The Allure of Cosmic Horror

I was just interviewed and it got me thinking about violence, justice, and what human life means

Cosmic horror has a limitless shelf-life, it seems. We typically associate it now with H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos, but in reality, human beings have always been fascinated by the eternal monster so ancient and powerful that it is indifferent to the loves, hates, accomplishments, and ambitions of human beings. The Book of Job is really one of cosmic horror, isn't it?

There must be something comforting about the idea that there is a scale of measurement in the universe against which, we don't matter. It's a kind of nihilism that we find reassuring for some reason.

There has to be a reason for the eternal interest in Lovecraft and the worlds he wrought. The infatuation with our own meaninglessness seems as good a reason as any. Thinking about the nihilistic chaos in Israel this past week, I started thinking about what we find so captivating about cosmic horror: the evil we do doesn't really matter if we are ultimately without meaning because of the existence of a cosmic final boss somewhere out there. There is a perverse comfort in that hopelessness. How much more difficult is it to live as if the words of the Talmud are true:

"Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world."

The moral responsibility that comes with this is crippling to those of us who want easy answers about who is good and who is evil. Better to flee to the cosmic, beyond good and evil.

Still, that isn't the end of the story. It turns out there is at least one writer out there who has managed to write cosmic horror that still takes human life seriously. I was recently turned onto the fiction of Michael Shea and his collection of stories, Demiurge. Somehow, Shea has added something humanisitic to the Lovecraft's mythos. I won't go into the details here, because I was recently invited to the "Varn Vlog," to discuss the collection with C. Derick Varn. When you have time, take a look and let me know what you think.

And please, this Halloween season, as you seek out horror to distract you from the horror of this world, please keep in mind that an entire world, full of beauty and terror, grace and agony, is contained inside every human life.