literature, and survive with all their power intact."
The hallmark of Lovecraft's work is
cosmicism
Cosmicism is the literary philosophy developed and used by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft in his fiction. Lovecraft was a writer of philosophically intense horror stories that involve occult phenomena like astral possession and alien mi ...
, the sense that ordinary life is a thin shell over a reality that is so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the
sanity
Sanity (from la, sāntā) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with ''compos mentis'' ...
of the ordinary person, insignificance and powerlessness at the cosmic scale, and uncompromising negativity. Author
China Miéville
China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as '' weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''.
M ...
notes that "Lovecraft's horror is not one of intrusion but of realization. The world has always been implacably bleak; the horror lies in our acknowledging that fact." Lovecraft's work is also steeped in the insular feel of rural
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, and much of the genre continues to maintain this sense that "that which man was not meant to know" might be closer to the surface of ordinary life outside of the crowded cities of modern civilization.
Themes
The core themes and atmosphere of cosmic horror were laid out by Lovecraft himself in "
Supernatural Horror in Literature
"Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a 28,000 word essay by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, surveying the development and achievements of horror fiction as the field stood in the 1920s and 30s. The essay was researched and written between Nove ...
", his essay on
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
weird, and
horror fiction
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
. A number of characteristics have been identified as being associated with Lovecraftian horror:
* Fear of the unknown and unknowable.
* The "fear and awe we feel when confronted by phenomena beyond our comprehension, whose scope extends beyond the narrow field of human affairs and boasts of cosmic significance". Here horror derives from the realization that human interests, desires, laws and morality have no meaning or significance in the universe-at-large.
Consequently, it has been noted that the entities in Lovecraft's books were not evil. They were simply far beyond human conceptions of morality.
* A "contemplation of mankind's place in the vast, comfortless universe revealed by modern science" in which the horror springs from "the discovery of appalling truth".
* A naturalistic fusion of horror and science fiction in which presumptions about the nature of reality are "eroded".
* That "technological and social progress since Classical times has facilitated the repression of an awareness of the magnitude and malignity of the macrocosm in which the human microcosm is contained", or in other words, a calculated repression of the horrifying nature of the cosmos as a reaction to its "essential awfulness."
* Having protagonists who are helpless in the face of unfathomable and inescapable powers, which reduce humans from a privileged position to insignificance and incompetence.
[
]
* Preoccupation with
visceral
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a f ...
textures, protean semi-gelatinous substances and slime, as opposed to other horror elements such as blood, bones, or corpses.
Collaborators and followers
Much of Lovecraft's influence is secondary, as he was a friend, inspiration, and correspondent to many authors who developed their own notable works. Many of these writers also worked with Lovecraft on jointly written stories. His more famous friends and collaborators include
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...
, author of ''
Psycho'';
Robert E. Howard, creator of
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and ''Conan the Destroyer''), ...
; and
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...
, who focused on extending the
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
.
Subsequent horror writers also heavily drew on Lovecraft's work. While many made direct references to elements of Lovecraft's
mythos
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
, either to draw on its associations or to acknowledge his influence, many others drew on the feel and tone of his work without specifically referring to mythos elements. Some have said that Lovecraft, along with Edgar Allan Poe, is the most influential author on modern horror. Author
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
has said: "Now that time has given us some perspective on his work, I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the Twentieth Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."
By the late 20th century, Lovecraft had become something of a pop-culture icon, resulting in countless reinterpretations of and references to his work. Many of these fall outside the sphere of Lovecraftian horror, but represent
Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture
This article provides a list of cultural references to the work of author H. P. Lovecraft. These references are collectively known as the Cthulhu Mythos. For works that are ''stylistically'' Lovecraftian, including comics and film adaptations i ...
.
Literature and art
Lovecraft's work, mostly published in
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
s, never had the same sort of influence on literature as his high-modernist literary contemporaries such as
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
and
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
. However, his impact is still broadly and deeply felt in some of the most celebrated authors of contemporary fiction. The fantasias of
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
display a marked resemblance to some of Lovecraft's more dream influenced work. Borges also dedicated his story, "There Are More Things" to Lovecraft, though he also considered Lovecraft "an involuntary parodist of
Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...
." The French novelist
Michel Houellebecq
Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer.
His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...
has also cited Lovecraft as an influence in his essay ''
H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life'' in which he refers to the stories written in the last ten years of Lovecraft's life as "the great texts".
Lovecraft's penchant for dreamscapes and for the biologically macabre has also profoundly influenced visual artists such as
Jean "Moebius" Giraud and
H. R. Giger. Giger's book of paintings which led directly to many of the designs for the film
''Alien'' was named ''Necronomicon'', the name of a fictional book in several of Lovecraft's mythos stories.
Dan O'Bannon, the original writer of the ''Alien'' screenplay, has also mentioned Lovecraft as a major influence on the film. With
Ronald Shusett
Ronald Shusett (born June 1935) is an American motion picture screenwriter and producer, usually in the science fiction genre.
He wrote the original story for ''Alien'' (1979) with Dan O'Bannon and later ''Alien vs. Predator'' (2004).
In 197 ...
, he would later write ''
Dead & Buried
''Dead & Buried'' is a 1981 American horror film directed by Gary Sherman, starring Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, and James Farentino. It is Albertson’s final live-action film role before his death six months after the film’s release. Th ...
'' and ''
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythroc ...
'', both of which were admitted
pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking i ...
s of Lovecraft.
Comics
Lovecraft has cast a long shadow across the comic world. This has included not only adaptations of his stories, such as ''H.P. Lovecraft's Worlds'', ''
H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness'', ''
Graphic Classics
''Graphic Classics'' is a comic book anthology series published by Eureka Productions of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. ''Graphic Classics'' features adaptations of literary classics by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Alla ...
: H. P. Lovecraft'', and
MAX's ''Haunt of Horror'', but also the incorporation of the Mythos into new stories.
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
has touched on Lovecraftian themes, in particular in his ''
The Courtyard
''The Courtyard'' is a 1995 made-for-television thriller film that premiered on the Showtime network. Directed by Fred Walton, the movies uses a screenplay by Wendy Biller and Christopher Hawthorne. The work centers around a yuppie architect who ...
'' and ''
Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths
''Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths'' is a three-issue comic book miniseries presenting work written by comics writer Alan Moore, based on the writings of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was published by Avatar Press in 2003.
Ba ...
'' (and
Antony Johnston Antony may refer to:
* Antony (name), a masculine given name and a surname
* Antony, Belarus, a village in the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus
* Antony, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom
** Antony House, Cornwall, United Kingdom
* Antony, ...
's spin-off ''
Yuggoth Creatures
''Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths'' is a three-issue comic book miniseries presenting work written by comics writer Alan Moore, based on the writings of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was published by Avatar Press in 2003.
Ba ...
''),
but also in his ''
Black Dossier'' where the story "What Ho, Gods of the Abyss?" mixed Lovecraftian horror with
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...
. ''
Neonomicon'' and ''
''Providence'''' posit a world where the Mythos, while existing as fiction written by Lovecraft, is also very real.
As well as appearing with Fort in two comics stories, Lovecraft has appeared as a character in a number of Lovecraftian comics. He appears in Mac Carter and
Tony Salmons's limited series ''The Strange Adventures of H. P. Lovecraft'' from
Image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...
and in the
Arcana children's graphic novel ''Howard and the Frozen Kingdom'' from Bruce Brown.
A
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be c ...
, ''Lovecraft is Missing'', debuted in 2008 and takes place in 1926, before the publication of "
The Call of Cthulhu
"The Call of Cthulhu" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928.
Inspiration
The first seed of the story's first chapter '' ...
", and weaves in elements of Lovecraft's earlier stories.
Boom! Studios
Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Origins
In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in ...
have also run a number of series based on
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine '' Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pa ...
and other characters from the Mythos, including ''
Cthulhu Tales
Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named a ...
'' and ''
Fall of Cthulhu
''Fall of Cthulhu'' is a 2007 American comic book series, written by Michael Alan Nelson and published by Boom! Studios. Creatively influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, particularly "The Call of Cthulhu", the main characters of the seri ...
''.
The creator of ''
Hellboy
Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
'',
Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...
, has described the books as being influenced primarily by the works of Lovecraft, in addition to those of Robert E. Howard and the legend of
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
.
This was adapted into the
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
film ''
Hellboy
Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
''. His
Elseworlds
''Elseworlds'' was the publication imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that took place outside the DC Universe canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that deviate from the established con ...
mini-series ''
The Doom That Came to Gotham'' reimagines
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...
in a confrontation with Lovecraftian monsters.
The manga artist
Junji Ito
is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; '' Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...
is heavily influenced by Lovecraft. Gou Tanabe has adapted some of Lovecraft's tales into manga.
Issue #32 of ''
The Brave and the Bold
''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by two mini-series in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing title in 2007. The focus of the series has varie ...
'' was heavily influenced by the works and style of Lovecraft. In addition to using pastiches of Cthulhu, the
Deep Ones, and
R'lyeh, writer
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ...
also wrote the story in a distinctly Lovecraftian style. Written entirely from the perspective of a traumatized sailor, the story makes use of several of Lovecraft's trademarks, including the ultimate feeling of insignificance in the face of the supernatural.
Film and television
From the 1950s onwards, in the era following Lovecraft's death, Lovecraftian horror truly became a subgenre, not only fueling direct cinematic adaptations of Poe and Lovecraft, but providing the foundation upon which many of the horror films of the 1950s and 1960s were constructed.
1960s
One notable filmmaker to dip into the Lovecraftian well was 1960s B-filmmaker
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
, with his ''
The Haunted Palace
''The Haunted Palace'' is a 1963 horror film released by American International Pictures, starring Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr. and Debra Paget (in her final film), in a story about a village held in the grip of a dead necromancer. The film wa ...
'' (1963) being very loosely based on ''
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'' is a short horror novel (51,500 words) by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in early 1927, but not published during the author's lifetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, it w ...
'', and his ''
X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes'' featuring a protagonist driven to insanity by heightened vision that allows him to see
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
at the heart of the universe.
Though not direct adaptations, the episodes of the well-known series ''
The Outer Limits'' often had Lovecraftian themes, such as human futility and insignificance and the limits of sanity and understanding.
Amongst the other well-known adaptations of this era are ''
Dark Intruder
''Dark Intruder'' is a 1965 horror film made for TV that was released theatrically, and starring Leslie Nielsen, Mark Richman and Judi Meredith. The film is set in San Francisco in 1890 concerning playboy sleuth and occult expert Brett Kingsfor ...
'' (1965) which has some passing references to the
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
; 1965 also saw
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
and
Nick Adams in ''
Die, Monster, Die!
''Die, Monster, Die!'' (British title: ''Monster of Terror'') is a 1965 science fiction horror film directed by Daniel Haller, and starring Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson, and Suzan Farmer. Its plot follows an American man who, while v ...
'' based on Lovecraft's short story "
The Colour Out of Space"; ''
The Shuttered Room'' (1967), based on an
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...
"posthumous collaboration" with Lovecraft, and ''
Curse of the Crimson Altar
''Curse of the Crimson Altar'' is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Barbara Steele and Mark Eden. The film was produced by Louis M. Heyward for Tigon British Film Productions. The ...
'' (U.S. title: ''The Crimson Cult'') (1968), based on "
The Dreams in the Witch House".
1970s
The 1970s produced a number of films that have been classified as Lovecraftian horror. This includes the themes of human fragility, impotence in the face of the unknowable, and lack of answers in
''Picnic at Hanging Rock'', and
''The Dunwich Horror'', with its source in Lovecraft's work and emphasis on "forces beyond the protagonist's control."
The 1979 film ''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'' has been described as Lovecraftian due to its theme of "cosmic indifference", the "monumental bleakness" of its setting, and leaving most questions unanswered.
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ...
's 1969–73 series ''
Night Gallery
''Night Gallery'' is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, ''The Twilight Zone ...
'' adapted at least two Lovecraft stories, "
Pickman's Model
"Pickman's Model" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written in September 1926 and first published in the October 1927 issue of ''Weird Tales''.
It has been adapted for television anthology series twice: in a 1971 episode of ''Night Gallery' ...
" and "
Cool Air
"Cool Air" is a short story by the American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1926 and published in the March 1928 issue of '' Tales of Magic and Mystery''.
Plot
The narrator offers a story to explain why a "draught of co ...
". The episode "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture", concerning the fate of a man who read the ''Necronomicon'', included a student named "Mr. Lovecraft", along with other students sharing names of authors in the
Lovecraft Circle.
1980s
In 1981, ''
The Evil Dead
''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMa ...
'' comedy horror film franchise was created by
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film ''Darkman'' ...
after studying H. P. Lovecraft. It consists of the films ''
The Evil Dead
''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMa ...
'' (1981), ''
Evil Dead II'' (1987), and ''
Army of Darkness
''Army of Darkness'' is a 1992 American comedy horror film directed, co-written and co-edited by Sam Raimi, co-produced by Robert Tapert and Bruce Campbell and co-written by Ivan Raimi. Starring Campbell and Embeth Davidtz, it is the third in ...
'' (1992). The ''Necronomicon Ex-Mortis'', or simply ''The Book of the Dead'', is depicted in each of the three films.
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
's "Apocalypse Trilogy" (''
The Thing'', ''
Prince of Darkness'' and ''
In the Mouth of Madness
''In the Mouth of Madness'' is a 1994 American supernatural horror film directed and scored by John Carpenter and written by Michael De Luca. It stars Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jürgen Prochnow, David Warner and Charlton Heston. Neill stars as ...
'') feature Lovecraftian elements, which become more noticeable in each film.
The blackly comedic ''
Re-Animator
''Re-Animator'' (also known as ''H. P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator'') is a 1985 American comedy horror film loosely based on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft serial novelette " Herbert West–Reanimator". Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuz ...
'' (1985) was based on Lovecraft's novella ''
Herbert West–Reanimator
"Herbert West–Reanimator" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written between October 1921 and June 1922. It was first serialized in February through July 1922 in the amateur publication ''Home Brew''. The story ...
''. ''Re-Animator'' spawned two sequel films.
1986's ''
From Beyond'' was loosely based on Lovecraft's
short story of the same name.
The 1987 film ''
The Curse'' was an adaptation of Lovecraft's "
The Colour Out of Space". Its sequel, ''
Curse II: The Bite'' was loosely inspired by "
The Curse of Yig
"The Curse of Yig" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop in which Yig, "The Father of Serpents", is first introduced.
Plot
In 1889, upon arriving in Oklahoma, a couple learn about local legends surrounding a "snake god" called Y ...
", originally a collaboration between Lovecraft and
Zealia Bishop
Zealia Brown-Reed Bishop (1897–1968) was an American writer of short stories. Her name is sometimes spelled "Zelia". Although she mostly wrote romantic fiction, she is remembered for three short horror stories she wrote in collaboration with H. ...
.
1990s
The 1991
HBO film ''
Cast a Deadly Spell'' starred
Fred Ward as Harry Phillip Lovecraft, a
noir detective investigating the theft of the ''Necronomicon'' in an alternate universe 1948 Los Angeles where magic was commonplace. The sequel ''Witch Hunt'' had
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in '' Giant'' (1956). In the next ten year ...
as H. Phillip Lovecraft in a story set two years later.
1992's ''
The Resurrected
''The Resurrected'' (also known as ''The Ancestor'' and ''Shatterbrain'') is a 1991 American horror film directed by Dan O'Bannon, and starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus. It is an adaptation of the H. P. Lo ...
'', directed by
Dan O'Bannon, is an adaptation of Lovecraft's novel ''
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward''. It contains numerous elements faithful to Lovecraft's story, though the studio made major cuts to the film.
The self-referential ''
Necronomicon
The ', also referred to as the ''Book of the Dead'', or under a purported original Arabic title of ', is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first men ...
'' (1993), featured Lovecraft himself as a character, played by
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fr ...
. The three stories in ''Necronomicon'' are based on two H. P. Lovecraft short stories and one Lovecraft novella: "The Drowned" is based on "
The Rats in the Walls
"The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in '' Weird Tales'', March 1924.
Plot
In 1923, an American named Delapore, the last descendant of the De la ...
", "The Cold" is based on "
Cool Air
"Cool Air" is a short story by the American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1926 and published in the March 1928 issue of '' Tales of Magic and Mystery''.
Plot
The narrator offers a story to explain why a "draught of co ...
", and "Whispers" is based on ''
The Whisperer in Darkness
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in ''Weird Tales'', August 1931. Similar to '' The Colour Out of Space'' (1927), it is a blen ...
''.
1994's ''
The Lurking Fear
"The Lurking Fear" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November 1922, it was first published in the January through April 1923 issues of ''Home Brew''.
Plot I. The Shadow on the Chimney
In 1921, an unnamed ...
'' is an adaptation of Lovecraft's story "
The Lurking Fear
"The Lurking Fear" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November 1922, it was first published in the January through April 1923 issues of ''Home Brew''.
Plot I. The Shadow on the Chimney
In 1921, an unnamed ...
". It has some elements faithful to Lovecraft's story, while being hijacked by a crime caper subplot.
1995's ''
Castle Freak
''Castle Freak'' is a 1995 American direct-to-video horror film directed by Stuart Gordon. The film stars Jeffrey Combs as John Reilly, an American recovering alcoholic who inherits an Italian castle when a distant relative passes away. John sta ...
'' is loosely inspired by Lovecraft's story "
The Outsider".
2000s
This period saw a few films using lovecraftian horror themes. 2007's ''
The Mist'',
Frank Darabont
Frank Árpád Darabont (born Ferenc Árpád Darabont, January 28, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a ...
's movie adaptation of Stephen King's
1985 novella by the same name, featuring otherworldly Lovecraftian monsters emerging from a thick blanket of mist to terrify a small New England town, and 2005's ''
The Call of Cthulhu
"The Call of Cthulhu" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928.
Inspiration
The first seed of the story's first chapter '' ...
'', made by the
H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society or HPLHS is the organization that hosts Cthulhu Lives!, a group of live-action roleplayers for the '' Cthulhu Live'' version of '' Call of Cthulhu''. Founded in Colorado in 1984, it is now based in Glendale ...
, a black and white adaptation using silent film techniques to mimic the feel of a film that might have been made in the 1920s, at the time that
Lovecraft's story was written.
2001's ''
Dagon'' is a Spanish-made horror film directed by
Stuart Gordon
Stuart Alan Gordon (August 11, 1947 – March 24, 2020) was an American filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Gordon is ...
. Though titled after Lovecraft's story "
Dagon", the film is actually an effective adaptation of his story ''
The Shadow over Innsmouth
''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November–December 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using
its motif of a malign undersea civilization, and references several shared e ...
''.
''
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine '' Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pa ...
'' is a 2000 Australian low budget horror film that was directed, produced, and written by Damian Heffernan. It is mostly based on two Lovecraft stories, "
The Thing on the Doorstep
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of '' Weird Tales''.
Inspiration
The ide ...
" and ''The Shadow Over Innsmouth''.
2007's ''
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine '' Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pa ...
'', directed by Dan Gildark, it is loosely based on the novella ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' (1936). The film is notable among works adapted from Lovecraft's work for having a gay protagonist.
2010s
Since 2010, a number of popular films have used elements of cosmic horror, notably
Alex Garland
Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English writer and filmmaker. He rose to prominence as a novelist in the late 1990s with his novel '' The Beach'', which led some critics to call Garland a key voice of Generation X. He subsequ ...
's ''
Annihilation
In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total ener ...
''
(based on the 2014
novel of the same name by
Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. The t ...
) with its strong themes of incomprehensibility and outside influence on Earth.
Robert Egger
Robert Egger is an American nonprofit leader, author, speaker and activist in the culinary field.
Egger founded the DC Central Kitchen in 1989, a nationally recognized "community kitchen" that collects leftover food from hospitality businesses and ...
's 2019 movie ''
The Lighthouse'' has been compared to Lovecraft's works due to the dreary atmosphere, deep sea horror imagery and the otherworldly and maddening power of the titular lighthouse that drives the protagonists to insanity.
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
's 2012 science-fiction horror epic ''
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...
''
and
Gore Verbinski
Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and musician. He is best known for directing '' The Ring'', the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, and '' Rango''. He won the Academy Awar ...
's 2016 film ''
A Cure for Wellness
''A Cure for Wellness'' is a 2016 psychological neo-gothic horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, based on a story co-written by Haythe and Verbinski, who were both inspired by Thomas Mann's 1924 novel ''The Magic ...
'' have been noted for their Lovecraftian elements. HBO's 2019 miniseries ''
Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about n ...
'' has been described as "the new face of cosmic horror", with radiation filling the role of an incomprehensible, untamable, indifferent terror.
The films of
Panos Cosmatos
Panos Cosmatos (born February 1, 1974) is an Italian-Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is known for ''Beyond the Black Rainbow'' and '' Mandy''.
Life and career
Cosmatos was born in Italy to Greek-Italian film-maker George P. Cosmato ...
, ''
Beyond the Black Rainbow'' and ''
Mandy'' take cosmic horror themes and blend them with psychedelic and new age elements, while the work of
Justin Benson and
Aaron Moorhead
Aaron Scott Moorhead (born March 3, 1987) is an American film director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and actor. He is best known for his work with creative partner Justin Benson.
Life and career
Moorhead grew up in Tarpon Springs and at ...
in ''
Resolution'', ''
Spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
'' and ''
The Endless''
has also been described as "Lovecraftian."
Other films directly incorporating or adapting the work of Lovecraft include the 2011 film ''
The Whisperer in Darkness
''The Whisperer in Darkness'' is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in ''Weird Tales'', August 1931. Similar to '' The Colour Out of Space'' (1927), it is a blen ...
'' based on Lovecraft's
short story of the same name, the 2017 Finnish short film ''Sound from the Deep'' incorporating elements from ''
At the Mountains of Madness
''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was or ...
'' in a modern-day setting, and
Richard Stanley's ''
Colour Out of Space''
based on Lovecraft's short story "
The Colour Out of Space". Of note also is
Drew Goddard
Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American filmmaker. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Angel'', ''Alias'', and ''Lost''. After moving into screenwriting in fi ...
's 2012 film ''
The Cabin in the Woods
''The Cabin in the Woods'' is a 2011 science fiction horror comedy film directed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, produced by Joss Whedon, and written by Whedon and Goddard. It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, F ...
'', a
comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...
which deliberately subverts cosmic horror conventions and tropes.
2020s
William Eubank
William Eubank (born November 15, 1982) is an American film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. On his first feature film, '' Love'', released in 2011, in addition to directorial and director of photography duties, Eubank also served as ...
, director of the 2020 film ''
Underwater'', has confirmed that the creatures of his film are tied to the
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
.
''
Masking Threshold'' (2021) uses Lovecraftian story elements. Director and writer
Johannes Grenzfurthner confirms the influence in interviews. 2022 horror film ''
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
'' is inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's "
The Dreams in the Witch House".
It has been confirmed by
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
that the series ''
Housing Complex C
is a Japanese anime television miniseries that aired in the United States on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in October 2022.
Plot
Kimi Shirokado is an eccentric little girl who lives at a low-cost housing complex called Housing Complex ...
'' was meant to invoke Lovecraftian themes.
Games
Elements of Lovecraftian horror have appeared in numerous
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
and
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
s. These themes have been recognized as becoming more common, although difficulties in portraying Lovecraftian horror in a video games beyond a visual aesthetic are recognized.
Tabletop
Lovecraft was an influence on ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' starting in the early 1970s, and initial printings of ''
AD&D
In insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) is a policy that pays benefits to the beneficiary if the cause of death is an accident. This is a limited form of life insurance which is generally less expensive, or in some cases is an add ...
'' ''
Deities & Demigods
''Deities & Demigods'' (abbreviated ''DDG''), alternatively known as ''Legends & Lore'' (abbreviated ''L&L'' or ''LL''), is a reference book for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game (D&D). The book provides descriptions and game ...
'' included characters from Lovecraft's novels. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' influenced later role-playing games, including ''
Call of Cthulhu'' (1980), which in turn recruited new fans for the Cthulhu mythos. ''
Magic: The Gathering'' expansions such as ''Battle for Zendikar'' (2015), ''Eldritch Moon'' (2016), and ''Shadows over Innistrad'' (2016) contain Lovecraftian components.
Video games
1980s and 1990s
Video games, like films, have a rich history of Lovecraftian elements and adaptations.
In 1987, ''
The Lurking Horror'' was the first to bring the Lovecraftian horror subgenre to computer platforms. This was a
text-based adventure game, released by
Infocom
Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called '' Cornerstone''.
Infocom was founded o ...
, who are best known for the ''
Zork
''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded a ...
'' series.
Alone in the Dark (1992 video game)
''Alone in the Dark'' is a 1992 survival horror video game designed by Frédérick Raynal and developed and published by Infogrames for the PC. ''Alone in the Dark'' was released for MS-DOS in 1992, ported for the 3DO by Krisalis in 1994, and po ...
contains Lovecraftian elements and references.
''
Shadow of the Comet
''Shadow of the Comet'' (later repackaged as ''Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet'') is an adventure game developed and released by Infogrames in 1993. The game is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and uses many elements from Lovecra ...
'', a game which takes place in the 19th century, is strongly inspired by the myth of Cthulhu.
The 1998 text adventure game ''
Anchorhead'' is heavily inspired by Lovecraftian Horror and features many elements of the Cthulhu mythos, as well as quotes from Lovecraft.
''Quake'' (video game), a FPS Game that has Lovecraftian elements.
2000s
The 2005 Russian game ''
Pathologic
''Pathologic'' ( rus, Мор. Утопия, Mor. Utopiya, ˈmor ʊˈtopʲɪjə, , More. Utopia – a pun on Thomas More's ''Utopia'' and the Russian word for "plague") is a 2005 role-playing and survival game developed by Russian studio Ice-Pic ...
'' features many themes common in Lovecraftian works: The three main characters are all in some way outsiders to the city. The game centers around an unstoppable plague which leaves gelatinous bloody slime in contaminated areas; the player character is completely helpless in stopping the plague.
''
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth'' for PC and Xbox is a first person shooter with strong survival horror elements.
''
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'' on the
Nintendo GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
utilizes heavy themes of cosmic horror throughout the game, in particular with the player characters' sanity being affected through their interactions with the supernatural.
2010–present
The
survival horror
Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
game ''
Amnesia: The Dark Descent'' is heavily inspired by Lovecraftian horror, in visual design, plot and mechanics, with a recognized lasting impact on horror games as a genre. ''
The Last Door'' is a
point-and-click adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based me ...
which combines Lovecraftian horror with
Gothic horror
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
, and the
FromSoftware
FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company based in Tokyo. Founded by Naotoshi Zin in November 1986, the company developed business software before releasing their first video game, ''King's Field (video game) ...
game ''
Bloodborne
is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. ''Bloodborne'' follows the player's character, a Hunter, through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era–inspired cit ...
'' includes many Lovecraftian and cosmic horror themes, without using the
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
. The
roguelike
Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player characte ...
game ''
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth'' features Lovecraftian horror in the form of the in-game Leviathan transformation.
Other games released since 2010 with elements of Lovecraftian horror include ''
Sunless Sea
''Sunless Sea'' is a survival/exploration role-playing video game with roguelike elements developed by Failbetter Games. The game was released on 6 February 2015 for Windows and OS X following a successful Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the ...
'', a gothic horror survival/exploration
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
, ''
Vintage Story
Vintage Story is a sandbox game, sandbox survival game developed and published by Anego Studios. The founders of Anego Studios, Tyron and Irena Madlener, began development on a standalone version of an earlier mod (video games), mod for Minecraft ...
'', a
sandbox survival game
Survival games are a sub-genre of action video games, which are usually set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by crafting tools, weapons, ...
with in-game enemies called "Drifters" inspired by the genre, the game ''
Darkest Dungeon
''Darkest Dungeon'' is a roguelite role-playing video game developed and published by Red Hook Studios. The game was first released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in January 2016, which followed a year-long early access development period. Later ...
'' a role-playing video game with an emphasis on mental trauma and affliction, ''
Edge of Nowhere
''Edge of Nowhere'' is an action-adventure, virtual reality video game developed by Insomniac Games for Microsoft Windows for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The game released on June 6, 2016. The game is based on the work of H.P. Lovecra ...
'', an action-adventure
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
game, and ''
The Sinking City
''The Sinking City'' is an action-adventure game developed by Frogwares and inspired by the works of horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft. Set in the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts during the 1920s, the story follows private investi ...
'', an
open world detective and survival horror game set in 1920s New England, drawing inspiration from ''
The Shadow over Innsmouth
''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November–December 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using
its motif of a malign undersea civilization, and references several shared e ...
'' and "
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
"Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family" (also known as "The White Ape" and simply "Arthur Jermyn") is a short story in the horror fiction genre, written by American author H. P. Lovecraft in 1920. The themes of the story are tai ...
." ''
Smite
''Smite'' is a 2014 free-to-play, third-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna.[Dusk
Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...]
with many Lovecraftian influences, such as its 3rd chapter,
The Nameless City
"The Nameless City" is a short horror story written by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in January 1921 and first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal ''The Wolverine''. It is often considered the first story set in ...
, the final boss
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem " Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by ...
, and its inspiration from the Lovecraft themed first-person shooter
Quake.
In 2020, ''
Call of the Sea
''Call of the Sea'' is an adventure video game developed by Out of the Blue and published by Raw Fury. The game was released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 8, 2020. The game was also released for Amazon Luna on April 15, 2 ...
'', an adventure-puzzle game heavily inspired by the works of Lovecraft, was released.
Other media
*
Junji Ito
is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; '' Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...
's ''
Uzumaki
is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. Appearing as a serial in the weekly ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were compiled into three bound volumes by Shoga ...
''
*''
Mansions of Madness'' 1st and 2nd edition board game
*''
The Magnus Archives
''The Magnus Archives'' is a horror fiction podcast written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall, and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrated the podcast in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly appointed Hea ...
''
*
The Call of Ktulu,
The Thing That Should Not Be,
All Nightmare Long
"All Nightmare Long" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the second single from their album ''Death Magnetic''. The single was released on December 15, 2008. The song is in drop D tuning. It was nominated for the Ker ...
and
Dream No More songs by
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
*''
The Call of the Void''
See also
*
Cosmicism
*
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
**
Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos
The following characters appear in H. P. Lovecraft's story cycle — the Cthulhu Mythos.
Overview:
*''Name''. The name of the character appears first.
*''Birth/Death''. The date of the character's birth and death (if known) appears in parenthe ...
**
Cthulhu Mythos deities
American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to c ...
**
Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos
**
Cthulhu Mythos anthology
A Cthulhu Mythos anthology is a type of short story collection that contains stories written in, or related to, the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction launched by H. P. Lovecraft. Such anthologies have helped to define and popularize the gen ...
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Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture
This article provides a list of cultural references to the work of author H. P. Lovecraft. These references are collectively known as the Cthulhu Mythos. For works that are ''stylistically'' Lovecraftian, including comics and film adaptations i ...
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Weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horr ...
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Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...
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Utopian and dystopian fiction
Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to ...
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Cloverfield (franchise)
''Cloverfield'' is an American science fiction anthology film series and media franchise created and produced by J. J. Abrams consisting of three films, viral marketing websites linking the films together, and a tie-in manga to the first f ...
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References
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External links
H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon , The only convention that understands*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovecraftian Horror
Cthulhu Mythos
Horror genres
Dark fantasy