Best Weird Fiction & Cosmic/Eldritch Horror (without H.P.) ?

[Cadence]

As has come up in some other recent threads, H.P. Lovecraft was <insert expletives>. I'm guessing for a lot of folks that it's hard to picture the things in the outer darkness/far realms/whatnot without reference to Lovecraft's Mythos simply because we haven't read much else in that vein. And it might be hard to picture D&D worlds without that in the background since it's always been there.

Beyond Lovecraft, I've read the Conan stories where Howard veers that way, there's a hint of it in one of Glen Cook's Garrett novels, and one or two short stories that randomly showed up in fantasy anthologies. And that's about it.

What sources would you recommend for getting a more well-rounded view of the genre for game inspiration? Preferably ones with authors that didn't stand out for being particularly more racist/misogynistic/etc.. than the usual for their time, and with settings that don't owe too much directly to the HPL mythos?

 

[Hussar]

Try the Drabblecast August H. P. Lovecraft months. Google it, you'll find it. TONS of Mythos writers that are busilly stripping the Mythos of it's less culturally sensitive origins.

There are a couple of anthologies out, and I'm sorry, but, I'm totally blanking on the titles, which also expand the Mythos while being mindful of the origins of the stories. Cthulhu's Reign was a good one that I read a while ago.

 

[Cadence]

Try the Drabblecast August H. P. Lovecraft months. Google it, you'll find it. TONS of Mythos writers that are busilly stripping the Mythos of it's less culturally sensitive origins.

There are a couple of anthologies out, and I'm sorry, but, I'm totally blanking on the titles, which also expand the Mythos while being mindful of the origins of the stories. Cthulhu's Reign was a good one that I read a while ago.

Thank you! Just bookmarked it. Do you think those are good places to go if I want to avoid what you mentioned in the other thread (that inspired me to start this one):

"I don't like the Mythos in my hobby because the writer of the Mythos considers my children to be worthless degenerates who should be strangled at birth" is a bit of a different context. Is it equal to tell me, "Just don't read it then"?

Is rehabilitating and expanding good enough, or do you think alternate entries are needed to get at the genre? Not getting past Wikipedia, some of the Weird Fiction predates HPL and so at least avoids his personal &%!*iness, for example.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gotta say, there are a lot of authors who dabbled in Mythos horror after HPL laid it out. Check out Brian Lumley, Robert Bloch and August Derleth, to name a few.

Dean Koontz‘ Phantoms is also within the scope of the Mythos.

 

[Hussar]

Realistically, the whole "mysterious entities from beyond" thing does predate Lovecraft, although, he's probably the most famous for taking the ball and running with it.

But, yeah, the notion we could try to strip the Mythos out of genre fiction is a ship that sailed long ago. Far too many authors have borrowed, riffed, and used it.

I was more arguing for an effort to push Lovecraft off the pedestal that genre fans tend to keep him on.

 

[jcjsolo@gmail.com]

I can’t recommend M.R. James highly enough. He was an antiquarian, a provost (kind of like a dean) at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge, and there are certainly no racist tones in his work (he characterised some lower class folks in certain ways, but they were often more endearing than disparaging). He may not have had the most progressive views on women, but any controversy is significantly lesser than HPL’s views, at least as far as I have encountered.

His Ghost Story work was more of a hobby and initially intended to be read aloud, but as far as I’m concerned, as a reader of weird fiction it is simply unmissable. I started with ”Casting the Runes”, but you can’t go wrong with the majority of his work. He deals in the every day type of persons encountering the otherworldly, and building tension and dread, but it’s the gut punch of the final horror that will keep you searching for more and more of his stories. By the way, read “The Five Jars“ after you become a fan of M.R. James, because it’s more of a children’s story written for the young daughter of a friend (still great, though).

 

[ruemere]

Try Silent Legions by Sine Nomine Publishing. This rpg gem contains a guide for creating your own mythos.

 

[jaerdaph]

For fans of M.R. James, I highly recommend English Eerie if you want a different kind of roleplaying experience (solo and gm-less play with a journaling element). There is a new second edition just released but you can check it out with the first edition which is PWYW:

English Eerie: Rural Horror Storytelling Game for One Player - Trollish Delver Games | DriveThruRPG.com

English Eerie: Rural Horror Storytelling Game for One Player - English Eerie is a storytelling game about horror in rural England. The game takes inspiration from folklore, along wit

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[Lidgar]

Might want to try A. Merritt. Start with Dwellers in the Mirage to see the inspiration for Tharizdun (including scenes that were taken whole cloth for the G1-3 series). Then move on to Moon Pool and The Ship of Istar. Warning though, they reflect the times they were written (1930's), so has some baggage.

 

[Nytmare]

Stephen King touches on cosmic horror frequently. The underlying mythology and cosmology of his world(s) is an incomprehensible chess game between cosmic horrors, even though his horror tends to ground itself much further down the hill.

By far my favorite mythos story is Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald." It's a Sherlock Holmes styled mystery set in a world where the Outer Gods returned centuries before and hold sway over mankind as subsumed royalty.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Ramsay Campbell and Joe Hill, for a start. Some of Terry Bisson's short cosmic horror is exceptional while also being warmer and more humane.

But if you're feeling truly brave, read some Junji Ito. Start with The Enigma of Amigara Fault. And, ahead of time, let me say: I'm so, so, sorry.

 

[MGibster]

Stephen King touches on cosmic horror frequently. The underlying mythology and cosmology of his world(s) is an incomprehensible chess game between cosmic horrors, even though his horror tends to ground itself much further down the hill.

King’s novel Revival is heavy with the cosmic horror and would make a decent adventure.

 

[TheIdeaOfGood]

Juniji Ito is a good example. " Uzumaki" is one of his biggest works and it is amazing.
Getting past the Mythos is hard, given how influential HPL was (and denying his influence is just as ignorant as steadfastly pretending there was nothing wrong with his views...yeah, right).
Clark Ashton-Smith was one of his contemporaries and his writing does veer into cosmic horror often enough (though I am just as much in love with his Zothique cycle).
Roger Zelazny's A night in the Lonesome October is also heartily recommended.
Ruthanna Emry's fiction uses the Mythos but puts a different spin on it, with the main character being a Deep One hybrid.
Charles Stross mixes parts of the mythos (heavily changed) with spy fiction in his Laundry series.
Mary Sangiovanni writes cosmic horror fiction (and she has her own podcast where she talks about all kinds of media related to cosmic horror, so you could get much more out of that) without direct links to HPL. Check out her novel Thrall for some pulpy goodness or her novella For Emmy for something shorter and very haunting.
Laird Barron not only has an awesome name and the looks to pull it off (just look at photos, you'll know what I mean), but he also writes some cosmic horror. Check out " The Croning".
Norman Partridge also did some cosmic horror. I recommend the short story " Lesser Demons" from the collection of the same name.
Brian Keene has built his own mythos that borrows somewhat from HPL but only marginally.
Peter Watts does sci-fi cosmic horror, often on a very existential level. I recommend Blindsight, Echopraxia and his short story " The Things".
If you do not mind absolute bleakness and dreamlike (some might say overwrought) writing, have a look at Thomas Ligotti's works.
Speaking of bleakness....the graphic novel " Nameless" by Grant Morrison is not just mind screwy but very dark...

And finally do yourself a favour and watch the first season of True Detective. That's how you do a subtle cosmic horror story!

 

[Azzy]

Funny enough, I saw a NYTs article about H.P. Lovecraft and his legacy. It doesnote some derived works, some of which that tackle with some of Lovecraft's disgusting worldviews.

 

[dragoner]

Is Clive Barker bad now? I read his books of blood back in the day, and many of his movies have a sort of "Cosmic Horror" type feel, like "Lord of Illusions".

Lord of Illusions (1995) - IMDb

Lord of Illusions: Directed by Clive Barker. With J. Trevor Edmond, Daniel von Bargen, Kevin J. O'Connor, Joseph Latimore. A private detective gets more than he bargains for when he encounters Philip Swan, a performer whose amazing illusions captivate the world, but they are not really what...

www.imdb.com

 

[Mallus]

The best written cosmic horror I’ve ever read is Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy: Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance.

 

[Nytmare]

Is Clive Barker bad now? I read his books of blood back in the day, and many of his movies have a sort of "Cosmic Horror" type feel, like "Lord of Illusions".

Lord of Illusions (1995) - IMDb

Lord of Illusions: Directed by Clive Barker. With J. Trevor Edmond, Daniel von Bargen, Kevin J. O'Connor, Joseph Latimore. A private detective gets more than he bargains for when he encounters Philip Swan, a performer whose amazing illusions captivate the world, but they are not really what...

www.imdb.com

I don't know how much I would have personally classified his writing as cosmic horror. Lots of body horror, but it always felt like when the veil was pulled back in his stories, it was more about the wonder and fantasy about the forgotten reality that mankind had lost somewhere along the way, and the terror took more of a back seat. It HAS been about 20 years though, so I might be misremembering,

I think that maybe cosmic horror needs more of that feeling of helplessness and just being overwhelmed, and I remember his stories being rife with allies and weapons and talismans. Granted those allies are usually angry, unwilling, or both. The weapons are just as likely to hurt you as harm someone else. And the talismans are more than willing to protect you for a price.

 

[dragoner]

I don't know how much I would have personally classified his writing as cosmic horror. Lots of body horror, but it always felt like when the veil was pulled back in his stories, it was more about the wonder and fantasy about the forgotten reality that mankind had lost somewhere along the way, and the terror took more of a back seat. It HAS been about 20 years though, so I might be misremembering,

I think that maybe cosmic horror needs more of that feeling of helplessness and just being overwhelmed, and I remember his stories being rife with allies and weapons and talismans. Granted those allies are usually angry, unwilling, or both. The weapons are just as likely to hurt you as harm someone else. And the talismans are more than willing to protect you for a price.

Same, haven't read it in a long time, though I remember reading stories like "Midnight Meat Train" (on the NYC subway no less) and it's about the ancient inhuman city that NYC is built on, sort of a similar vibe to At The Mountains of Madness, that there was a prehistoric evil to the world. Hellraiser, and the Damnation Game, also sort of have a cosmic horror feel, maybe not the same as HPL. Though people have said that Lovecraft was a schizophrenic, and that is why a lot of his stuff is the way it is.

 

[Nytmare]

Yeah, I guess I'm remembering more of the novels that fell into the "There's a secret race of people with magic powers that used to live hand in hand with humanity, but then mundane people turned into jerks and forced the magic people into hiding. Also the magic people were the ones who protected us from some ancient evil that mankind is about to loose upon the world again due to its own hubris."

The symbolism of those stories made a lot more sense once we crept out of the 80s and Barker's sexuality was, if not accepted, at least less than taboo.

 

[dragoner]

The symbolism of those stories made a lot more sense once we crept out of the 80s and Barker's sexuality was, if not accepted, at least less than taboo.

Reading his stuff, maybe one could tell he was gay? A friend's wife was convinced early on, I never really could tell. I know his later books were more fantasy than anything else, which I was not terribly interested in, vs the sci-fi, and horror as my guilty pleasure type reading.