One of the things I really like about Lovecraft is he has some truly alien representations of aliens. Not just humans with some bumps on their heads or whatever.
George R.R. Martin also wrote a short story called "The Stone City", where archeologists discover a vast labyrinth (similar to the ones described in the Hyperion books) on a distant planet. When one of the reseatchers studying the ruin starts walking its hallways, he find that the labyrinth is so vast and non-euclidian (another Lovercraft-trope), that he can visit other worlds without the need for a spaceship. However, he quickly becomes so engrossed in the sights the city has to show him, that he goes mad, never actually leaving the city at any point, just walking it forever, because he doesn't want to give up the possibility of the next world he sees being even better than the ones he saw before (basically, the cosmic horror equivalent of any Netflix-playlist ;-P ).
Lovecraft wrote a true science fiction story "In the Walls of Eryx". It is unusual in that it is definitely science fiction, but also in that Lovecraft shows a lot of sympathy for the aliens.
Out of curiosity, was this written later on in his life? I know his opinions really started to change due to the letters he’d send and receive from other authors. Perhaps the sympathy he shows for the aliens is a hint at the changes his thinking were undergoing at the time
@@wordsofcheresie936 I like to think it was his relationship with his wife that made it so his views began to change. He did apparently say after they had to divorce that he still loved her.
Not only was Lovecraft's writing often science fictional, it was becoming increasingly so (Compare early Poe-inspired work like The Outsider to his last work The Shadow Out Of Time for instance). Had he have lived a couple more decades he would have been writing in the era of Clarke and Asimov and Heinlein and it's fascinating to think what that would have been like.
@@ianharrison5758a single example doesn’t disprove the trend, anomalies occur, his next book might have been pure sci fi if he had lived to write it for all we know
Have you ever read William Hope Hodgson? He was a cosmic horror writer from before Lovecraft’s time who Lovecraft himself even acknowledged as a major influence on his work. The complexity and originality to which he took that cosmic horror and tied it up with some flawed but floorlessly deep intimate relationships in a way that was mostly unsentimental and had really Miltonian undertones, most obvious in The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, is really unparalleled and a must for cosmic horror fans.
for young people the best analogies might be Hope wrote similar to courage the cowardly dog's atmosphere, where Lovecraft wrote similar to saladfingers twisted sensibilities... lmao
House on the Borderlands is interesting because it’s a formative work of Weird and Cosmic horror, but Hodgson’s writing style is so, so annoying. It’s a worthwhile read, and it’s short, but my god is it hard to get through for the repetitiveness of his prose. Predating even that one is “The King in Yellow,” by Robert Chambers, a major influence on any writer of the Weird and Cosmic, especially Lovecraft.
If you read Lovecraft chronologically, you can see him exploring and expanding the "unkown". First it's life after death, then dreams, family histories, pre history civilizations, magic beyond science, science actually able to explore more, subterranean dwellers, deep sea dwellers, and then deep space dwellers. He's exploring the Unknown foremost, and paranoia can spin that into horror.
I can remember reading Lovecraft as a teen and thinking, 'this is closer to sci fi than horror'. That said, I feel that Ridley Scott's Prometheus wanted to be a Lovecraftian / cosmic horror story and being sunk by script and plot problems.
I won't pretend I've read a lot of cosmic horror, but the line "In his house at R'Lyeh dead Cthulu waits dreaming" gave me goosebumps when I read "The Call of Cthulu". And still gives me goosebumps when I think about it today. Just so evacuative.
You should check out Stephen Kings short story _Jerusalems lot_ . It's a prequel to Salems lot that explains why the town is evil and why evil beings like Vampires are attracted to it. Aside from _It_ it's the most Lovecraftian story King has done. Even down to the story being told through Journal entries.
While that one is great, King has very much written more Lovecraftian stories than that. His short story “N.” is pure cosmic horror, as is his novel “Revival.”
@@codylakin288 ”From a Buick 8“ and "The Mist" as well, even moreso than others, imo. "Revival" is the most pure cosmic horror that he's done, though. I still remember the feeling of realizing what was happening in that story, it was more unsettling to me than most of his work. "The Jaunt" is kind of cosmic in nature as well, at least thematically.
And a special mention to "The Night Land" by the same author, which also predates Lovecraft cosmic horror. I have to highly recommend it, is really awesome for such an old sci-fi/post-apocaliptic novel. Also, somehow the author manages to not be as racist as Lovecraft, so, it's always something good.
Found this sentence on the net: J.-H. Rosny occupies a position of historical importance in the genesis of francophone science fiction second only to that of Jules Verne, and corresponding in English to that of the aforementioned H.G. Wells. Though the appellation “science fiction” had yet to gain currency in either tradition when Rosny and Wells began publishing, both lived long enough to see their work absorbed into it. Dans le monde francophone, science fiction cohabits a genre ecosystem with both fantasy and a third stream, the fantastique, which remains absent from the Anglosphere as a discrete category, et c’est dans la littérature fantastique that we find much of what we recognize today as The Weird, including Jean Ray, who definitely read his fellow Belgian and found some inspiration chez Rosny. Though today both the French and English traditions catalogue “Les Xipéhuz” as science fiction and even recognize it as one of the genre’s foundational texts, we shall consider it equally as an exemplar of the Weird Tale.
Very true! Although it must also be noted - QUITE a bit of Lovecraft's work would be RIGHT at Home, in Le Grand Guignol. After all, there's "horror," " *HORROR* ..." And then there's Lovecraft.
Stanislaw Lem is a fantastic sci fi writer who often features creatures, beings, forces that are completely alien to our human understanding and so unknowable. Solaris is his most well known book.
I think the main thing that makes Cosmic Horror so interesting is that everything about it comes from a very primal place in our minds, it digs deep in the part of our thoughts that we've been trying to forget and pretend it never existed and Lovecraft goes to that place and explores it and you as a reader don't really want to know more about it but you can't help but feel curious, like a dark terrible curiosity.
Would you ever discuss The Left Hand of Darkness? I haven't seen anyone else really do it, and it would fit so well with your channel's content. It's one of my favorite books 🙏
I love that book, it is a kind of science fiction I'm not used to read. Besides the prologue is one of the best essays on science fiction I have ever read. Ursula K. Le Guin is such a versatile author...
i liked that since robert e howard and lovecraft were friends, they tied their fictional worlds together. i can't remember the crossovers off the top of my head. but i think that could be an interesting video.
I really love Blindsight. I love how many concepts it ruthlessly throws at you, and then each concept's eventual exposition is more disturbing than the last
annihilation's original book was the best horror sci-fi I've ever read. I couldn't read more than few pages each time, even though I was eager to read more. It's a fabulous way to convey horror not by what you can see, but what you don't. The original story ends magnificent. btw, this video is pretty mind blowing too. When I read you tweet "locraft is science fiction" I just could say "yes!".
Nice video, Quinn. There's an element of Science Fiction in the technology that didn't exist sense in Cool Air, From Beyond, Herbert West: Reanimator, The Whisperer In Darkness and a few others.
It's funny, the Colour out of Space might be the inspiration for one of Douglas Adams' aliens. The Hooloovoo is described as a sentient shade of the colour blue, which can refract itself into a prism for formal occasions. Never made the connection before this video. Thanks Quinn!
'Annihilation' is such an amazing cosmic horror movie! I think is my favorite, and also, I agree with you when you say that Lovecraft doesn't get enough credit for influencing the modern style of horror. Great video!
"The hounds of Tindalos" written by his friend Frank Belknap Long Is probably among my favourite among the traditional cosmic horror stories. It plays with geometrical ideas in which apparently there is a completely angular space that preceded the curved space that we live in. And knowledge of that angular space makes a sort of cosmic antivirus system (The Hounds of Tindalos) pick up your scent and hunt you down but they can only enter our universe through angles and presumably go in a straight line when they do. They're not actually dogs or dog shaped. Its more of a metaphor for the way they hunt.
Talking about Lovecraft as science fiction, suprised no mention of Whisperer in Darkness, Shadow out of Time or From Beyond, all of which contain implicit Sci-Fi technology: of course all Lovecraft is Science Fiction in that Cthulu et al are Aliens...
@@siebensunden that's because most advanced science/tech can be scene as magic for ANY story out there outside of lovecraft's universe, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C Clarke so writing advanced tech could use the same tips as writing Magic.
I really enjoy the cosmic horror elements in The Expanse books and series. And there is a very subtle nod to HPLC when a squid looking thing leaves a planet and goes into space. It also adds humans experimenting with the technology and the disastrous consequences. Plus it’s space magic and can pretty much defy the laws of physics, at least the way humans understand it. And it has an effect over the stories in all the books but not always in a direct way.
I think the reason you don't normally hear Lovecraft mentioned as a science-fiction author is that while most sci-fi authors seem to be at least _interested_ in science, Lovecraft only seemed to be afraid of it.
A Song of Ice and Fire has a lot of similarities to Dune too. I know it's not cosmic horror, but it shows how much fantasy, horror, and sci-fi lean on each other.
I love Lovecraft's stories. And I'm glad you covered the science fiction and fantasy stories that have been inspired by Lovecraft. The only nitpick (and it's not really a nitpick as much as a commentary/observation) is that most of his protagonists aren't as developed. That's not the case with all but most. I have m own take on it as to why. Part of it is because Lovecraft was a bit of an introvert and also to show that in true cosmicism fashion, our needs and wants are insignificant to monstrous and inexplicable deities or beings that are so far ahead of us - whose sole existence undermines our view of humanity as the apex predator (even in our homeworld).
Aw, so few comments arounds...that feels weird. Still bummed for you about yesterday Quinn, keep us posted on that effing matter. Otherwise: same quality as you've got us used to, you're really spoiling us! 🍃
I intergrate a lot of lovecraftian horror elements into my own stories, and other than a couple they mostly fall into the dark fantasy genre, with some very light science fiction elements in areas.
Since you mentioned Annihilation, please consider making videos on the Area X/Southern Reach trilogy that the movie was "an adaptation of". They were interesting, and there's definitely a lot of scope there for speculation and discussion.
I hate to be that guy, but I think it’s really cool that as a black dude you’re doing Lovecraft stuff. It’s clear to anyone who’s read his books that he hates anyone who’s not a White Anglo-Saxon from New England, and by taking his writing and making it yours through discussion you’re breaking down the ugly barriers he wanted to erect upon his work. Good job sticking it to the racist half of Lovecraft while respecting the literary boogeyman half! Much love! You got a new subscriber today.
I've been going back through the Mass Effect trilogy, and the story is like a blockbuster version of Lovecraftian concepts. Ancient beings unfeelingly manipulate an entire galaxy for nefarious purposes. Also, most of the aliens are neoliberals: true cosmic horror!
Hey Quinn! May I send you my book as a gift? It’s also fantasy/Sci-fi. I was a guest speaker at both the 1st & 2nd African Comic Con (2018 & 2019). I’m a scientist, so the magic system has a scientific basis. I love your videos & just wanted to give small gift. You’re also the reason I became interested in Dune! Hope things work out with the Warner Bros issues you’ve been experiencing ❤️
Another great video. Here’s another take why Cthulhu and the Elder Gods cause sanity loss: they’re multidimensional entities and when they’re projected on our 3D space + time, they are horrific and cause sanity loss. In the novel Flatland about 2D entities, the author mentioned what a 2D entity would see if we entered that universe. They would see an ever changing shape which displayed our innards as we pass through their 2D space, causing sanity loss to the 2D creatures of Flatland. There was a Japanese anime about Nyarlathotep called Haiyore! Nyaruko-San as a kawaii anime girl. She mentioned that was the closest approximation in 3D space of her true form. However she could assume monstrous forms which was nothing more than a projection into 3D space.
I never doubted that Lovecraft is a science fiction author. Almost all of his stories relate to science fiction in some way. Beings like Cthulhu are alien and powerful beyond human comprehension.
Nice video. There is actually a pretty good German adaption of The Color out of Space, called 'Die Farbe'. It's pretty faithful to the original story and one of the best Lovecraft movies out there imo (together with Call of Cthulhu from the Lovecraft Society).
Great video 👍🏻. Whilst watching It reminded me of certain story elements in Cixin Liu’s “Remembrance of Earth’s past” series that I read not long ago, particularly the last book “Death’s End”. There’s a certain part in the book that depicts an oncoming threat to humanity that seemed a little Lovecraftian, albeit in a more modern SF way, the sense of dread and horror of something coming that is beyond our ability to fully understand. If you know, you know ...
Hey Quinn, love your videos sm. Read a bunch of Lovecrafts books, and I was so disappointed 😞. I think my heart is whenever hard sxifi is. AND you're so fantastic, you hit the nail on the head every time. Once my pay comes thru, I have to patron you. Meanwhile, please look at Peter Watts Blindsight.
Lately, the most genuinely nightmare inducing cosmic Horror that I have come across is The All Tomorrow's story/book. I was never aware of H P Lovecraft as he is not that known in India but I found out about him through the internet, his stories never really got to me that way, they were interesting but they never actually made me afraid, so I was not truly able to grasp the idea of Cosmic Horror but boy did it hot when I read about the Qu in the All Tomorrow's, the idea of an Alien species of Fanatics turning humanity into Literal toys, tools and abominations just on a whim is terrifying.
If you are interested in reading some of Lovecrafts books which in my opinion truly captures the mixture of fear and interest, it would be the Mountains of Madness and the Shadow over Innsmouth. Both can be freely found as audiobooks on TH-cam
Hey Quinn big fan here of your content, can you do a video about Roadside Picnic, one of the most underrated sci fi story. It’s the book that stalker was based on (the Russian movie masterpiece by Andrei Tarkovsky.
I agree 100%. If you haven't read any yet, I recommend Charles Stross's Laundry Files series of books too. He utilises many great old ones and deep ones from Lovecraft's stories.
The Colour Out of Space is defo my favourite story by Lovecraft, and that's also probably because it was a source of inspiration for Annihilation. Have you actually read The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer though, Quinn? If you haven't, please consider doing so, because the book(s) is a thousand times better than the movie (I personally hated the movie because I thought it was a garbage adaptation).
It's worth noting that the people from the sea could also be a reference to the 'sea people' who were noted for their role in the destruction of several civilizations in ancient times. Egypt being among the few to survive, but with severely diminished borders. George RR Martin does love European and related history, and uses it a lot. Crete is in the area where the sea peoples ravaged, and it is known for its own Labyrinth. And like Crete, Lorath is an island. Also, coinage from Knosses depicts the maze in a similar way to how it does in a world of ice and fire.
i really don't personally put differences between horror, scifi, fantasy, etc. as long as they have many of the same elements the overlap is usually what i enjoy the most personally
The Mazemakers in ASoIaF are an explicit reference to the Minoan civilization in earth's actual history, which were destroyed during the bronze age collapse during raids by "sea peoples" - an unidentified civilization of Mediterranean pirates/raiders. The Stone City short story referenced by @Christian Beier is less explicit, but is at the very least a nod to the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. In that, the Pattern is a maze that allows those who walk it to visit other worlds.
as they say in the MCU (and i said quite some time before that) "Your ancestors called it magic, and you call it science. Well, I come from a place where they're one and the same thing." i can't wait for the day when scientists finally discover this new form of energy that does all the same things people have been calling silly superstitions for years.
I actually *just* watched Color out of Space a couple days ago, and yeah, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. To me, it got across the general horror of a completely unknown thing falling out of nowhere and changing, warping, completely ruining everything around it into unknown, terrible versions of itself, something so old and misunderstood that nobody could do a thing to stop it. There were theatrics of it, of course, that were embellished for the big screen, but ultimately I think it was fairly good at getting across the mystery, strangeness, and unfathomable-ness that cosmic horror should. I agree that Annihilation was probably a better story for the same reasons, but Color Out of Space certainly wasn't unfaithful to the concept, imo, though I can definitely see where you're coming from. I always have to set apart book/movie adaptations of the same story, in pretty much every case, because there are things that words can do that images simply can't, and vice versa.
A modern day cosmic horror science fiction I recommend is the short story "Warped Passages" by Kameron Hurley, and the novel "The Stars are Legion." The short story is about the origin of what the book is about. I personally like the short story the best, but interestingly the author has said she now regrets publishing it because she feels it gives too much away.
Who enjoyed that color out of space movie? Color out of space and mountains of madness are easily my favourite stories of Lovecraft and factual masterpieces. If the movie even had just tried to get it right, my critique wouldn't be that harsh. But it was pretty obvious after a while that they didn't inted on getting it right in the first place. Color is so underrated even amongst Lovecraft fans. It deserved some justice or it was to be left alone.
One thing often forgotten is that Lovecraft wrote in a time when horror, science fiction, and fantasy were not yet the separate, more easily defined categories they are today.
WAIT A SEC! Did..did people not realize lovecraft’s stories were science fiction??? I mean I guess if you only heard of some baseline material but even if you explored three stories of his at random there’d be no missing it.
I'm definitely one of the people who really enjoyed the film adaptation of Color Out of Space. That said, I never really liked the original short story that much, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with whether someone's more or less likely to enjoy it. I thought the film did a great job interpreting all the details of the story in its own distinct way separate from the original. Also, the surveyor emerging from the aftermath into pure white ash covering everything - freakin beautiful
The Colour out of Space was also made into the 1987 movie The Curse. And X-Files had an episode with some strange glowing particles in the woods. Regarding other authors writing in Lovecraft's universe. August Derleth has to be blamed for that. Lovecraft would sometimes make a short reference to the work of his fellow friends and authors, and use a rewritten version of their names in his stories. Just some fun between friends. What Derleth did after Lovecraft's death was to say to everybody; come on, you add your own stories to his universe. And he tried to put all of Lovecraft's deities, gods and beings into some system or hierarchy, and letting some of the represent the elements and so on. But he also did a lot to make sure Lovecraft's work was not forgotten.
I personally see no point in the distinction between Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are stories with more scientific approach and there are ones with less. (Sometimes one can argue that magic is a substitute for technology in the sense of narrative, and vice versa.) BUT all the stories (not only in these 2 genres) refer to the greatest thing humanity ever achieved and the strongest power known to mankind: Imagination. And that is beautiful. I often think about the words of the great Sir Terry Pratchett: "Imagination, not intelligence, made us human." And in my opinion there are not many quotes in the world which carry such wisdom. Enjoy life, friends. Enjoy your Imagination. :)
I often wonder if this is the route they should have taken with the Alien franchise. The original film pushed the idea that the creature, ship, space jockey et al were something beyond our comprehension. The title 'Alien' didn't just refer to the xenomorph but something that was so removed from humanity that we couldn't possibly understand it. Similar in a way to the philosophy of Stanislaw Lem and his story Solaris. I think it would have been far more interesting to have any exploration of the Alien raise more questions that just revert to a bunch of beings who were just bald humans (being somewhat bald myself, I'm not sure how to take that).
Prometheus and Covenant completely destroyed the mystery of the original story. It's incredible how Ridley Scott managed to completely annihilated his own legacy in sci-fi horror canon with those two films. Also goes to show that being a great director doesn't necessarily make one a great storyteller.
8:05 The link for your Lovecraft videos seems to be missing. Dune, Hyperion, Foundation are there, but not Lovecraft. Edit: I found the playlist in your channel description.
I really need to read some Lovecraft. I have listened to a couple of audiobooks on The Well Told Tale, and I've always known that Stephen King and GRRM were heavily influenced but I've never actually sat down and read one of his stories. I mean to correct this deficiency soon. But first I need to finish my reread of the original Dune series. I'm currently on Heretics.
Which story had the brains in jars hooked up to... phonographs? Bug aliens flying the cannister people across space from... Pluto? Am I nuts? I remembering it being one of my favs. Def Sci Fi. The one with alien Conquistadors had super tech. That was Mountains of Madness. Super Tech.
![What is 'Cosmic Horror'? [Illustrated]](/img/n.gif)
One of the things I really like about Lovecraft is he has some truly alien representations of aliens. Not just humans with some bumps on their heads or whatever.
I think he mentioned that precise point in one of his essays or letters. Even in the 1920s/30s people were using boringly anthropomorphic aliens.
Totally. They seem completely out of this world. Instead of vaguely humanoid beings that could be us in a million years.
Yeah, like they really seem horrific, instead of just being blue humans with antennae.
@@seacatlol831 They aren’t just grays. They’re really unknowable.
@@ingmarfris8175 Like, instead of a red man from mars, we just have a carnivorous amorphous jellybean of death.
George R.R. Martin also wrote a short story called "The Stone City", where archeologists discover a vast labyrinth (similar to the ones described in the Hyperion books) on a distant planet. When one of the reseatchers studying the ruin starts walking its hallways, he find that the labyrinth is so vast and non-euclidian (another Lovercraft-trope), that he can visit other worlds without the need for a spaceship.
However, he quickly becomes so engrossed in the sights the city has to show him, that he goes mad, never actually leaving the city at any point, just walking it forever, because he doesn't want to give up the possibility of the next world he sees being even better than the ones he saw before (basically, the cosmic horror equivalent of any Netflix-playlist ;-P ).
Lovecraft wrote a true science fiction story "In the Walls of Eryx". It is unusual in that it is definitely science fiction, but also in that Lovecraft shows a lot of sympathy for the aliens.
It's such a great story and indeed it is very uncharacteristic. It's almost anti-colonialist in tone.
Out of curiosity, was this written later on in his life? I know his opinions really started to change due to the letters he’d send and receive from other authors. Perhaps the sympathy he shows for the aliens is a hint at the changes his thinking were undergoing at the time
@@lamb_link It was written one year before his death and came out only after he had died.
@@lamb_link Yes, it was written shortly before he died and shows how much is views were changing.
@@wordsofcheresie936 I like to think it was his relationship with his wife that made it so his views began to change. He did apparently say after they had to divorce that he still loved her.
One of the best cosmic horrors is "Event Horizon."
If I see this movie mentioned, I have to mention Warhammer 40k.
@Neuromance27 can you recommend some others please. Lol
I saw it when I was 13 and couldn't sleep for a week...
If you haven’t seen it, don’t watch it alone. I think I saw the uncut version. 🙀
@@dreal500 the void, the thing. There really isn’t much that’s any good. Color out of space maybe
Not only was Lovecraft's writing often science fictional, it was becoming increasingly so (Compare early Poe-inspired work like The Outsider to his last work The Shadow Out Of Time for instance). Had he have lived a couple more decades he would have been writing in the era of Clarke and Asimov and Heinlein and it's fascinating to think what that would have been like.
Foundation style galaxy sized epic with true lovecraftian cosmic horror? Absolutely yes
No, he wasn't. His last story, "The Haunter of the Dark" is a purely supernatural story.
@@tgcnow So, your example is one story?
@@faust13301 not even just 1, but his last one
@@ianharrison5758a single example doesn’t disprove the trend, anomalies occur, his next book might have been pure sci fi if he had lived to write it for all we know
The Real Cosmic Horror was the Friends we made along the way
The nightmares I had along the way
The Real Cosmic Horror were the Friends we made along the way
Please talk about Robert Chambers “The King in Yellow” written in 1895. It influenced Lovecraft massively.
Have you ever read William Hope Hodgson? He was a cosmic horror writer from before Lovecraft’s time who Lovecraft himself even acknowledged as a major influence on his work. The complexity and originality to which he took that cosmic horror and tied it up with some flawed but floorlessly deep intimate relationships in a way that was
mostly unsentimental and had really Miltonian undertones, most obvious in The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, is really unparalleled and a must for cosmic horror fans.
for young people the best analogies might be Hope wrote similar to courage the cowardly dog's atmosphere, where Lovecraft wrote similar to saladfingers twisted sensibilities... lmao
I actually have some chapters of The Night Land on my channel if you're interested.
Love the atmosphere of The Night Land. It's the writing that I can't stand, which is ironic because I can read Lovecraft over and over.
The night land is so hard to read
House on the Borderlands is interesting because it’s a formative work of Weird and Cosmic horror, but Hodgson’s writing style is so, so annoying. It’s a worthwhile read, and it’s short, but my god is it hard to get through for the repetitiveness of his prose.
Predating even that one is “The King in Yellow,” by Robert Chambers, a major influence on any writer of the Weird and Cosmic, especially Lovecraft.
If you read Lovecraft chronologically, you can see him exploring and expanding the "unkown". First it's life after death, then dreams, family histories, pre history civilizations, magic beyond science, science actually able to explore more, subterranean dwellers, deep sea dwellers, and then deep space dwellers.
He's exploring the Unknown foremost, and paranoia can spin that into horror.
Oh, and other cultures (races) is also part of that.
I can remember reading Lovecraft as a teen and thinking, 'this is closer to sci fi than horror'. That said, I feel that Ridley Scott's Prometheus wanted to be a Lovecraftian / cosmic horror story and being sunk by script and plot problems.
I won't pretend I've read a lot of cosmic horror, but the line "In his house at R'Lyeh dead Cthulu waits dreaming" gave me goosebumps when I read "The Call of Cthulu". And still gives me goosebumps when I think about it today. Just so evacuative.
You should check out Stephen Kings short story _Jerusalems lot_ . It's a prequel to Salems lot that explains why the town is evil and why evil beings like Vampires are attracted to it. Aside from _It_ it's the most Lovecraftian story King has done. Even down to the story being told through Journal entries.
While that one is great, King has very much written more Lovecraftian stories than that. His short story “N.” is pure cosmic horror, as is his novel “Revival.”
@@codylakin288 ”From a Buick 8“ and "The Mist" as well, even moreso than others, imo. "Revival" is the most pure cosmic horror that he's done, though. I still remember the feeling of realizing what was happening in that story, it was more unsettling to me than most of his work. "The Jaunt" is kind of cosmic in nature as well, at least thematically.
"The House on the Borderlands" by William Hope Hodgeson is an early example of Cosmic Horror that predates Lovecraft and a gripping read.
Yes, one of the greatest horror novels of the 20th century.
And a special mention to "The Night Land" by the same author, which also predates Lovecraft cosmic horror. I have to highly recommend it, is really awesome for such an old sci-fi/post-apocaliptic novel. Also, somehow the author manages to not be as racist as Lovecraft, so, it's always something good.
Those pigmen freaked me out! It Kind of reminds me of the movie "The Gate" too.
It actually came out after Lovecraft said work but I’ll still check it out!
William hope Hodgson should be better known.
4:45 The French have the term _fantastique_ which overlaps science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
English has Speculative Fiction which covers the same
Found this sentence on the net:
J.-H. Rosny occupies a position of historical importance in the genesis of francophone science fiction second only to that of Jules Verne, and corresponding in English to that of the aforementioned H.G. Wells. Though the appellation “science fiction” had yet to gain currency in either tradition when Rosny and Wells began publishing, both lived long enough to see their work absorbed into it. Dans le monde francophone, science fiction cohabits a genre ecosystem with both fantasy and a third stream, the fantastique, which remains absent from the Anglosphere as a discrete category, et c’est dans la littérature fantastique that we find much of what we recognize today as The Weird, including Jean Ray, who definitely read his fellow Belgian and found some inspiration chez Rosny. Though today both the French and English traditions catalogue “Les Xipéhuz” as science fiction and even recognize it as one of the genre’s foundational texts, we shall consider it equally as an exemplar of the Weird Tale.
Fantas-magorium :-D :-D
Hence why the French embraced Lovecraft seriously before many other countries thought to.
Very true! Although it must also be noted - QUITE a bit of Lovecraft's work would be RIGHT at Home, in Le Grand Guignol. After all, there's "horror," " *HORROR* ..."
And then there's Lovecraft.
Stanislaw Lem is a fantastic sci fi writer who often features creatures, beings, forces that are completely alien to our human understanding and so unknowable. Solaris is his most well known book.
You've been on fire lately. Love it!
I think the main thing that makes Cosmic Horror so interesting is that everything about it comes from a very primal place in our minds, it digs deep in the part of our thoughts that we've been trying to forget and pretend it never existed and Lovecraft goes to that place and explores it and you as a reader don't really want to know more about it but you can't help but feel curious, like a dark terrible curiosity.
I always liked the term Weird Fiction that came from the crossover of horror sci fi and fantasy from the times of the pulps.
For me, as much as lovecraft's ideas, his prose contributes such a great deal to his stories.
Would you ever discuss The Left Hand of Darkness? I haven't seen anyone else really do it, and it would fit so well with your channel's content. It's one of my favorite books 🙏
I love that book, it is a kind of science fiction I'm not used to read. Besides the prologue is one of the best essays on science fiction I have ever read. Ursula K. Le Guin is such a versatile author...
i liked that since robert e howard and lovecraft were friends, they tied their fictional worlds together. i can't remember the crossovers off the top of my head. but i think that could be an interesting video.
For more recent cosmic horror, let me recommend "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. A first contact story as dark as space itself.
I really love Blindsight. I love how many concepts it ruthlessly throws at you, and then each concept's eventual exposition is more disturbing than the last
Your intro music reminds me of FTL, which induces a deep terror within me.
What is FTL?
@@hamedm9241
Faster Than Light.
Probably referring to a game of the same name.
@@Euruzilys I would assume so. Truly a wonderful game that I still fire up every once in a while.
annihilation's original book was the best horror sci-fi I've ever read. I couldn't read more than few pages each time, even though I was eager to read more. It's a fabulous way to convey horror not by what you can see, but what you don't. The original story ends magnificent.
btw, this video is pretty mind blowing too. When I read you tweet "locraft is science fiction" I just could say "yes!".
I think the movie is pretty good as well.
If you like annihilation, I highly recommend watching the film that inspired the author - Stalker
@@Sci-Fi_Freak_YT The isn't just "good", the movie is amazing and outstanding! love them film!
@@Gadget-Walkmen it’s one of my top ten favorite movies.
@@Sci-Fi_Freak_YT top 20 buy yeah, amazing movie.
Nice video, Quinn. There's an element of Science Fiction in the technology that didn't exist sense in Cool Air, From Beyond, Herbert West: Reanimator, The Whisperer In Darkness and a few others.
It's funny, the Colour out of Space might be the inspiration for one of Douglas Adams' aliens. The Hooloovoo is described as a sentient shade of the colour blue, which can refract itself into a prism for formal occasions. Never made the connection before this video. Thanks Quinn!
Awesome video Lovecraft is one of my top authors along with Dan Simmons so this video definitely vibed with me.
The recent uptick in Dune interest is what led me to your channel but now I’m going down these wonderful rabbit holes. Love it.
'Annihilation' is such an amazing cosmic horror movie! I think is my favorite, and also, I agree with you when you say that Lovecraft doesn't get enough credit for influencing the modern style of horror. Great video!
Finding bits of Cosmic Horror in Fantasy stories is always exciting. I love stories that find ways to pepper it in.
The most beautiful sci-fi analysis ever 🙌🏻 cheers 🥂 from Egypt 🇪🇬
when ppl ask me what i think about lovecraft, i tell em about 'the alchemist'
"The hounds of Tindalos" written by his friend Frank Belknap Long Is probably among my favourite among the traditional cosmic horror stories. It plays with geometrical ideas in which apparently there is a completely angular space that preceded the curved space that we live in. And knowledge of that angular space makes a sort of cosmic antivirus system (The Hounds of Tindalos) pick up your scent and hunt you down but they can only enter our universe through angles and presumably go in a straight line when they do. They're not actually dogs or dog shaped. Its more of a metaphor for the way they hunt.
Talking about Lovecraft as science fiction, suprised no mention of Whisperer in Darkness, Shadow out of Time or From Beyond, all of which contain implicit Sci-Fi technology: of course all Lovecraft is Science Fiction in that Cthulu et al are Aliens...
I would say magic and alien technology go very often hand in hand in Lovecraft's universe.
@@siebensunden that's because most advanced science/tech can be scene as magic for ANY story out there outside of lovecraft's universe, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C Clarke
so writing advanced tech could use the same tips as writing Magic.
I really enjoy the cosmic horror elements in The Expanse books and series. And there is a very subtle nod to HPLC when a squid looking thing leaves a planet and goes into space. It also adds humans experimenting with the technology and the disastrous consequences. Plus it’s space magic and can pretty much defy the laws of physics, at least the way humans understand it. And it has an effect over the stories in all the books but not always in a direct way.
The Proto-Molecule is the most Lovecraftian thing I have seen in fiction since The Thing and “The Great Ones Blood” in Bloodborne.
I think the reason you don't normally hear Lovecraft mentioned as a science-fiction author is that while most sci-fi authors seem to be at least _interested_ in science, Lovecraft only seemed to be afraid of it.
Bullshit. Read up on the man some more.
One of my favorite channels!!! Great stuff
A Song of Ice and Fire has a lot of similarities to Dune too. I know it's not cosmic horror, but it shows how much fantasy, horror, and sci-fi lean on each other.
Heresy.
Subbed to you for Asoiaf content ages ago, but I LOVE cosmic horror content. Thanks for making amazing videos!
In the mountains of madness - great work!
Hopefully your voice doesn't get copyright claimed
WB: Sorry we own that now.
I love Lovecraft's stories. And I'm glad you covered the science fiction and fantasy stories that have been inspired by Lovecraft.
The only nitpick (and it's not really a nitpick as much as a commentary/observation) is that most of his protagonists aren't as developed. That's not the case with all but most. I have m own take on it as to why. Part of it is because Lovecraft was a bit of an introvert and also to show that in true cosmicism fashion, our needs and wants are insignificant to monstrous and inexplicable deities or beings that are so far ahead of us - whose sole existence undermines our view of humanity as the apex predator (even in our homeworld).
‘The Walls of Eryx’ is pure science fiction and one of my favourite SF short stories.
Awesome as always. Generations of old and new SciFi fans with thank you, for your deep passion and painstaking meticulous work.
Whether it be about Lovecraft, Dune or Foundation, you know what you're talking about, Quinn!
I didn't think there's any question about Lovecraft being a scifi writer. Love the video.
The aliens didn’t trap Carter on Yaddith. That was his own damn fault.
Aw, so few comments arounds...that feels weird.
Still bummed for you about yesterday Quinn, keep us posted on that effing matter.
Otherwise: same quality as you've got us used to, you're really spoiling us! 🍃
I can't tell how much I love this Channel!
I intergrate a lot of lovecraftian horror elements into my own stories, and other than a couple they mostly fall into the dark fantasy genre, with some very light science fiction elements in areas.
Since you mentioned Annihilation, please consider making videos on the Area X/Southern Reach trilogy that the movie was "an adaptation of".
They were interesting, and there's definitely a lot of scope there for speculation and discussion.
I hate to be that guy, but I think it’s really cool that as a black dude you’re doing Lovecraft stuff. It’s clear to anyone who’s read his books that he hates anyone who’s not a White Anglo-Saxon from New England, and by taking his writing and making it yours through discussion you’re breaking down the ugly barriers he wanted to erect upon his work. Good job sticking it to the racist half of Lovecraft while respecting the literary boogeyman half! Much love! You got a new subscriber today.
The SCP Foundation has some good cosmic horror sci fi.
So true, they utilized the cosmic horror in fullest, not just that but religion as well.
I've been going back through the Mass Effect trilogy, and the story is like a blockbuster version of Lovecraftian concepts. Ancient beings unfeelingly manipulate an entire galaxy for nefarious purposes. Also, most of the aliens are neoliberals: true cosmic horror!
recommend the German film that adapts a color our of space. Nails the atmosphere
Yeah, i like that the whole film is black and white while "the colour" has a colour
I am german and never heard of such film
@@erikw.1313 it’s a 2012 film, you can rent on prime for two bucks here in the states
Agreed, absolutely awesome movie. Liked it better than the new Cage vehicle.
What’s the name of the film? “A color out of space”?
Hey Quinn! May I send you my book as a gift? It’s also fantasy/Sci-fi. I was a guest speaker at both the 1st & 2nd African Comic Con (2018 & 2019). I’m a scientist, so the magic system has a scientific basis.
I love your videos & just wanted to give small gift. You’re also the reason I became interested in Dune! Hope things work out with the Warner Bros issues you’ve been experiencing ❤️
Another great video.
Here’s another take why Cthulhu and the Elder Gods cause sanity loss: they’re multidimensional entities and when they’re projected on our 3D space + time, they are horrific and cause sanity loss. In the novel Flatland about 2D entities, the author mentioned what a 2D entity would see if we entered that universe. They would see an ever changing shape which displayed our innards as we pass through their 2D space, causing sanity loss to the 2D creatures of Flatland.
There was a Japanese anime about Nyarlathotep called Haiyore! Nyaruko-San as a kawaii anime girl. She mentioned that was the closest approximation in 3D space of her true form. However she could assume monstrous forms which was nothing more than a projection into 3D space.
Thank you for all your hard work Quinn :)
Great video as always!
another interesting point is he invited other authors to play in his world mythos.
for example, the world of Conan the Barbarian drew on it
I never doubted that Lovecraft is a science fiction author. Almost all of his stories relate to science fiction in some way. Beings like Cthulhu are alien and powerful beyond human comprehension.
Another great video as always. You put out such good work
Nice video. There is actually a pretty good German adaption of The Color out of Space, called 'Die Farbe'. It's pretty faithful to the original story and one of the best Lovecraft movies out there imo (together with Call of Cthulhu from the Lovecraft Society).
Great video 👍🏻. Whilst watching It reminded me of certain story elements in Cixin Liu’s “Remembrance of Earth’s past” series that I read not long ago, particularly the last book “Death’s End”. There’s a certain part in the book that depicts an oncoming threat to humanity that seemed a little Lovecraftian, albeit in a more modern SF way, the sense of dread and horror of something coming that is beyond our ability to fully understand. If you know, you know ...
Hey Quinn, love your videos sm. Read a bunch of Lovecrafts books, and I was so disappointed 😞. I think my heart is whenever hard sxifi is. AND you're so fantastic, you hit the nail on the head every time. Once my pay comes thru, I have to patron you. Meanwhile, please look at Peter Watts Blindsight.
3:02 what a magical scene !
Lately, the most genuinely nightmare inducing cosmic Horror that I have come across is The All Tomorrow's story/book.
I was never aware of H P Lovecraft as he is not that known in India but I found out about him through the internet, his stories never really got to me that way, they were interesting but they never actually made me afraid, so I was not truly able to grasp the idea of Cosmic Horror but boy did it hot when I read about the Qu in the All Tomorrow's, the idea of an Alien species of Fanatics turning humanity into Literal toys, tools and abominations just on a whim is terrifying.
If you are interested in reading some of Lovecrafts books which in my opinion truly captures the mixture of fear and interest, it would be the Mountains of Madness and the Shadow over Innsmouth. Both can be freely found as audiobooks on TH-cam
Into the mouth of madness has to be one of the best cosmic horror movies I've seen.
Lovecraft's stories are so disturbing we put them out of our mind and forget we ever read them after setting the book down.
Hey Quinn big fan here of your content, can you do a video about Roadside Picnic, one of the most underrated sci fi story. It’s the book that stalker was based on (the Russian movie masterpiece by Andrei Tarkovsky.
I agree 100%. If you haven't read any yet, I recommend Charles Stross's Laundry Files series of books too. He utilises many great old ones and deep ones from Lovecraft's stories.
The Colour Out of Space is defo my favourite story by Lovecraft, and that's also probably because it was a source of inspiration for Annihilation. Have you actually read The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer though, Quinn? If you haven't, please consider doing so, because the book(s) is a thousand times better than the movie (I personally hated the movie because I thought it was a garbage adaptation).
This only keeps getting better.
It's worth noting that the people from the sea could also be a reference to the 'sea people' who were noted for their role in the destruction of several civilizations in ancient times. Egypt being among the few to survive, but with severely diminished borders. George RR Martin does love European and related history, and uses it a lot. Crete is in the area where the sea peoples ravaged, and it is known for its own Labyrinth. And like Crete, Lorath is an island. Also, coinage from Knosses depicts the maze in a similar way to how it does in a world of ice and fire.
i really don't personally put differences between horror, scifi, fantasy, etc. as long as they have many of the same elements
the overlap is usually what i enjoy the most personally
The Mazemakers in ASoIaF are an explicit reference to the Minoan civilization in earth's actual history, which were destroyed during the bronze age collapse during raids by "sea peoples" - an unidentified civilization of Mediterranean pirates/raiders.
The Stone City short story referenced by @Christian Beier is less explicit, but is at the very least a nod to the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. In that, the Pattern is a maze that allows those who walk it to visit other worlds.
as they say in the MCU (and i said quite some time before that) "Your ancestors called it magic, and you call it science. Well, I come from a place where they're one and the same thing."
i can't wait for the day when scientists finally discover this new form of energy that does all the same things people have been calling silly superstitions for years.
I actually *just* watched Color out of Space a couple days ago, and yeah, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. To me, it got across the general horror of a completely unknown thing falling out of nowhere and changing, warping, completely ruining everything around it into unknown, terrible versions of itself, something so old and misunderstood that nobody could do a thing to stop it. There were theatrics of it, of course, that were embellished for the big screen, but ultimately I think it was fairly good at getting across the mystery, strangeness, and unfathomable-ness that cosmic horror should. I agree that Annihilation was probably a better story for the same reasons, but Color Out of Space certainly wasn't unfaithful to the concept, imo, though I can definitely see where you're coming from. I always have to set apart book/movie adaptations of the same story, in pretty much every case, because there are things that words can do that images simply can't, and vice versa.
A modern day cosmic horror science fiction I recommend is the short story "Warped Passages" by Kameron Hurley, and the novel "The Stars are Legion." The short story is about the origin of what the book is about. I personally like the short story the best, but interestingly the author has said she now regrets publishing it because she feels it gives too much away.
“The Empty Man” is one of the best backdoor cosmic horror films I’ve seen in a while. No one saw it at release though.
Who enjoyed that color out of space movie? Color out of space and mountains of madness are easily my favourite stories of Lovecraft and factual masterpieces. If the movie even had just tried to get it right, my critique wouldn't be that harsh. But it was pretty obvious after a while that they didn't inted on getting it right in the first place.
Color is so underrated even amongst Lovecraft fans. It deserved some justice or it was to be left alone.
There's a German production (mostly in English)2012 adaptation of Color that gets it mostly right and is amazing as far as I'm concerned.
One thing often forgotten is that Lovecraft wrote in a time when horror, science fiction, and fantasy were not yet the separate, more easily defined categories they are today.
WAIT A SEC! Did..did people not realize lovecraft’s stories were science fiction??? I mean I guess if you only heard of some baseline material but even if you explored three stories of his at random there’d be no missing it.
I'm definitely one of the people who really enjoyed the film adaptation of Color Out of Space. That said, I never really liked the original short story that much, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with whether someone's more or less likely to enjoy it. I thought the film did a great job interpreting all the details of the story in its own distinct way separate from the original. Also, the surveyor emerging from the aftermath into pure white ash covering everything - freakin beautiful
The Colour out of Space was also made into the 1987 movie The Curse. And X-Files had an episode with some strange glowing particles in the woods.
Regarding other authors writing in Lovecraft's universe. August Derleth has to be blamed for that. Lovecraft would sometimes make a short reference to the work of his fellow friends and authors, and use a rewritten version of their names in his stories. Just some fun between friends.
What Derleth did after Lovecraft's death was to say to everybody; come on, you add your own stories to his universe. And he tried to put all of Lovecraft's deities, gods and beings into some system or hierarchy, and letting some of the represent the elements and so on. But he also did a lot to make sure Lovecraft's work was not forgotten.
I personally see no point in the distinction between Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are stories with more scientific approach and there are ones with less. (Sometimes one can argue that magic is a substitute for technology in the sense of narrative, and vice versa.)
BUT all the stories (not only in these 2 genres) refer to the greatest thing humanity ever achieved and the strongest power known to mankind: Imagination. And that is beautiful.
I often think about the words of the great Sir Terry Pratchett: "Imagination, not intelligence, made us human."
And in my opinion there are not many quotes in the world which carry such wisdom.
Enjoy life, friends. Enjoy your Imagination. :)
The distinction is that science fiction aims at a future golden age and fantasy sees golden ages only in the past or in ancient lore.
Imagine if Guillermo del Toro directed a remake of Event Horizon?
Another movie based on A Color out of Space is The Curse 1987. It stars Will Wheaten and you can watch it free on YT. I really enjoyed it as a kid.
Annihilation and The Thing are two of my favorite cosmic horror movies. Bloodborne is my favorite cosmic horror game.
Lovecraftian anythin' is basically my biggest inspiration
Completely agree "Annihilation" was much, much better at capturing the spirit of Lovecraft's "Colour Out Of Space."
I often wonder if this is the route they should have taken with the Alien franchise. The original film pushed the idea that the creature, ship, space jockey et al were something beyond our comprehension. The title 'Alien' didn't just refer to the xenomorph but something that was so removed from humanity that we couldn't possibly understand it. Similar in a way to the philosophy of Stanislaw Lem and his story Solaris. I think it would have been far more interesting to have any exploration of the Alien raise more questions that just revert to a bunch of beings who were just bald humans (being somewhat bald myself, I'm not sure how to take that).
Prometheus and Covenant completely destroyed the mystery of the original story. It's incredible how Ridley Scott managed to completely annihilated his own legacy in sci-fi horror canon with those two films. Also goes to show that being a great director doesn't necessarily make one a great storyteller.
8:05 The link for your Lovecraft videos seems to be missing. Dune, Hyperion, Foundation are there, but not Lovecraft.
Edit: I found the playlist in your channel description.
Science fiction and cosmic horror are two of my favorite forms of entertainment
You should give another try to The Color Out of Space, it actually does do a good job, and it's Nicholas Cage, there's nothing not to like.
you going to do more Isaac asimov vids? maybe more about the robot series or a vid about asamovs robots
The best Lovecraft adaptions are the films by the hpl historical society and their dark adventure radio theater...
I really need to read some Lovecraft. I have listened to a couple of audiobooks on The Well Told Tale, and I've always known that Stephen King and GRRM were heavily influenced but I've never actually sat down and read one of his stories. I mean to correct this deficiency soon. But first I need to finish my reread of the original Dune series. I'm currently on Heretics.
Please please please do blindsight by Peter watts
Which story had the brains in jars hooked up to... phonographs? Bug aliens flying the cannister people across space from... Pluto? Am I nuts? I remembering it being one of my favs. Def Sci Fi.
The one with alien Conquistadors had super tech. That was Mountains of Madness. Super Tech.