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.”
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.