Cosmic Horror

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A young engineer wakes up from cryo-sleep during a routine deep space flight on the star freighter ‘Mayflower’. The ship’s computer informs him that he was awoken due to a false alarm. But all is not as it seems…

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Christopher Goodman - Director Benjamin Farry - Writer Neill Gorton - Story National Film and Television School - Producer Samuel Hunt - Producer Nikolay Savov - Producer Jason Ryall - Key Cast Thibault Chavanis - Composer Jon Muschamp - Cinematographer Mdhamiri A Nkemi - Editor David Tinto - Production Design Sam Boulton - Sound Designer

Absolution is the surprise fourth volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach series, which began with Annihilation and continued with Authority and Acceptance. The original trilogy was published in rapid succession ten years ago, all three volumes appearing in 2014, the same year that Adrian Collins founded Grimdark Magazine. It is thus a special treat to review this fourth volume of VanderMeer’s erstwhile trilogy in our tenth anniversary issue of Grimdark Magazine.

For the uninitiated, the Southern Reach series is a sci-fi horror centered on a mysterious coastal region known as Area X, where biological evolution has been accelerated in unexpected and terrifying ways, presumably due to extraterrestrial interference. Annihilation introduces us to an all-female team of scientists investigating Area X known only by their occupation: a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. These four women comprise the twelfth expedition into Area X after the successive failures of all the previous missions. The second novel, Authority, turns its attention away from Area X to focus on the Southern Reach, the shady entity responsible for organizing these expeditions into the horrific unknown. The third book, Acceptance, has a broader scope, shifting among several different perspectives and timelines to provide deeper character studies, including that of the mercurial Lowry, sole survivor of the original expedition into Area X.

Jeff VanderMeer makes a welcome return to Area X with Absolution. This fourth volume of the series is divided into three parts, each leaning heavily into the cosmic horror aspects of the story...

Play as one of Empress Eleanor’s Five Knights investigating reports of a rebellious faction and a missing royal. Will you manage to ward off the Fog? Into the Fray is a fast action-shooter in the vein of Doom and Dark Messiah. The focus is on fast, bloody combat with satisfying feedback and environmental reactivity in a dark Lovecraftian story of civil strife. Into the Fray is part of the Skautfold Series and follows Usurper and Shrouded in Sanity but can be played on its own...

I’m a sucker for cosmic horror. Whether it’s the tales of H. P. Lovecraft, cinematic adaptations of his stories, or original films like The Endless and Event Horizon, I simply can’t get enough of this stuff. The idea that we’re not nearly as powerful as we like to think is utterly fascinating to me, so when I first got wind of The Veil, I knew I had to check this movie out. It promised to be a great new take on this mind-boggling subgenre, and I couldn’t wait to see what Lovecraftian thrills it had in store.

The Veil was written and directed by Cameron Beyl, and it stars Sean O’Bryan, Rebekah Kennedy, and Will Tranfo. In the film, Douglas is a retired priest who lives alone in rural Pennsylvania. He leads a fairly typical life for someone in his position, but one night, his entire world gets turned upside down. It all starts when a powerful solar storm knocks out his power and cell service, and right when his electricity goes out, the sky begins to emit a strange green light...

... The Veil is a diamond in the indie horror rough. It’s an eerie, intriguing, and heartwarming story of cosmic terror, and it’s brought to life with two excellent lead performances. It’s pretty much everything I wanted it to be, so if you’re on the prowl for something good to watch, I highly recommend that you give this movie a shot.

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Join me as we talk about some of my favorite instances of cosmic horror. This video was a bit of a struggle as I'm still getting used to video editing, but I hope you all enjoy it!

In the video:

• uzumaki
• the empty man
• all tomorrows
• lore analysis
• cosmic horror

https://archive.org/details/book-all-tomorrows/mode/1up

H.P. Lovecraft's terrifying tales of madness, ancient deities, and cosmic horror have fascinated readers worldwide for over a century. Lovecraft's profound impact on the horror genre is undeniable, as his unique blend of psychological fear and unsettling explorations of identity loss and existential insignificance continues to resonate. However, translating Lovecraft's eerie visions to the big screen has always proven to be a daunting challenge for filmmakers. Many adaptations have struggled to capture the essence of his work, often relying on excessive gore and visual extravagance at the expense of the profoundly unsettling atmosphere and existential terror that defines Lovecraft's writing. On the other hand, Suitable Flesh stands as a thrilling and successful attempt to bring Lovecraft's nightmarish universe to life. This film expertly delves into the fundamental aspects of Lovecraftian horror, encompassing themes of physical and psychological terror, along with a sense of cosmic unease that is chillingly precise...

Powerful. Brutal. Bursting at the seams with cosmic horror, ennui, violence and self-annihilation. There are many ways to describe Laird Barron’s latest collection, NOT A SPECK OF LIGHT: Stories (Bad Hand Books, 370 pp., paperback, $19.99), but superb works just fine.

A murderer recounts his most memorable kills and how his victims have haunted him in “The Glorification of Custer Poe.” In “Joren Falls,” a retired couple learn to live with the hungry abomination that dwells in their attic. “The Blood in My Mouth” follows a man whose partner will do anything to see her dog again, even if it means delving deep into the supernatural.

Recurring elements across the 16 tales in this collection — space as a threatening place full of monsters; Alaska as the cold, unforgiving backdrop where death lurks at all times; violence as the answer to most questions — give it a pleasing sense of cohesion. Barron’s work is where eldritch horrors and unflinching brutality collide with poetry. “Not a Speck of Light” proves Barron belongs on the Mount Rushmore of dark speculative fiction.

The five books are:

• Not a Speck of Light by Laird Barron
• The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir
• Incarnate by Richard Thomas
• Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, translated and edited by Xueting C. Ni

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When a cold case novelist's career implodes, she seeks refuge in her friend's remote vacation home. Upon arrival, she encounters a strange couple who claim to be the caretakers. As tensions build, a dark secret begins to emerge.

https://www.videohorsefilms.com/

https://www.alexfofonoff.com/

"While Mortals Sleep" Credits: Produced by Matthew James Reilly Cinematography by Lidia Nikonova Production Design by Violet Overn

Recently, as we featured when it was revealed, Titan Comics released a first look at the first issue of Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu, which is the third Minky Woodcock series by writer/artist Cynthia von Buhler, following The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini and The Girl Who Electrified Tesla. Now, Titan Comics is also releasing an animated trailer to spotlight the new series.

The series will follow in the path of von Buhler's previous Minky Woodcock stories, in that the titular heroine will interact with real life historical figures in otherwise outlandish scenarios, and in this series, she crosses paths with H.P. Lovecraft and famed occultist, Aleister Crowley...

Stuart Ortiz is no stranger to the world of found footage. As part of the Vicious Brothers, he made Grave Encounters 1 and 2, which are pivotal pieces of contemporary found footage in how they both adopt genre tropes and subvert them to create something uniquely terrifying. Now, Ortiz is back with his new pseudo-documentary Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire which is perhaps the best pseudo-documentary since Lake Mungo in how it builds terror, never holds back, and features two incredibly realistic lead performances that make you question whether or not the events are entirely fictional.

Ortiz frames Strange Harvest like it’s a true crime documentary you would find on Netflix or Hulu—it’s sleek, cinematic, and even features that melodramatic music always used to punch home the emotional beats. Here, we’re learning about a series of murders committed in the Inland Empire (located in Southern California) by the serial killer known as Mr. Shiny. Our main characters are Detective Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Detective Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple), partners who have been investigating the case for almost two decades.

These murders are grisly, ritualistic killings that Ortiz isn’t afraid to show. Instead of blurred images or small glimpses at crime scene photos as seen in typical true crime documentaries, here we see every gory detail. But then he doesn’t just show photos; we also see video footage of Mr. Shiny’s crimes. Ortiz crafts an elaborate puzzle of footage, whether it be interviews, archival news broadcasts, photos, or eyewitness video, to build a world that feels so lived in and real. Everything builds to a wild, cosmic conclusion that I only wish had gone a little further. To say any more would spoil the experience of watching Strange Harvest and witnessing firsthand its wild twists and turns. But let’s just say it’s a daring take on cosmic horror I’ve been waiting for...

Publisher Feardemic and developer Bit Golem has announced Dagon: Complete Edition for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch. It includes Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft and all downloadable content, including the new console-exclusive content “What the Moon Brings.” It will launch on October 10.

Here is an overview of the game, via Feardemic:

About

“I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by tonight I shall be no more.”

Explore the unique works of H. P. Lovecraft via the interactive stories of Dagon: Complete Edition—an extraordinary collection depicting the horrors creeping beneath the waves, festering within delirious minds, and more.

Dagon: Complete Edition includes:

• Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft – Step into the shoes of a former World War I ship officer and experience the story that shattered his sanity.
• Downloadable Content “The Railway Horror” – Dive into the writer’s mind and uncover what haunted his very dreams (based on Lovecraft’s actual nightmare). “The Little Glass Bottle” – Experience a treasure hunt story written by the author when he was just seven years old. “What the Moon Brings” – Enter a dream-like world and immerse yourself in cosmic horror behind the wall of sleep.

Key Features:

• 100 percent faithful adaptations of Lovecraft’s works brought to life through atmospheric voice acting.
• Hidden notes containing rare trivia about Lovecraft’s life and his impact on culture.
• A brand new, console-exclusive downloadable content “What the Moon Brings.”
• Compact stories, each suitable for one gaming session.

Delve into the eldritch horror of the unknown with Dagon: Complete Edition…

…if your mind can endure it.

Watch the announcement trailer...

"I’m always on the hunt for a promising new Metroidvania. And although Voidwrought doesn’t explicitly call itself one, I see the telltale signs. Developed by PowerSnake with publishing duties by Kwalee, it’s a stunning adventure full of Cosmic Horror. Best of all, it’s slated to release on PC and Nintendo Switch on October 24th! Or if you’re impatient, there’s a demo available now on Steam, and one headed to the eShop soon!

Here’s some reasons to get hyped now for Voidwrought:

The coming of the Red Star heralds a new age. Emerging from its cocoon, the Simulacrum is driven to collect Ichor, the blood of the gods, from the monstrosities who hoard it.

Voidwrought is a fast-paced action-platformer with tight traversal, varied abilities, and formidable boss battles. Find and equip powerful Relics and Souls to customize your playstyle. Excavate into the rubble of the Gray City to construct a shrine filled with loyal followers.

Features

• Experience smooth, satisfying movement and tight controls.
• Explore atmospheric, hand-drawn biomes, from the star-scorched Surface to the biomechanical Abandoned Expedition.
• Fight over 70 enemies and 10 formidable bosses.
• Customize your playstyle with over 30 active Relics and passive Souls.
• Expand your shrine to discover new treasures, abilities, and secrets.
• Enjoy a rich, foreboding score by Anima: Song of the Abyss and Vigil: The Longest Night composer Jouni Valjakka."

Full Article

The horror genre built itself into the foundation of sequential art just as vigorously as superheroes, romance or science fiction. When psychiatrist Frederic Wertham published the misguided comics-skewering Seduction of the Innocent in 1954, the moral crusade was in response to the glorious groundswell of murder, corpses and grotesquery on the comics rack. Despite the beating the genre took from the ensuing Comics Code Authority, horror has spent the following decades creeping out of the recesses around mainstream publishing, with Dark Horse, Vertigo, Image, Humanoids and various manga lines filling our nightmares with harrowing new atrocities. In honor of Halloween, this list proudly presents our favorite comic book chillers, thrillers, slow burns and monster mashes, guaranteed to terrify and provoke readers with all the gory gifts this niche offers.

“The Empty Space,” Andrew Jara’s Cosmic Horror film, has been added to the Horror movie app, Screambox!!

The Empty Space stars Joe Sinclitico along with Valerie Alene, Rachel Olsen and Pablo Medina, as they tell the story of a woman (Alene) going to a support group after a violent attack left her boyfriend dead to deal with anxiety and depression. When her boyfriend seemingly returns from the dead, she will have to face her fears to find out exactly who or what has come back before she loses her grip on reality.

“As a horror director and a fan of horror, it brings me immense joy to have my movie featured on Screambox. I hope that it continues to find a horror audience and Screambox is the perfect home for it” Andrew Jara, writer & director of “the Empty Space.” The film went on to win 2nd Place at the Horror Hotel Festival, a finalist at the Oaxaca Filmfest and “Best of the Fest” at the 14th Sacramento Film Festival.

Uzumaki, above and beyond anything else, truly looks and feels like Ito’s manga brought to life. There’s something truly magical about this series even existing in the first place. It casts a cursed energy that’s akin to the videotape from The Ring. Ito’s work is hardly a medium that can’t exist in a full color palette and there are plenty of his stories that take advantage of a rich color spectrum. That being said, Uzumaki’s black-and-white aesthetic works here and makes this project, and Kirie and Shuichi’s story, feel all the more otherworldly. It casts the audience under a spell and it feels like the strange punk rock programming that Adult Swim used to pump out during the week hours of the night during the channel’s infancy. It’s been a long time since Adult Swim has had something that taps into this energy. The closest thing in memory is PFFR’s stop-motion fever dream, The Shivering Truth...

... The first episode alone is full of so many disturbing visuals that are deeply horrific and pure nightmare fuel. Uzumaki’s horror is omnipresent from the first frame. However, it’s remarkable how the series’ scares gradually grow more intense until they’re strangling the audience by the episode’s end. Uzumaki is only four episodes, but it feels like this short episode count is for the audience’s own good and that any more would be too intense. The series is a taught tightrope walk of terror that’s a true triumph. The first episode is filled with more harrowing body horror moments than some shows accomplish in their entire run. It’s cosmic horror with a sinister Lovecraftian edge to the finest degree...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV8JJLJlfi4

Now my definition of cosmic horror boils down to movies that must have a terrified protagonist. Not because of the monsters or their dangerous surroundings, but because at some point in the movie, they realize that they have absolutely no power to change anything in the environment that surrounds them. Therefore films where the main characters struggle to fight against something that cannot be challenged, a battle that technically can't be won. In short, movies that don't have a happy ending. I'm going to be covering Cosmic horror-themed films. Movies that I feel do a fantastic job at adapting Lovecraftian themes. Not movies based on the works of HP Lovecraft.

List for TL;DW or otherwise known as hemomancer cheat sheet.

• Annihilation
• John Carpenter's Apocalypse trilogy
• Event Horizon
• The Last Wave
• Possession
• The mist
• Uzumaki
• The Void

Lovecraft’s lengthy body of work continues to terrify people of our time as much as it did his contemporaries, and has successfully crossed over to the world of cinema and even video games. There are many excellent video games which have been inspired by the works of H.P Lovecraft, some whose inspiration you might not even be aware of, so let’s look at the best of them...

It’s been a few years since we’ve been graced with a dissonant slab of sludge infused blackened death metal from the Colorado natives Glacial Tomb, but they have returned with a bang rather than the proverbial whimper. After adding bassist David Small (Khemmis) to the cauldron they band have created a refined, technically masterful 36 minutes of rip-roaring death metal, exploring the themes of everyday suffering, cosmic horror, mental illness grief and social isolation to pound your brain into an unrecognisable mush.

Drawing on the comic-tinged supernatural horror stylings of Thomas Ligotti, the pessimistic views of Peter Wessel Zapffe and Philipp Mainländer the lyrically dense topics are brought to life by Ben Hutcherson, coupled with the black metal elements it makes for something that is greater than the sum of its genres, deftly dodging time worn tropes, or making use of them to crushing effect...

NeoWiz has teased Lies of P’s DLC with an image that’ll give H.P. Lovecraft fans the shivers. It also confirms that we’ll be playing as P himself rather than a new fairytale character.

The Lies of P Twitter account posted a single picture to give us a peek of the upcoming DLC, which showcases Pinocchio, aka P, standing in a gloomy coastal town with a large lighthouse looming ominously in the distance, its light like an eldritch eye against the dark. The town looks much like a snowier version of H.P. Lovecraft’s infamous and iconic Innsmouth.

In fact, given that Lovecraft’s work is public domain, it wouldn’t be surprise me if NeoWiz was also mining that slimy, fictional seam. Puppets aside, Lies of P also had you taking on Carcasses, gruesome, formerly-living enemies, and I can well imagine those crawling up the beach under the gaze of the lighthouse.

All theorizing aside, NeoWiz has confirmed, in another tweet, that the dev is hard at work on the DLC, in the middle of a hot Korean summer. “For the DLC of the Lies of P and the sequel, we aim to do better on what we did well and improve in areas we have room to grow,” NeoWiz director Jiwon Choi explains.

Choi also shared a new track from the game, dubbed “Lisrim”, but he didn’t reveal when the DLC will be arriving or what it’ll be called. So for now, fans will just have to stare at the teaser image and hope it doesn’t move. If you’ve yet to tackle Lies of P, a game KC Nwosu called “gorgeous, challenging, absorbing, polished, and an absolute must play.”

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13513497

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Bridging the divide between the horror and science fiction genres, The Veil is a haunting tale about the mysteries of identity and perception told in the cadence of the classic American ghost story. As a powerful solar storm descends on the valleys of rural Pennsylvania, bathing the rustic pines in the shimmering emerald glow of aurora borealis, a retired priest named Douglas (Sean O'Bryan) rouses awake to urgent knocking at the door of his isolated farmhouse. His unexpected midnight visitor is Hannah (Rebekah Kennedy), a young Amish woman desperate for shelter after a personal crisis drives her to flee her insular community...

Not everything is as it seems at the old Royal Fulton Hotel. Norman Forrester, played brilliantly in a career-defining performance by the iconic Corey Feldman, is finally going to meet his girlfriend’s family at her father’s lavish birthday party. But what was supposed to be an important step forward in their relationship doesn’t exactly go as planned; he’s not on the guest list, his girlfriend is ignoring him, and her father doesn’t like him at all. Rejected and heartbroken, Norman wanders away from the party, only to find something far more sinister than his girlfriend’s family lurking deep within the churning bowels of the ailing hotel: an ancient evil that threatens to bring about the end of the world...

Here's another look at gameplay from Ritual Night in this latest trailer for the upcoming social deduction game meets roguelite with no player elimination. Ritual Night will be available on PC in 2024, and a demo is out now on Steam. In Ritual Night, through teamwork and betrayal, attempt a ritual to summon Cthulhu. Watch out! Someone is an icky human who wants to sabotage the ritual. After every round, the game evolves, granting potent magic powers to each side to deduce or deceive.

Decadent is an atmospheric exploration, Lovecraftian horror that sees players take the role of John Lorn, a royal explorer and a veteran of the Great War, who has become an occultist. During one of his occult experiments he has become host to a mysterious parasite, one that gives him strange abilities at the expense of his sanity. As he follows the lost Miskatonic University expedition to find his missing son, John will walk the fine line that separates good and evil and sanity and insanity.