Exploring Cosmic Horror in Science Fiction

Casting Nicholas Cage in the Colour Out of Space adaptation was something i did not like at first

I'm enlightened by this material. A book I read with like content had a significant impact on me. "Galaxies United" by Olivia Whitestone

One thing often forgotten is that Lovecraft wrote in a time when horror, science fiction, and fantasy were not yet the separate, more easily defined categories they are today.

Oddly enough, most people seem to think the newer version of "Color Out of Space" is the closest to the story yet filmed. I haven't seen it myself, so reserve judgment, although if any actor can emulate Lovecraftian madness, that actor would be Nicholas Cage.

Thank you so much 🌳

The death of the Mazemakers in ASoIaF makes me think of Lovecraft's Doom that Came to Sarnath.

i’d love to get your thoughts on Nope by Jordan Peele. Great Cosmic horror movie

Just started reading HP Lovecraft I didn't really like mountains of madness much.

👀👀👀

The Mazemakers in ASoIaF are an explicit reference to the Minoan civilization in earth's actual history, which were destroyed during the bronze age collapse during raids by "sea peoples" - an unidentified civilization of Mediterranean pirates/raiders.

The Stone City short story referenced by @Christian Beier is less explicit, but is at the very least a nod to the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. In that, the Pattern is a maze that allows those who walk it to visit other worlds.

I actually just watched Color out of Space a couple days ago, and yeah, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. To me, it got across the general horror of a completely unknown thing falling out of nowhere and changing, warping, completely ruining everything around it into unknown, terrible versions of itself, something so old and misunderstood that nobody could do a thing to stop it. There were theatrics of it, of course, that were embellished for the big screen, but ultimately I think it was fairly good at getting across the mystery, strangeness, and unfathomable-ness that cosmic horror should. I agree that Annihilation was probably a better story for the same reasons, but Color Out of Space certainly wasn't unfaithful to the concept, imo, though I can definitely see where you're coming from. I always have to set apart book/movie adaptations of the same story, in pretty much every case, because there are things that words can do that images simply can't, and vice versa.

It's worth noting that the people from the sea could also be a reference to the 'sea people' who were noted for their role in the destruction of several civilizations in ancient times. Egypt being among the few to survive, but with severely diminished borders. George RR Martin does love European and related history, and uses it a lot. Crete is in the area where the sea peoples ravaged, and it is known for its own Labyrinth. And like Crete, Lorath is an island. Also, coinage from Knosses depicts the maze in a similar way to how it does in a world of ice and fire.

One of my favorite channels!!! Great stuff

Lovecraft is a great author

I never doubted that Lovecraft is a science fiction author. Almost all of his stories relate to science fiction in some way. Beings like Cthulhu are alien and powerful beyond human comprehension.

Hyperion is so great.... Just the first book. What he did to the one of the most interesting ideas in following books - is just horrible :(

Reminder that most of H. P. Lovecraft's stories are set in or near Massachusetts, so you should be mentally giving all the characters Boston accents.

Quinn,i think you're being too hard on the movie...they tried man lol

another interesting point is he invited other authors to play in his world mythos.

for example, the world of Conan the Barbarian drew on it

Man I love Lovecraft's cosmic horror but in a lot of his more "grounded" stories his racism and xenophobia is very on the nose . A product of his deeply troubled life and the times I suppose...in a lot of other writer's cases from the same era I can ignore it and not even get bothered but he was not subtle at all.
One of the reasons why I find a lot more enjoyment in his comic horror stories or work of a lot of modern writers who got inspired by his literary work but not the old views.

fiction, like reality is just what we tell ourselves it is.

It's funny, the Colour out of Space might be the inspiration for one of Douglas Adams' aliens. The Hooloovoo is described as a sentient shade of the colour blue, which can refract itself into a prism for formal occasions. Never made the connection before this video. Thanks Quinn!

The most beautiful sci-fi analysis ever 🙌🏻 cheers 🥂 from Egypt 🇪🇬

I loved Annihilation.

Lovecraft also furthered racism xenophobia as well as cosmic horror, those being constant and consistent themes in his works

The aliens didn’t trap Carter on Yaddith. That was his own damn fault.

Hey Quinn, love your videos sm. Read a bunch of Lovecrafts books, and I was so disappointed 😞. I think my heart is whenever hard sxifi is. AND you're so fantastic, you hit the nail on the head every time. Once my pay comes thru, I have to patron you. Meanwhile, please look at Peter Watts Blindsight.

In the mountains of madness - great work!

Another movie based on A Color out of Space is The Curse 1987. It stars Will Wheaten and you can watch it free on YT. I really enjoyed it as a kid.

Many of the mathematics and scientific subjects used or mentioned by Lovecraft were barely beginning to be understood. In this way, some of his stories were Near-Future Science Horror

If you liked "The Color Out of Space" why not try Die Farbe (2010) a German adaptation of the story. It is filmed in black and white with the only color being the color.

i really don't personally put differences between horror, scifi, fantasy, etc. as long as they have many of the same elements
the overlap is usually what i enjoy the most personally

The recent uptick in Dune interest is what led me to your channel but now I’m going down these wonderful rabbit holes. Love it.

You should give another try to The Color Out of Space, it actually does do a good job, and it's Nicholas Cage, there's nothing not to like.

What is the ambient playing in the background?

Apocrypha in Skyrim is a tribute to Lovecraft.

i liked that since robert e howard and lovecraft were friends, they tied their fictional worlds together. i can't remember the crossovers off the top of my head. but i think that could be an interesting video.

In regards to George RR Martin's comment, I think there is a difference between medieval fantasy and science fantasy more than just location and timing. But the line is a lot closer than most authors would be willing to accept.

To this day no one can do it like daddy lovecraft

A color out of space sounds like the book annihilation

I heard all the "magic" in Lovecraft stories was actually technology too advanced for the human mind, like rats trying to figure out computers and the Internet.

Stephen King sucks.

He's written ONE work worth reading.

FYI: Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter International" integrates a lot od Lovecraft into the plot. In fact two of the protagonists destroy a Great Old One with a mystical talisman created by Sir Issac Newton.

Nice video. There is actually a pretty good German adaption of The Color out of Space, called 'Die Farbe'. It's pretty faithful to the original story and one of the best Lovecraft movies out there imo (together with Call of Cthulhu from the Lovecraft Society).

yes it’s science fiction who said it wasn’t this is a dumb argument ?

I'm definitely one of the people who really enjoyed the film adaptation of Color Out of Space. That said, I never really liked the original short story that much, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with whether someone's more or less likely to enjoy it. I thought the film did a great job interpreting all the details of the story in its own distinct way separate from the original. Also, the surveyor emerging from the aftermath into pure white ash covering everything - freakin beautiful

Wait, the labyrinths in Hyperion are cosmic horror?

George R.R. Martin also wrote a short story called "The Stone City", where archeologists discover a vast labyrinth (similar to the ones described in the Hyperion books) on a distant planet. When one of the reseatchers studying the ruin starts walking its hallways, he find that the labyrinth is so vast and non-euclidian (another Lovercraft-trope), that he can visit other worlds without the need for a spaceship.

However, he quickly becomes so engrossed in the sights the city has to show him, that he goes mad, never actually leaving the city at any point, just walking it forever, because he doesn't want to give up the possibility of the next world he sees being even better than the ones he saw before (basically, the cosmic horror equivalent of any Netflix-playlist ;-P ).

any bloodborne fans lol

Lovecraft sometimes includes elements that could be considered sci-fi, but generally his works are not sci-fi. Neither are Hellboy or Ghostbusters.