What is Lovecraft Horror?
Lovecraft horror was first brought to life by H.P. Lovecraft, an iconic horror writer that was responsible for giving the world a new vision of horror. Lovecraft horror is mostly seen as cosmic horror, or the fear of the unknown. This kind of horror focuses on mankind going insane upon witnessing the most messed up horror imaginable, either consisting of monsters or other worlds that the human race does not belong.
This horror can be the perfect blend of supernatural or psychological horror, and Lovecraft horror is one of the few that scares the crap out of me. This kind of horror really resonates with me, when it comes to my personal fear of the ocean. I have always wondered if something monstrous does exist in the ocean, hidden in the darkest depths of the water that no human can ever explore.
I accidentally gave myself this fear, once I started to conduct research on conspiracy theories of people going missing in the ocean, or wondering if an actual monster is hiding somewhere within the water.
This is why Lovecraft horror scares me so much.
The fear of the unknown is the worst, and not having an understanding of it would indeed drive me mad.
One of the best H.P. Lovecraft stories that heavily relies on this unknown fear, is one of his most popular.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth heavily focuses on my fear of the ocean.
.jpg)
I had finally gotten to read this story from a short story collection I had found of H.P. Lovecraft's, and I was blown away by how incredible this story was. We follow the story of a young man, who travels to a small town called Innsmouth, that is located by the ocean. He learns that the people who reside in the town have been deemed to be looking quite strange, after an alleged curse invaded the town. Once the young man arrives, he notices that many of the people resemble fish.
Even though this startles the young man, he is determined to further explore the town. He learns even more disturbing information, that a cult is associated with the fish people, and that they worship something that lives in the ocean. When they fully transform, they will be able to join their master in the water, a fate that awaits each of them.
The young man escapes the town when he realizes that the fish people are trying to break into his hotel room, and he runs away, but he experiences a moment of madness. He witnesses the fish people coming from the water to join in on the cult ceremony taking place in the town, and the man passes out from this insane spectacle.
When he awakens, the fish are now gone, leaving the man easy access to fully escape from this nightmare. He goes back home, but he learns a horrifying truth. His family has ties to the fish people in the bloodline, and he will become a fish himself. The man is in constant denial over this realization as time passes during his transformation, but he eventually accepts that he is now a fish monster.
While contemplating ending his life, he decides to give in to the madness. He tells himself that he will one day return to the town, where he will reunite with his fish people and possibly other family members who have gone into the water. He expresses excitement over meeting his new master, ridding himself of his humanity.
It's a powerful horror tale that perfectly sums up Lovecraft horror.
Humanity is disregarded in Lovecraft horror, because we must either give in to the madness, or lose ourselves forever.
Truly a fate worse than death.
Comments
Post a Comment