This collection comes from the twisted minds of many iconic horror and sci-fi writers - including Lovecraft, with his short story “The Colour Out of Space.” However, what’s really interesting is to see other authors, most known for their own particular brand of horror, write with a slightly more “cosmic” inclination.įor instance, Bram Stoker’s story “The Squaw” turns to enigmatic rather than folkloric frights: it implies that the spirit of a grieving woman has followed her enemy to another country, where she intends to enact revenge in a non-human form. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great cosmic horror books out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized horror book recommendation 😉 To honor their achievements, this post will largely focus on titles other than those written by Lovecraft - not least because we already covered 10 of his must-read works in another post! Without further ado, dip your toes into this wide-ranging list of 15 chilling cosmic horror titles to get you started with the genre. Today's cosmic horror writers bring a diversity of experience to crafting novels that are lyrical, thought-provoking, and sometimes funny in addition to being suffused with measureless dread. If you want to read it, however, you should know that the genre has evolved immensely since Lovecraft's heyday. If you want to learn how to write Lovecraftian horror, there's no one better to study that its namesake himself.

Thanks to his outsize influence over the subgenre, it's often referred to as 'Lovecraftian'. Lovecraft's extensive work in cosmic horror gave us the tropes associated with it today: paranoid protagonists, helplessness in the face of nature, and humanity as the plaything of grotesque, dispassionate gods. It’s the blood-freezing vacuum of outer space, and the sinister maw of the deep, dark sea. Instead of jump-scares and gore, it trades in subtler, more psychological form of fear, thanks in large part to the precedent set by its progenitor, H.P. It forces you to confront a terrifying suspicion: that you are nothing, in an unfathomable universe full of forces you can’t control.Ĭosmic horror is vast in scope. Knife-wielding slashers might set your heart racing, and a vengeful ghost can make the hair rise on your arm, but cosmic horror is bigger than these tangible fears. What is cosmic horror? This spine-tingling subgenre is all about the mind-bending terror of the unknown. Cosmic Horror: 15 of the Most CHILLING Titles to Start You Off

The best lovecraft stories