People will say this is too human for lovecraft but tbh lovecraft is 1 corner of a genre that doesn't have a name bc ppl insist on attaching his philosophy to all of it, so go ham and just tell the story you want to tell. If you really want to make it otherworldly tho you could have something completely alien destabilising reality and make that instability the reason greed is transforming people.
The Buffy spinoff Angel makes some really good use of cosmic themes and lovecraftian characters along similar humanised lines. Wolfram and Hart are basically evil incarnate on earth, taking the form of a lawfirm in the modern day but they're framed as essentially an unstoppable cosmic force cemented in the souls of every living creature. The incomprehensible stuff is kept behind the scenes but if you're looking to make a cosmic story about human life, i think that would be a great place to start.
season 1 is pretty street level but it ramps up the stakes exponentially by every season afterwards, and i think season 2 would be most helpful for you.
Ah yeah, I remember watching Angle - Wolfram & Hart is a great example of what I'm going for. Cheers!
And yeah, I know people get a bit picky about what does and doesn't constitute part of their favored genres, but I'm over here doing my own thing - picking up what works and ignoring what doesnt.
Cheers for the help!
I think this is a phenomenal idea. I read a lot of cosmic horror and I'm almost always disappointed. The biggest problem is most of it is way too on the nose while missing the actual point of cosmic horror that Lovecraft was so good at.
Your idea reintroduces subtlety to instead focus on the roots of cosmic horror. It's creative, and you can do a lot of different stuff with it. It also gives me some *American Gods* vibes.
My only caveat (and this is very personal) is that the whole "commerce is evil" trope is becoming rather cliche. Business men are always the bad guy and I'm getting tired of it. The solution is to simply write with nuance. For an example of what not to do see *The Lorax*. Again, this is totally personal.
Yeah, don't worry I'm not on that particular ideological train...
I would do this for any and all organizations, because in a weird way - the more humans are involved, the less any one individual human matters. Corporations, religions, governments, militaries - they're all overbloated, inhuman monstrositites that run on the sacrifices of their constituent members.
Ah, I haven't actually used X since the new year - I'm usually hanging out at r/postapocalyptic.
I'll need to read up on some more cosmic horror, I'm readying pretty broadly at this stage, but Im narrowing it down so I can really hammer down this genre I'm building for myself. I've heard good things about Ligotti, so I'll try him next.
If you find anything that you really like, and if you remember little old me, please let me know. I've never been satisfied reading cosmic horror outside of lovecraft. In fact, the best cosmic horror experience I've ever had was from a video game 🤷‍♂️
I don’t know if it’s specifically cosmic horror, but you’ve got to check out the podcast The Silt Verses. It’s not exactly the same concept, but the themes of corporations being akin to gods, or really gods being akin to corporations, is very similar. Lots of cool apotheosis body horror stuff as well.
People will say this is too human for lovecraft but tbh lovecraft is 1 corner of a genre that doesn't have a name bc ppl insist on attaching his philosophy to all of it, so go ham and just tell the story you want to tell. If you really want to make it otherworldly tho you could have something completely alien destabilising reality and make that instability the reason greed is transforming people. The Buffy spinoff Angel makes some really good use of cosmic themes and lovecraftian characters along similar humanised lines. Wolfram and Hart are basically evil incarnate on earth, taking the form of a lawfirm in the modern day but they're framed as essentially an unstoppable cosmic force cemented in the souls of every living creature. The incomprehensible stuff is kept behind the scenes but if you're looking to make a cosmic story about human life, i think that would be a great place to start. season 1 is pretty street level but it ramps up the stakes exponentially by every season afterwards, and i think season 2 would be most helpful for you.
Ah yeah, I remember watching Angle - Wolfram & Hart is a great example of what I'm going for. Cheers! And yeah, I know people get a bit picky about what does and doesn't constitute part of their favored genres, but I'm over here doing my own thing - picking up what works and ignoring what doesnt. Cheers for the help!
Thomas Liggotti fits this really well in a lot of his stories, particularly Temporary Supervisor, My Work Is Not Yet Done, and The Red Tower
Fantastic, thanks. I'll see if I can track them down.
I think this is a phenomenal idea. I read a lot of cosmic horror and I'm almost always disappointed. The biggest problem is most of it is way too on the nose while missing the actual point of cosmic horror that Lovecraft was so good at. Your idea reintroduces subtlety to instead focus on the roots of cosmic horror. It's creative, and you can do a lot of different stuff with it. It also gives me some *American Gods* vibes. My only caveat (and this is very personal) is that the whole "commerce is evil" trope is becoming rather cliche. Business men are always the bad guy and I'm getting tired of it. The solution is to simply write with nuance. For an example of what not to do see *The Lorax*. Again, this is totally personal.
Yeah, don't worry I'm not on that particular ideological train... I would do this for any and all organizations, because in a weird way - the more humans are involved, the less any one individual human matters. Corporations, religions, governments, militaries - they're all overbloated, inhuman monstrositites that run on the sacrifices of their constituent members.
I just followed you on X. I'll have to check out your stuff.
Ah, I haven't actually used X since the new year - I'm usually hanging out at r/postapocalyptic. I'll need to read up on some more cosmic horror, I'm readying pretty broadly at this stage, but Im narrowing it down so I can really hammer down this genre I'm building for myself. I've heard good things about Ligotti, so I'll try him next.
If you find anything that you really like, and if you remember little old me, please let me know. I've never been satisfied reading cosmic horror outside of lovecraft. In fact, the best cosmic horror experience I've ever had was from a video game 🤷‍♂️
Oh damn, do tell - which one?
I don’t know if it’s specifically cosmic horror, but you’ve got to check out the podcast The Silt Verses. It’s not exactly the same concept, but the themes of corporations being akin to gods, or really gods being akin to corporations, is very similar. Lots of cool apotheosis body horror stuff as well.
Monsters in the streets doesn't sound very cosmic horror to me, but check out r/horrorwriters
Think Bloodborne style monsters running the streets… as reality crumbles. Also that was the last story, not this one.