Cosmic Horror: The Dark Philosophy Of HP Lovecraft’s Cosmicism
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Today, we’ll be plunging into the dark and enigmatic philosophy of H.P. Lovecraft's Cosmicism.
Thanks for watching and don't forget to check out my sci-fi books below.
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - What is Cosmicism?
2:31 - How Cosmicism differs from existential philosophies
3:46 - Key Works Illustrating Cosmicism (The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror)
9:04 - WHo was HP Lovecraft?
11:25 - Lovecraftian Horror and its influence
#scifi #cosmichorror #hplovecraft
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The images in my videos are mostly licensed stock photos. However, occasionally I will use images found online. I always seek to properly credit artists and offer a link back to their amazing work but sometimes it's hard to find the original source of the work. If I've used an image you own and I haven't credited you, please feel free to get in touch as I am always more than happy to do so. - Розваги
Read enough lovecraft and it usually boils down to "i went somewhere lost and forgotten and there i saw something conveniently indescribable and lost my wits!"
And that’s why I like it, it provides just the essentials, a starting point for your imagination to run wild.
And is that a good and bad thing in your opinion? Just wondering.
Another "way of thinking" or philosophy opposite to the nihilism of cosmic horror is what I would call "Cosmic Wonder" or "Cosmic Significance". This would refer to stories where readers follow humans, mainly an individual or pair of individuals, who are exploring and taking significant actions in a universe that is filled with diverse life, ancient mysteries, ancient races, god like aliens, a few legitimate cosmic horror entities you don't want to come across and a few hints that the universe itself is somewhat alive and has a consciousness of it's own.
Unlike cosmic horror stories the protagonists aren't random people that die or lose their minds at the end but established individuals that take center stage in different stories that may be seen as separate stories but at some point it becomes clear that they have been taking part in a larger and grander narrative. And while in cosmic horror stories humans are insignificant in the universe, their actions in a cosmic significance/wonder story actually have meaning and have an actual effect on the universe as a whole; sometimes it is hinted that they have being guided (not controlled) and protected by some superior force like unseen god like aliens or an actual will of the universe/ a legitimate god.
Another factor would be that while cosmic horror works better through literature in order to let the reader's imagination fill the horrifying details, a cosmic wonder story would have to be through a medium with visuals that would fill the eyes with great art and sublime imagery.
One good example of this type of story is the movie Cloud Atlas, wich is a great movie regardless of if what most people say. However the best example I know is the french comic Valerian and Laureline, a story which contains all the previously mentioned factors which after reading lead me to come up with this concept, highly recommend the read. Ironically I read the comic right after reading Alann Moore's Providence, the man's take on lovecraftian horror wich helped made the parallels between this types of stories hard to ignore.
A good presentation revealing Lovecraft's thoughts and philosophies. As for my insignificance in the universe, the my main problem with this notion of my insignificance is if I'm so insignificant then what am I doing here in the first place? I exist with or without a purpose and thus I'm here, so I might as well make up my own mind why I'm here.
As someone getting on in years, I often revisit videos I remember as being significant when they were released, some obviously before the introduction of the internet but now more obtainable than ever before. One such video is ''The Pale Blue Dot'' as narrated by Carl Sagan. In this he reduces all of humanity and human history to insignificance when the Earth is considered from a distance in space. When I watch it I am reminded of Lovecraft and wonder if this is what he was trying to convey, not so much that there are monstrous entities out there but that we have no idea at all of what we might come across. This, and the fact that, to any other entity, we might well be considered as insignificant due to our recent arrival in the cosmos whereas they might have been around for millennia.
Of course one has to consider Lovecraft's upbringing, the times in which he lived and his peculiar temperament (paranoia?) that I gather greatly affected his style. To accuse him of racism or whatever from a modern perspective is to completely miss the times in which he lived and the peoples whose opinions he might have become swayed by.
I personally enjoy his writing and the frisson of existential fear he provides without, often, being too detailed in his descriptions of whatever horror is in question, because it leaves it to my imagination. It is a cliche nowadays I know to say nothing compares to the horrors one's own mind can produce and that is part of Lovecraft's power.
It is also true of the movies you mention. We never see ''The Thing'' in its true form, ''Event Horizon's'' protagonist has to be inferred, and as for ''The Mist'', it's horrors are visible enough but from what ghastly place did they originate and what might be next?
Every astronomer, physicist, astronaut or cosmologist that I've ever heard from (in the real world) has always emphasized that Space is completely hostile to known life. If Lovecraft was aware of this, or even suspected it, one could understand his hostility to the ''great out there''. He was ahead of his time whilst, at the same time paradoxically, stuck in the mind-set of his time.
Thank you for this great video. My favorite story by Lovecraft is "The Colour Out of Space," but "The Mountains of Madness" is also wonderful. He's one of my favorite authors and it would have been an interesting experience knowing him -- he was such a mysterious person.
Please don't make the same mistake I did by watching the movie "The Colour Out of Space" with Nick Cage, just spare yourself the indignity 😅
@@IRosamelia No, I didn't see that movie. Lovecraft's stories are notoriously difficult to adapt to the big screen. I always thought it would be impossible to make the story into a movie because it would be impossible to create a color no human had ever seen. Also, all those Hollywood types have to put their "mark" on a movie from a story by a writer like Lovecraft, ruining a film. Dean Koontz's novels are also almost impossible to make into movies. One exception is "Intensity," which is a mini-series. Every time I think of that series or novel, I shudder.
There is also the Call of Cthulhu of tabletop role-playing game by Chaosium Inc. Its an excellent game that has been in print since 1981 and has had a major influence on the industry.
I'm just got into it. I just can't convince my group to play it!
@@rwentfordable I suggest offering to do a one-shot game for everyone. If they are still unsure, have one ready to go with pre-made characters. If for some reason a player can't make your regular game resulting in a cancellation, you can then offer to run the game you prepped. I have found the idea of no game, makes people more willing to try something new. Also recommend talking up what you like about CoC that is unique. Is it the Mythos horror, the investigation focus, the world or something else. I strongly advise against being overly critical of what you are currently playing while making the pitch. A happy player when told the game they are playing is not fun and they should play something else, can just ignore you.
The Spain-Germany match is going on and I'd much rather watch Darrel speak about H.P. Lovecraft. His view of the cosmos is accurate; we just don't matter to it! 😅
YEAY!!! Our Darrel is BACK!!! 🙂 ❤
Thank you!!🙏
Interesting video... thanks for the two podcasts you mentioned, will check them out.
slight error - lovecraft was born in 1890, not 1980 :D otherwise, i love your videos, darryl, and am pleasantly surprised to see you have expanded your reviews to cover other related genres :D
Thanks for the amend…. Slip of the tongue 👍
*I'm pleasantly surprised...if you read you should know how to the most common pronoun.
A recent add to my subscriptions. Just finished Banks Culture Series and just needed to know more. Your channel has been a wealth of real thought and understanding of the authors and genre. Thanks.
I find our insignificance in the universe comforting. Love the video.
Me too.
As I have been a life long Fan of Creators such as Lovecraft and Many Others, so then enjoyed your thoughts mentioned with this Video about Lovecraft and his Great Ideas put forth.. As I think You did Sum up Very Well the Concepts and Visions as how H P Lovecraft did see the World and far Beyond.... As for how we are also part of that Dark never Ending Spider Web, spread through out the Depths of the Big Black, that Always seems to Calls to Us. But then the Question, Should We Answer or invite such Shadowed Stranger from Far and Distant Places, to come and know that we are Here, as the Results of such a Meeting, might not be an Event, that would end Well for any of Us here, on this Small Blue Dot... And then as an Artist, Animator and Designer.... So also have had many thoughts and Ideas about Lovecraft and his Works. As then Projects, I too have been thinking about, so for myself also Creating a Few Small Productions of my Own... And so then many ideas I too have, for New Projects to come And though such specific ideas I see only in my Minds Third Eyes... Ideas are Coming together.. As then Very Much Enjoyed Your HP Lovecraft Video... So until I get on with those Next Potential Projects, I still then have other Images of My Works, that can be Seen, on My Gordon Strong FB Art Page... As a Very Good Day to You and All Other Lovecraft Fans....... 🐙🐙🐙
Mountains of Madness is going on my reading list!! Cheers
Two others to check out Thomas Ligotti (cosmicism) and Charles Stross (especially the The Laundry Files). Stross’s other SCIFI is excellent as well.
Thanks for the suggestions!
@@Sci-FiOdyssey Most welcome. One of Ligotti’s books is what the first season of True Detective was “lifted from.” Stross’s Singularity series (3 books is excellent) and is hard sci-fi. The Laundry Files is HPL meets poor mans James Bond. Fighting the Great Old Ones while surviving paperclip audits.
Agreed. Thomas Ligotti's early works are high on my list of weird-type reads. The Nightmare Factory consists of his first four short story collections - the standard is consistently high..
@@kufujitsu he is insanely efficient in the short format. The end of The Frolic is so tightly written and effective. I would love to have seen his X-Files episode get made.
@@GrottescoTeatro Yeah, The Frolic was a beauty. A story of Ligotti's that sticks in my mind the most is The Last Feast of Harlequin, which combines the history of clowns, with some of Lovecraft's themes. Though if truth be told, I like the vast majority of Ligotti's stories. Definitely a unique talent.
If you don't already know it, I would recommend the cosmic horror visual novel titled Saya No Uta (Song of Saya). It is heavily influenced by cosmic horror but has a very distinct take on it. Beware though! It is not only a story that will get under your skin and stay with you long after you've finished it, but it is also very graphic and explicit, including scenes of s.a. Mature audiences only please.
Thanks for the recommendation!
By the way, Lovecraft influenced by the pictures of Himalayans by russian painter Nikolaj Roerich!
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! (some cultist had to say it) - great vid on one of the (grand)fathers of modern horror (Poe might be one of the others) - and it can well be seen that nature is totally indifferent to humanity when you consider the stupendously long ages of the Earth, so why would the greater cosmos be any different? I like to think that grain of truth really adds to the Lovecraftian viewpoint
Galactic Horrors YT channel has delved into this with his short creepy pasta stories
Lovecraft: "but what if Anglo-Saxon men *aren't* the most powerful minds in the universe? 😱"
I don't think that thought EVER crossed his mind lol. In The Call of Cthulhu, he talks about these ultimate ancient gods that are undescribable and all powerful....and then one of them gets defeated by a white dude in a boat 😂
Make a video on Arthur Machen!
Ia! Lovecraft ftagn! Ia! This was a great, concise analysis of The Master's work. But it's WAIT-LEE, Wilbur WAIT-LEE, not "Watelly", and it's DUN-WITCH. And yes, Lovecraft is the greatest of all cosmic horror writers, and one of the greatest writers the Human Race ever produced. Yes, he was a bit of a racist and a xenophobe, but he was a product of his upbringing and his times.
I honestly don't find cosmicism terrifying but humbling
While I enjoyed the overview of his works and cosmicism, I find it disappointing you went into his life and real world influences without mentioning once his pretty extreme racism and xenophobia. These were big and unfortunate influences on his work and important to point out, and I think you could have done so without undermining his influence if that’s what you were trying to avoid
Letters he wrote to friends in later life he regretted his earlier views. Everyone seems to forget this.
@@rwentfordable While he did regret it later, it still was a big influence on his work at the time and bears mentioning