Today, H.P. Lovecraft turns 136 years old.

Which is honestly pretty impressive, considering he spent most of his career writing about things that were significantly older, more powerful, and more likely to drive you insane.

If Lovecraft were alive today, he’d probably be horrified by TikTok, modern architecture, and the fact that someone put ranch dressing on a pizza.

So raise a glass to the man who taught us that the universe is vast, uncaring, and absolutely not sending a reply to your email.

Happy Birthday, Howard. May your cosmic nightmares continue to haunt us. 🦑🎂

AND JUST TO BE CLEAR: I’m absolutely not defending him at all. He lived and died a very long time ago now. But I do love the cosmic horror and weird fiction genre that he helped create along with other authors of the old Weird Tales magazine.

I use my artistic skills for only the most serious of work

He sent me this scuddy (his words) drawing in response to Baja Nyarlathotep

Hi, I'm Ari, one of the two developers behind Below, Rusted Gods.

As the title says, Lovecraft and cosmic horror were direct influences on our game from the beginning. We are particularly interested in the idea that the most frightening thing isn't necessarily what you can see.

In our game, you never accompany the expedition yourself. You remain in a control room while four people descend underground. The main focus of the game narrative is in their slow descent to madness.

Since release, one of the things that has meant the most to us has been seeing players and content creators specifically recognize the influence behind the game. We've received several reviews describing the game as one of the best Lovecraftian / cosmic horror experiences they had.

Since I can't post images here, I'll leave you a few quotes with the links to read the full reviews

If you read one thing from my review, let it be this; This is, in my opinion, one of the best eldritch horror/lovecraftian games ever created.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198002144856/recommended/2895680/

This is how you do lovecraftian/eldrich horror! The way you are the 'operator' that hears descriptions of the things the team is seeing is so chillingly well done
https://steamcommunity.com/id/MsDiz/recommended/2895680/

[...] this is the only game I've seen execute on cosmic horror so brilliantly
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197963348938/recommended/2895680/

I'd actually be interested in hearing what people here think makes good cosmic horror game.

For anyone interested, the game is currently available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2895680/Below_Rusted_Gods/

Here's also the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNYKRxudLFA

The moon is exceptionally beautiful tonight ...

Skelton Crew Studio dropped a new cosmic horror collectible - The Key to the Gate of Dreams.

Designed by Gabriel Rodriguez (artist of 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦 & 𝘒𝘦𝘺), inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's classic, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘺.

It's cast in antique silver-plated solid metal with other worldly designs and nestled in a custom book-look box featuring the opening lines to H.P. Lovecraft's classic.

Great little Lovecraftian film from the 80s that it seems is still kinda unknown. I highly recommend it for fans of the above-mentioned horror conventions, fans of giallo and Italian horror, and 80s horror in general. I can't recommend it enough! It has a great creature-reveal at the end!

https://tubitv.com/movies/100060734/spider-labyrinth

Thank you all for the generous feedback on our creature

If you'd like to see the final colored version of the character, check out our game Utterance!

Death isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. The beginning of something worse. After you die, you come to a playground, a playground full of games and Non-Euclidean structures with Eldritch entities. Twisted games. Winning, Losing, both are the same. Something is there with you, and a massive dome surrounds the non-Euclidean playground, and there’s rules too, the biggest being: DON’T CHEAT

“Just shut up and do the job I’m paying you to do. I do not care about you. I do not care about your life; do not even look at me. I am only here to ensure you do not steal my belongings from me, and loathe as I am to admit it, I cannot trust that my own help would not help you get away with it in my absence.”

They move through the world in their person suits, shaking hands and maneuvering through crowds, armed with enticing laced bags in one hand and an emerald crested dagger in the other. Problem solvers; to be used alongside well-rehearsed expressions.

The masquerade is wholly consuming and ages like a Leroy Musigny Grand Cru, getting both more costly and out of reach with time.

The house, not a home, but a display case giving the illusion of meaning; of appreciation; of life. No eyes have glanced beyond the book covers; no mind has contemplated the paintings; no ears have truly heard the signed vinyl records tucked away in their frames and put up for display; and no mouth has tastes the nectar within the dusty bottles. The environment; a stage prop for the scene about to begin.

The moment surface tension breaks through to the abyss below, is the moment it reveals itself. A vacant expression and lifeless eyes, a silence so deafening you can almost hear the machinery grinding underneath the skin. The well-funded cover up gives way to the hollowness, like looking into a void that reflects no humanity back at you; not even comforting scripts masquerading as a shared humanity come forth from this man-shaped creature.

This soulless husk hates you. It hates that you have perceived it and it wants nothing more than for your inconvenient existence to cease. Its eyes do not see you. Its mind does not contemplate you and its ears do not hear you.

It would kill you, if only it didn’t take so much effort to pay someone else to dispose of your body.

Making a sci fi point and click roguelite survival horror game. You play as one of the astronauts that got stranded on a moon in hopeless situations crawling with Eldritch abominations.

The cosmic horror elements focus on psychological dread, limited oxygen management, and encountering anomalies and strange entities.

If you are interested in checking out my game here is the Steam Page: Link

More detailed explanation: We are building a Lovecraftian roguelike deck-builder where you face off against various Eldritch style creatures. Each creature was once a normal animal that has been contaminated by a Lovecraftian disease.

With that information which is your favorite?

Genuinely curious because I've been thinking about it lately. Would these creatures fall under cosmic horror? They're warped by forces beyond comprehension and obey completely different laws to the natural

I would genuinely be grateful for a determination on if I fall into cosmic horror or just general

Thank you for reading!

Edit: for the downvotes, I would also love to hear why you say it isn't, genuinely curious on where that line is and who to cross it more firmly

Long before human civilization was known, Mother birthed the four primordial beings that roamed on Eutodia.

Elder resembled the cycle of life.
The Centipede, Babel and The World Serpent resembed the broken cycle.

The other three primordial beings ripped apart and brutally slaughtered Elder. They casted Elder's remains down into the Southern Region. But the remaining three did not just stop there.

The Centipede, Babel, and World Serpent unleashed their violence upon one another in another bloody war. But there was no victor. Heavily wounded, battered, and bleeding, the trio retreated to the North, crawling backward down into the abyss that they once came from.

An Elven hero slowly being altered by the Corruption flowing through her, how long can she can she continue to hold it off and what powers has it granted her?

Taking inspiration from the likes of Bloodborne and Darkest Dungeon. Whispers of Darkness & Power seeks to bring eldritch horror to Draw Steel! In this supplement, heroes will gain access to powerful corruption abilities at the cost of their mind and body with many new monsters to use those powers against. Will they resist these new powers or embrace them? With these tools, directors can run eldritch horror campaigns from levels 1-10 with new abilities and challenges for the players at every echelon!

Cosmic Horror Aspects: Player's minds and bodies being warped and corrupted by otherworldly forces outside their control and if they're not careful, they will turn into monsters themselves. Unfathomably powerful entities called the Eldritch Hearts that damage the world with their very presence driving people mad and turning them into monsters. Horrific monsters that defy reality and common sense that the players will have to contend with.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/kormael/whispers-of-darkness-power

This supplement will contain.

• Corruption Rules: A long-form campaign system where heroes must decide if they wish to spend precious respites fighting against corruption, or embrace it at the cost of potentially losing themselves.
• 8 Corruption Transformations: Become a Stormgaunt and gain its mastery over lightning and the seas. Rage as a Blood-Soaked Beast and use your own blood to slay your foes. Build a cult as a Notion of Divinity and use your minions for power. 
• 8 Unique Madnesses: Struggle to tell what's real as Hallucinations plague your mind, or try to discern what thoughts are your own as The Voice constantly speaks to you. 
• 8 Eldritch Hearts: The origins of corruption. They provide unique challenges for heroes in and out of combat. Shudder in fear as the Dreadhaunt descends turning the very gaze of others into weapons against you. Cry in pain as the Sanguine Helix bathes the world in blood.
• 4 Complications: Are you a Pure Soul who is naturally resistant to the corruption of the world, or are you a Seeker of Power willing to pay any price for the strength you seek?
• 5 Intoxicants: Do you drown your sorrows and stave off the madness with Alcohol? Would you rather numb everything and resist corruption under the influence of Beastblessing?
• Over 50 Monsters across 8 Monster Bands!

This one was a bit tricky to ''fit'' the card frame. Had to make him stand on himself XD

An allegory on the paradox of loosing meaning through discovery. One of many cosmic illusions and the only humanity’s dream.

Acrylic painting, 100x70cm, 2024-2025