Horror Subgenre Challenge! - hosted by dexlud

Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror
The universe is big and scary, and we are small and insignificant by comparison. That’s a common theme in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and his successors. Despite his influence on the modern horror genre, Lovecraft didn’t really consider himself a horror writer in his day. He often referred to his own works as “weird fiction,” a term still in use to this day. In a letter to the editor of Weird Tales magazine, Lovecraft wrote, “Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large.” Modern “Lovecraftian” horror writers use a lot of the ideas Lovecraft popularized in his days — ideas like the fear of the unknown and the insignificance of humanity. This subgenre is also known as “cosmic horror.”

Horror novels in this category: At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft. Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, by Thomas Ligotti. The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle.
All books added
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

The Willows

Algernon Blackwood

108 pages • first pub 1907 (editions)

fiction classics horror short stories dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV

Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1

Something is Killing the Children (Collected Editions) #1

James Tynion IV

128 pages • first pub 2020 (editions)

fiction comics horror adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation

Southern Reach #1

Jeff VanderMeer

195 pages • first pub 2014 (editions)

fiction horror science fiction dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance

Southern Reach #3

Jeff VanderMeer

9 hours, 38 minutes • first pub 2014 (editions)

fiction horror science fiction adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

The Ballad of Black Tom

Victor LaValle

3 hours, 9 minutes • first pub 2016 (editions)

fiction fantasy historical horror dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country #1

Matt Ruff

384 pages • first pub 2016 (editions)

fiction fantasy horror science fiction adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

The House on the Borderland

William Hope Hodgson

156 pages • first pub 1908 (editions)

fiction classics fantasy horror dark mysterious tense slow-paced
The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies by John Langan

The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

John Langan

324 pages • first pub 2013 (editions)

fiction horror short stories dark slow-paced
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti

Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe

Thomas Ligotti

464 pages • first pub 1986 (editions)

fiction horror short stories dark mysterious slow-paced
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