5 of my favourite cosmic horror stories
Unknowable horrors and mysteries beyond human comprehension await you in these strange worlds
Cosmic horror is a fascinating sub-genre. It’s often preoccupied with nebulous ideas of fear and reality making it a difficult genre to understand and unpack. This is part of the reason why I wanted to make cosmic horror one of the two pillars of Altered Narrative (alongside mythic science-fiction). These dark dimensions full of eldritch Gods and strange horrors beyond human comprehension are as interesting to me as they are terrifying.
I have watched and read a lot of cosmic horror over the years. New stories and old, I found something immensely interesting in many of them. From the overtly Lovecraftian to the more subtly cosmic, these stories have had a profound influence on me and my writing far beyond any one single short story.
With that in mind, I wanted to run through a few of my personal favourite cosmic horror stories so we might celebrate the wonders of the weird together. This is a selection from my personal canon of cosmic horror, the stories and worlds that have formed part of the foundation of what I want to create and the kinds of art I want to enjoy.
I also love a good weird cult or spooky tentacular monster and cosmic horror is overflowing with those.
One: Revival by Stephen King
“This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know-by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there's still time.”
This is a new entry in my cosmic horror cannon and to say too much about it would be to rob you of a potentially reality shifting experience. Okay, that’s a bit hyperbolic but I will say that this book ruined a Sunday for me in the best way. This tale of a musician whose destiny is entwined with a charismatic revival preacher is haunting and terrifying as it draws on the vast pantheon of cosmic horror to explore themes of faith, science, death and rebirth. Combine that with King’s knack for creating great characters and you’ve got recipe for true terror.
Two: Hellraiser & Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Is it cheating to put two films in one slot? I guess it’s what Pinhead would’ve wanted, right? Hellraiser and its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II are basically one long movie anyway. What struck me most about the universe Clive Barker created was the complete and utter sense of powerlessness you feel up against Pinhead, the Cenobites and the Leviathan they serve.
Sure, for characters like Frank Cotton who are deliberately opening the doorway to Hell, they’ve willingly given themselves over to the pain inflicted by Pinhead. But for those caught in the cosmic crossfire, there are few things more terrifying than feeling completely trapped and unable to free yourself from pain and torment.
Hellbound is definitely the more overtly ‘cosmic’ as we step into the hellish dimension from which Pinhead hails, but both films serve as uniquely unsettling examples of how powers beyond human comprehension can make us feel.
Honourable Mention: Hellraiser (2022)
Three: The Mist by Stephen King
Back to the King. I’d be remiss if I didn’t include one of his most famous works of cosmic horror. The Mist is as much a tale of a town trapped by a sinister fog filled with strange monstrous creatures from another dimension as it is about our very human reactions to the unknown.
Do we seek answers through religion like Mrs. Carmody (a S tier King villain) or do we try and use logic to survive, accepting this new reality we cannot control? This is a story about the ideas people cling to when faced with things they do not understand. A startling allegory for the way we face death and consciousness.
It’s bleak and vivid and propulsive engaging in the way that only Stephen King can be. It also makes for a wonderful companion piece to Revival. Fair warning, though, if you haven’t seen the 2007 film adaptation its a heavy watch.
Honourable Mention: The Mist (2007)
Four: The Endless
Benson and Moorehead are amongst the best storytellers in the cosmic horror genre. From Spring to Synchronic and, more recently, Something in the Dirt, they create so much atmosphere with so little. Their stories are sparse and quiet and often eschew the bombast of modern horror in lieu of something more internal yet no less grand in its scope.
The Endless is a prime example of that. This reads like a prime cut of Lovecraftian horror. Its got cults, mysterious entities whose presence we feel but never see. It plays with the cinematic form by warping time and space for both us as viewers and the characters themselves. It’s also really, surprisingly funny.
Honourable Mention: Spring (2014)
Five: In the Mouth of Madness
Is it controversial to put this on the list over The Thing? I guess so. It’s not that In the Mouth of Madness is my favourite Carpenter film but its the film I remember sticking with me for the longest time.
In the Mouth of Madness marks the final film in Carpenters loose ‘Apocalypse’ trilogy that also includes The Thing and Prince of Darkness. All three are works of cosmic horror and all three are fantastic. What scared me the most about In the Mouth of Madness wasn’t the strange creatures from another dimension or way the film makes us feel Sam Neill’s slow decent into madness. Sure, these things scared me.
What I found truly terrifying was the town of Hobb’s End itself. That place felt like Hell to me. In inescapable prison that holds onto you and never lets you go. It was as though that place was an entity itself. A small part of a greater cosmic terror that our minds can scarcely imagine.
Honourable Mention: The Thing, Prince of Darkness
And there we have it. Enough cosmic horror to infect your dreams with weird and have you questioning your reality. Cosmic horror is everywhere in fiction. These are some examples of where it’s at its most overt but it can also be fun to explore the themes of cosmic horror through other genres (Doctor Who is great at this).
I’ve got a lot more to say about the cosmic horror genre and the films and books and games I love that play with its many forms, so stay tuned.
I’m curious, what are some of your favourite cosmic horror stories? Do you agree with me? Or do you think I’m chatting more nonsense than Sutter Cane? Sound off below.