View source for Cosmic Horror Story

{{trope}}
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{{quote|''"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."''|'''[[H.P. Lovecraft|HP Lovecraft]]'''}}

Imagine a [[Crapsack World|universe]] where even the tiniest spot of hope for the future is [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|blindness in itself]], the insane [[Nietzsche Wannabe|nihilist]] yelling about [[The End of the World as We Know It]] in the [[Bedlam House|asylum]] is actually [[Only Sane Man|the only one with a clue]], and [[Curiosity Killed the Cast|too much curiosity about the true nature of the world is a precursor to a]] [[Fate Worse Than Death]]. A universe where [[Puny Earthlings|humanity]] is preyed everywhere by [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|inconceivable]] horrors, and all our ideals are a cruel illusion; a universe which was once ruled by [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]] that seeped down from the depths of space long ago.

Nor are they dead; they merely wait, [[Sealed Evil in a Can|and soon they shall wake]]. They shall return to rule this world, [[Look on My Works Ye Mighty and Despair|and all our grandest achievements]] [[All for Nothing|shall have been in vain]]. For all our blind [[Hubris]] we are but mice in the wainscoting, making merry while the cat's away—but even today, the world is more dangerous than we may know.

Take one step away from the comforts of home, and you will find [[Paranoia Fuel|terror and madness]] on every corner—dark cults, hideous monstrosities, truths so [[Nightmare Fuel|terrible]] that [[Go Mad from the Revelation|none may comprehend them and remain sane]]. Demons gibber in the tunnels beneath your feet. Parasites crawl in your food, drink and stomach. Ghosts hover unseen and unheard around you. The vile essence of an alien disease lurks in the recesses of your own family tree, a genetic time bomb just ''waiting'' [[Involuntary Transformation|to]] [[Body Horror|go]] [[And I Must Scream|off]]....

Such was the vision of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], pioneer of the '''Cosmic Horror Story'''. [[Downer Ending|Our victories are hollow]] and [[You Can't Fight Fate|our doom is certain]], for we struggle not against ordinary monsters, but [[Mind Screw|something else entirely]]. It's possible that they don't even notice our value; they're simply so unstoppable that their mere passing obliterates worlds, or [[Fate Worse Than Death|worse]], and we happen to be the world in question.

A '''Cosmic Horror Story''' doesn't just scare you with big, ugly monsters—though it can certainly have them—it depresses you with the fatalistic implication of being insignificantly powerless before such vast, unknowable and fundamentally alien entities. On the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], it sometimes lies near the cynical [[Despair Event Horizon]].

If you aren't sure if a work is a Cosmic Horror Story or not, ask yourself these questions:
* Is the [[Big Bad|antagonist]] evil or uncaring on a cosmic scale? We're talking a [[Big Bad]] who is capable of destroying humanity, planet Earth, the universe, or all three and doing so with very little or no preparation and/or intent, and with about as much effort as it takes to swat a mosquito that's landed on your arm.
* Is the attitude of the antagonist towards humanity disregard, simple pragmatism, or incidental hatred? (A godlike antagonist that actively hates humanity and its works is more in line with [[Rage Against the Heavens]] or [[God Is Evil]].) Does the antagonist have a worldview and motivations that doesn't really seem to take humanity into account? Are the motivations of the antagonist [[Blue and Orange Morality|difficult to explain using human terms?]]
* Are the antagonist or his minions so alien in appearance that simply ''seeing him'' is [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|sufficient to drive a human to madness?]] Are they [[Eldritch Abomination]]s?
* Are the antagonist or his minions [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|indescribable -- literally?]] Lines like "[[Take Our Word for It|I cannot find the words]] to describe [[Nothing Is Scarier|the vile thing I saw]]..." are a hallmark of [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horror Stories]].
* Is the tone of the work deeply pessimistic about the possibility of the antagonist being defeated completely? If it isn't, the work is more likely to be [[Lovecraft Lite]].

Answering "No" to more than two of these means that the work is probably not a Cosmic Horror Story, although it may share tropes with the genre.

The genre is sometimes called "Cosmic Horror", [[Lovecraftian Fiction]], or Weird Fiction. Very likely to use [[Paranoia Fuel]]. A [[Despair Event Horizon]] or a [[Downer Ending]] can be used to add to the depressing atmosphere. Compare/contrast with [[Gothic Horror]] (on which prose the first Cosmic Horror Stories, like those from Lovecraft himself, borrowed) [[Crapsack World]], [[Mind Screw]] and [[Through the Eyes of Madness]].  Most [[Eldritch Abomination]]s do not derive from folklore. That said, there are quite a few of them that [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy|created folklore accidentally]].

Tropes associated with this genre appear on [[Cosmic Horror Tropes]].

Note that while the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] [[Shared Universe]] [[Trope Maker|origi]][[Trope Codifier|nated]] in the Cosmic Horror fiction of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], a '''Cosmic Horror Story''' need not refer to the Mythos or borrow from its imagery. [[Lovecraft Lite]] goes a step further than that and does not expect us to take Lovecraft's vision seriously in the first place.

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Hellstar Remina]]'', features an enormous sentient planet coming to Earth and wreaking indescribable horror upon it. {{spoiler|Then it '''''EATS''''' the Earth as if it was an appetizer before continuing on its way, presumably to eat more celestial bodies.}}
** Also ''[[Uzumaki]]'', by the [[Junji Ito|same author]]. A town is built {{spoiler|on top of an impossible spiral structure}}, which proceeds to cause increasingly horrible things to happen before absorbing the entire town. {{spoiler|It has done so countless times before and will do so countless times again.}}
* The whole ''[[Berserk]]''-verse is supervised by the [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Godhand]] who are themselves servants of {{spoiler|[[God Is Evil|The Idea Of Evil]], a godlike entity that manipulates destiny [[Lawful Evil|through the rules of Causality]] in order to give the people of the world what they wish for. However, the Idea isn't about making people happy, it's about being responsible for their suffering. Because humans ''want'' something to be responsible, and [[The Heartless|it's actually that desire made sentient]].}}
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': While it mainly focuses on Existential crisis, the setting has archetypes of cosmic horror stories in it. A post-apocalyptic [[Crapsack World]] where{{spoiler|, because man meddled with the underlying order of creation and other [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]],}} half of the population has died and the remainder are in the process of being annihilated by the [[Eldritch Abomination|Ang]][[Mind Rape|els]] (Quite a few old super robot shows did feature mysterious, alien villains with very lightly defined motivations; cue the relentless attacks of the Angels, alien (or not) assailants on whose motives, constituents or psychology we have a little idea of, simply malevolent [[MacGuffin]]s to enable the story to [[Genre Deconstruction|play]] with 'giant robot' tropes. They also happen to get progressively creepier, and more unexplainably eldritch as the show progresses. Most importantly, there is an emphasis on showing the fear and uncertainty that comes with fighting an enemy that is just plain undefinable).
** Humanity does try to do something to defeat them by creating [[Humongous Mecha]] which are actually duplicates of said abominations, but [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|the chosen pilots are mentally ill]] to begin with. Various factions within the series vie for the opportunity to take down the Angels in the way they deem most appropriate, with the winner being the one that [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|causes the most collateral damage]], and the battle [[It Got Worse|only makes things worse]] [[Nightmare Fuel|in increasingly horrifying details]]. There's also a [[Ancient Conspiracy|conspiracy of cultists]] who discovered and awakened these eldritch abominations in the first place and plans to use them {{spoiler|(especially the one whose ichor was actually the primordial origin of all life spilled in a cosmic accident never meant to happen)}} to bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]] [[In Their Own Image]]. In the end, the apocalypse is so [[Mind Screw|incomprehensible]] it even also makes [[Gainax Ending|us real life humans go mad from the revelation]].
* ''[[Bokurano]]'', a [[Deconstruction]] of different focus than Eva, yet similar to it: ''Something'' is making you fight in its super robot against other super robots, to decide the fate of the world {{spoiler|and infinite numbers of other ones}}. Why? You will never have the slightest idea.
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'': Oh, boy... Long story short? {{spoiler|Aliens with [[Blue and Orange Morality|Blue And Orange Psychology]] harvest magical energy created from [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|the suffering of magical girls]] in an attempt to stave off the impending death of the universe via the Second Law of Thermodynamics (see Real Life section below), and they can't even comprehend why only this [[Industrialized Evil]] works out.}} [[Gen Urobuchi]] wrote both ''[[Saya no Uta]]'' and ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'': Sailor Stars, the last arc of the anime, reveals that Sailor Senshi exist across the galaxy and have all been engaged in an epic battle against evil. Sailor Galaxia, one of the strongest warriors, has been exterminating entire planets so that she can collect Star Seeds, which are souls. Galaxia is said to have wiped out 80% of the galaxy; nearly all life in the galaxy has been annihilated.
** The manga is ''even worse'':  {{spoiler|Galaxia, bad as she was, was also the [[Unwitting Pawn]] to [[Bigger Bad]] the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of [[God of Evil|Chaos]], which at the climax ''absorbs the source of the universe's life''. [[But Wait! There's More!]]! Sure, Usagi destroys Chaos, restores life to the galaxy and [[Death Is Cheap|resurrects]] [[Everybody Lives|all her dead friends]], we're told that Chaos has ''survived'', and that one day it'll be back, as a Sailor Scout no less, to start a war in the future that will make the current victory inconsequential.}}
* The canonical manga [[Interquel]] that was never published would put both [[Gunbuster]] and [[Diebuster]] in that territory, with revelation that, long story short, {{spoiler|the Universe is one big [[Eldritch Abomination]], the Space Monsters are its immune system and humanity can do nothing but desperately fight for survival, sacrificing their weapons and champions in the process. It means that the sacrifices made by both Noriko and Nono were both meaningless}}.
* ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' started as a [[Coming of Age]] [[Mons]] series but experienced a [[Genre Shift]] when the true nature of the [[Big Bad|D-]][[Eldritch Abomination|Reaper]] was revealed. At the end of the series, after poisoned worlds, endless [[Mind Rape]]s, and a total invasion and subjugation of a city, {{spoiler|the D-Reaper cannot be defeated, at least not conventionally, only regressed to a less threatening form.}} The fact that [[Chiaki Konaka|the main writer]] is a contributor to the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] will not shock anyone who's watched the series, nor will the fact that he also wrote [[Serial Experiments Lain|Serial Experiment Lain]].
* [[Devilman]] - thanks to [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|humans being bastards]] [[All of the Other Reindeer|killing the only people protecting them from demons]] it leads to them being left alone against the enemy. At the very end it's implied that  {{spoiler|humans have been all killed, leaving only demons and devilmen}} and then  {{spoiler|[[Everybody's Dead, Dave|everybody except Satan dies]]}}. Oh and God is an gigantic [[Eldritch Abomination]] that kills anybody who gets too close it.
** ''AMON'' makes it even worse -  {{spoiler|God has put the entire world on a time loop so all humans and demons live and die for nothing over and over, [[God Is Evil|just to make Satan suffer the loss of his beloved repeatedly for all eternity]]}}.
* The [[Myth Arc]] of [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]], {{spoiler|which leads to the heroes going into all-out war against a race of beings known as the Anti-Spirals, who are intent on destroying mankind to prevent further use of Spiral power}}.

== Comic Books ==
* [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''[[Zenith]]'' mainly fought the Lloigor, shapeless [[Demonic Possession|body-stealing]] beings from beyond time and space who can consume reality. Turns out {{spoiler|they're actually the first-generation superheroes who "self-evolved" into [[Reality Warper]] [[A God Am I|Gods]] and subsequently went [[Drunk on the Dark Side|mad with power]], but were forced to live outside normal space-time since their own universe was too fragile to hold them}}. And they want back in. Badly.
* A ''[[Donald Duck]] comic'' features this as its story. Donald tries out for a singing competition organized by a renowned musician, and gets successfully recruited by having his voice altered by an apparent twin of said musician. It’s revealed that {{spoiler|the entire world [[Schrödinger's Butterfly|is actually the dream]] of an ancient cephalophoid monster which slumbers in a city at the bottom of the sea, and the two twins are manifestations of the monster’s conflicting subconscious desires to continue sleeping or wake up, which Donald’s voice will make it do. When the creature does just that the rest of the world vanishes as it no longer creates the world-dream, and everything in its vicinity shapes itself into its image, resulting in Donald and his nephews growing tentacles and stick eyes. It’s eventually put back to sleep, but the story ends on a rather dark note as Donald contemplates everybody's existence as mere parts of the creature’s imagination}}.
* ''[[The Filth]]'', also from Morrison, arguably. But [[Broken Angel|Secret Original]] ''is'' living in this: A [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Golden Age]] Superman, he discovered his world had no free will and went to change this, by coming into reality. And the reality is: He is just a comic book character...
* ''[[El Eternauta]]'', anyone? The aliens called "Hands", who are [[Higher-Tech Species|smarter]] and [[Superior Species|more evolved]] than human beings, are actually unwilling puppets of higher entities that they only dare to call "Them", and they even define "Them" as the "cosmic hate". [[Ultimate Evil|"Them"]] [[Nothing Is Scarier|are never shown]].
* The notorious work of indy comics artists Al Columbia and Hans Rickheit and, at times, [[Edward Gorey]].
* It's still uncertain whether ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' and ''[[BPRD]]'' are this or [[Lovecraft Lite]]. It appeared at first to be the latter, but the monsters are getting nastier, and Hellboy is getting increasingly desperate.
* Leviathan shown in ''Hellraiser II'' was [[All There in the Manual|described in supplementary graphic novels]] to be the true [[Eldritch Abomination]].
* There was an [[Anthology Comic]] series from Vertigo called ''Flinch''. In one story, a massive fan of Lovecraft eventually grows up with the realization ''"We don't deserve monsters"'' and loses all wonder of [[Eldritch Abomination|creatures]] out there.
* ''[[Fall of Cthulhu]]'' by [[BOOM Comics]].
* ''[[Cthulhu Tales]]'', also by [[BOOM Comics]]; however, being an [[Anthology Comic]], a lot of individual stories fell into [[Lovecraft Lite]] instead.
* Both [[Marvel Universe|Marvel]] and [[DC Universe|DC]] have elements of this. For Marvel, anytime Galactus shows up, and for DC, anytime Starro shows up. Many [[Crisis Crossover]] events are this.

== Fan Works ==
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4602078/1/Challenge_of_the_Super_Friends_The_End Challenge of the Super Friends: The End]'', where the Legion of Doom travel to a horrific Lovecraftian universe and begin winding up like victims in the ''[[Event Horizon]]'' and ''[[Hellraiser]]'' films. The unseen Benefactor may well be an [[Ultimate Evil]].
* ''[[The Shape of the Nightmare to Come]]'' takes regular ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' and cranks up the Cosmic Horror elements to max. The Ophilim Kiasoz destroys entire star systems simply by passing through them, and no one knows just what it is. The Nex, [[Ultimate Evil|of which virtually nothing is known]], drives people mad by just mentioning it. The former [[God-Emperor]] becomes the [[God of Evil|Chaos God]] of '''[[Lawful Evil|Order]]'''. And before all of that, the New Devourer (which manages to ''make the Tyranids retreat'') eats more than '''one third''' of all life in the galaxy. The whole 1st segment reads like it was written by Lovecraft himself.
* ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5414128/1/A-Statement-in-the-Ice A Statement In The Ice]'' a Lovecraft-meets-''[[Watchmen]]'' pastiche in which Cthulhu bears down on New York city {{spoiler|rather than the custom-made [[Eldritch Abomination]] Veidt unleashed in canon.}}
* So you think ''[[Aeon Natum Engel]]'' and its remake ''[[Aeon Entelechy Evangelion]]'' are going to be your standard "[[Darker and Edgier|Bad]][[Hot-Blooded|ass]] Shinji" [[Lovecraft Lite]] [[Fix Fic|setting reboots]], do you? [[Original Flavor|Think]] [[It Got Worse|again]].
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' fanfiction ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5085379/1/Johnny Johnny]''. Not surprising, considering it has to top its [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5065029/1/Eddward# already very disturbing predecessor].
* The ''[[Touhou]]'' fanfiction ''[[Imperfect Metamorphosis]]'' moves further and further into this trope with each chapter. Not even the most powerful denizens of Gensoukyou, working together and using their most potent attacks, do more than inconvenience either Yuuka or {{spoiler|the Shadow Youkai}}, some of them barely surviving the encounter, with retribution being swift and terrible. Furthermore, Yukari casually notes that she deals with similar - though not quite as bad - situations on a regular (for her) basis, and several characters, including Yuuka herself, states that there are ''far'' worse things out there.

== Film ==
* [[John Carpenter]]'s "apocalypse trilogy" (''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]'', ''[[Prince of Darkness]]'' and ''[[In the Mouth of Madness]]'') is an escalation of the trope over the 3 movies: first, a [[Shapeshifting|protean]], [[The Virus|invasive lifeform threatening to subsume in itself every living thing on the planet]] in [[Mysterious Antarctica|a desolate antarctic setting]] reminiscent of [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s ''At The Mountains Of Madness''; then a liquid [[The Corruption|corruption]] that turns out to be [[Satan]], and whose goal is to bring to our world its ''true'' father, [[Ultimate Evil|the Anti-God]], in an old church being investigated by academics from an establishment similar to Miskatonic University; and finally, [[Eldritch Abomination|ineffable, unreal horrors]] attempting to find purchase in our reality through the writings of a [[Mad Artist]] and his previously-fictitious [[Town with a Dark Secret]] in the middle of [[Lovecraft Country]], all the while [[Mind Screw|screwing over the protagonist]] in such a way that it was formerly the [[Trope Namer]] for [[Through the Eyes of Madness]].
* ''[[Event Horizon]]'', in which {{spoiler|"[[Hell]]"}} is the easiest way for the characters to describe [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|hyperspace]], but some elements suggest it just might be far, far worse. Then you consider the fact that ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' fans like to think of it as a ''prequel''...
* ''[[Possession (1981 film)|Possession]]'', a film by Andrzej Zulawski which maps Cosmic Horror Story onto a disintegrating marriage.
* ''[[Dagon]]'' is based on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by Lovecraft. A desperate town resorts to [[Eldritch Abomination]] worship so they don't starve to death. From there, [[It Gets Worse]].
* [[Godzilla]]
** Considering its background of destroying planets with life, it's confirmed that King Ghidorah is some kind of cosmic horror.
** Spacegodzilla is an alien clone of Godzilla with telekenetic powers that arrives on earth to destroy Godzilla. The Shobijin [[You Don't Want to Know|refuse to say what Spacegodzilla plans to do afterwards if he defeats his predecessor.]]
** Hedorah. Sentient alien sludge that is so toxic it emits fatal amounts of sulphuric acid from its body. Its body is so poisonous that simply ''touching'' it will burn flesh down to the bone (Yes, even if you are Godzilla). Considering how many people it killed while on Earth, imagine the amount of damage it must've caused on '''other''' planets.
* ''The Vanishing On 7th Street'' gives us a phenomenon that can consume entire cities. Darkness becomes a sentient, [[Dark Is Evil|malevolent]] force that hunts down and absorbs everyone it can, leaving only [[Empty Piles of Clothing]] and turning those it snatches up into shadows in its thrall. Light can keep the shadows at bay, but becomes harder and harder to sustain the longer the phenomenon is active, and the daylight hours grow shorter and shorter. There is no reason or explanation for this phenomenon, only the growing, desperate sense of inevitable doom.  {{spoiler|It's heavily implied that the will to live is the key to surviving this, but even then the darkness does everything it can to [[Break the Cutie|break the resolve]] of the few remaining survivors, and [[Anyone Can Die|succeeds in almost every case]].}}
* The ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' 'verse was originally one of these, despite the fact that xenomorphs aren't actual [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]] (few will dispute the fact that they are [[Nightmare Fuel|just as horrifying]]); many of the sequels and [[Expanded Universe]] works severely diluted the formula -looking at you, ''[[Alienversus Predator]]''- [[Ridley Scott]] himself set to bring back the [[Original Flavor]] of the franchise with the semi-prequel ''[[Prometheus]]''. Since the xenomorphs [[Badass Decay|have arguably become too much of a popculture icon]] to feel menacing enough, he'll simply used another, as yet mostly unexplored but very well-known part of the franchise: the [[Precursors|Space Jockeys]], who it's implied [[Ancient Astronauts|created/uplifted humanity]]... [[Abusive Precursors|and the xenomorphs]]. [[Oh Crap]].
* In ''[[The Cabin in the Woods]]'', {{spoiler|The entire horror movie was orchestrated to appease the "Ancient Ones," eldritch abominations who require specific ritualistic human sacrifices or else they will destroy the world. The movie ends with a giant hand bursting out of the cabin and the [[The End of the World as We Know It|world ending]].}}

== Literature ==
* Proto-example: [[Robert W. Chambers]]' book ''[[The King in Yellow]]'', which was an influence on Lovecraft himself, and he made references to it that [[The Weird Al Effect|are now better known than the original source]]. Filled with [[Mind Screw]] and [[Take Our Word for It]].
** The works of [[Arthur Machen]] were also a huge influence, particularly his 1894 novella ''[[The Great God Pan]]'', which gives us the eponymous [[Eldritch Abomination]] and was the basis for Lovecraft's own story "[[The Dunwich Horror]]". Machen wrote other works of this kind, though ''The Great God Pan'' stands out as the most significant.
** [[William Hope Hodgson]]'s ''[[The Night Land]]'' and ''[[The House on the Borderland]]'' are also notable forerunners.
** [[Guy de Maupassant]]'s short story "The Horla" is another influence on Lovecraft, with its motifs of a cosmos harbouring unknown terrors and, closer to home, a malevolent, intangible organism capable not only of possessing humans but of one day replacing them as a species. Unless, that is, it's just the [[Unreliable Narrator|narrator]] [[Through the Eyes of Madness|gradually going mad]].
** Predating even those was [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''[[The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket]]'', of which Lovecraft's own seminal ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]'' is a [[Spiritual Successor]] if not outright sequel.
* [[H.P. Lovecraft|H. P. "Grandpa Cthulhu" Lovecraft]] and his ''[[Weird Tales]]'' colleagues - [[Clark Ashton Smith|Clark Ashton "Klarkash-ton" Smith]], [[Robert E. Howard|Robert E. "Two-Gun Bob" Howard]], etc. - who started the whole ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'' thing (although it wasn't actually named, nor any kind of cohesive whole, until [[August Derleth]] laid hands on it) as a collective attempt to lend their works an air of authenticity, by [[Mythopoeia|sharing common elements and references]] as if the stories were actually based on Real Life sources. And ''it worked'' - there are now people who genuinely believe the ''[[Necronomicon]]'' is a real existing book and that Cthulhu was worshiped by ancient Sumerians.
* ''[[The Laundry Series|The Atrocity Archives]]'' and its sequels take place in a world where bureaucratic top secret government agencies even more covert and shadowy than [[MI 5]] and the CIA battle Eldritch Abominations attracted to reality after Alan Turing discovered a theory that allowed the user to warp reality with computers and the [[Ghostapo|Nazis attempted to summon the Great Old Ones using the souls of those slaughtered in the Holocaust]] to win the Second World War. CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, [[The End of the World as We Know It|where the Elder Gods devour the world]], is definitely going to happen; the only question is how long we've got, and the best estimates have it as a matter of a few years ... if we're lucky.
* Sarah Monette's ''[[The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth]]'' stories take place in a Cosmic Horror Story universe—unsurprisingly, as she openly acknowledges Lovecraft as a major influence.
* [[Stephen King]] likes tropes associated with this genre, particularly [[Eldritch Abomination]]s, although most often they're limited in how much they can affect the world. He also uses [[Lovecraft Country]] a lot (many of his works are set in New England, most often rural Maine).
** In ''[[IT]]'', the eponymous monster is perceived as a [[Giant Spider]] by the protagonists, because this was the closest analogue that their rational minds could find for Its appearance. Attempting to fight It can result one's mind being flung beyond the edge of the universe, then being driven mad by the Deadlights (which It is merely an appendage of). After the protagonists [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|succeed in killing It]], they [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|magically forget about the entire incident]]; apparently this was the only way they could have lived a normal life afterward.
** ''[[The Mist]]'' describes what happens when ordinary folk are confronted with an encroaching alternate reality that gradually enshrouds everything in an unnatural fog filled with predatory [[Eldritch Abomination]]s. (Although as the novella [[Shout-Out|explicitly states]], they aren't truly "Lovecraftian" horrors, in that they can bleed and die, particularly if they are [[Kill It with Fire|set on fire]].)
*** [[Wild Mass Guessing|Alternatively, the mist itself could be considered the abomination]]; the horrid things inhabitting it [[Fridge Horror|could merely be its equivalent of microorganisms]].
** In ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' several hints are dropped regarding entities and realities of this magnitude, especially in regards to "Todash Darkness and the unspeakable things that dwell there in the black never between realities". {{spoiler|The scenes in Book Seven regarding Roland, Susannah, and Oy fleeing through Castle Discordia from [[Eldritch Abomination|one of these things]] that somehow got OUT of Todash are laced with suggestive themes about what would happen when the Tower falls and Todash sets these critters loose on all the many universes.}}
* ''[[The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray]]'' has the standard deluded-fools-summoning-[[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch-abominations]] plot. Said [[Eldritch Abomination]]s are called the Glau Meska, but often known as the Deep Ones. Now where did that idea come from...?
* The American horror writer [[Thomas Ligotti]] has written a few of the only genuinely Lovecraftian pastiches ever. A few, though not many, of the works explicitly use the names of Lovecraft's creations. One of his best ([[Nightmare Fuel|and most unsettling]]), "Nethescurial", [http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=433 can be read here].
* Many stories by [[Clive Barker]] could fall into this category. ''Skins Of The Fathers'' particularly. [[Clive Barker]] is one of the few authors whose Cosmic Horror Story works can't be traced back to Lovecraft's distinctive styles, but has all the themes: [[Artifacts of Doom]], [[Eldritch Abominations]], [[Eldritch Location]]s, and a general sense of dread and fear caused by contact with higher beings that just might not have humanity's best intentions in mind.
* The fantasy of [[Michael Moorcock]] is full of Cosmic Horror. ''[[The Elric Saga]]'''s world especially has many, many ancient evils that used to rule the world and now lie around decaying and waiting to destroy any traveler they meet. Elric himself rules over [[Deadly Decadent Court|the remnants of one of these evil empires]], and his patron god is an [[Eldritch Abomination]] (as are virtually all the other gods; [[Warhammer Fantasy]]'s [[Order Versus Chaos]] theme was clearly inspired by Moorcock's work, [[It Got Worse|at least until they decided to get rid of the Order part]]). The final book involves [[The End of the World as We Know It|the world being completely remade]] by the [[Eldritch Abomination]]s, and the "good" ending to the story accepts this as inevitable. The Corum series is an example too; he fights against Elric's Lords of Chaos in the first series, and in the second series against a group of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s who are based on the elemental forces of cold and death.
* In ''[[Perelandra]]'', after Weston returns to his body which had heretofore been [[Demonic Possession|possessed by a bent eldil]], the picture he paints of the afterlife suggests a Cosmic Horror universe: Reality as we know it is just a thin shell surrounding an endless abyss of nothingness, and ultimately nothing humanity does matters. However, this being a novel by [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]], he's wrong about the universe; and it's suggested that this wasn't even Weston talking, but an eldil impersonating Weston in hopes of discouraging Ransom.
* Dark King of the [[Goth]]s [[Neil Gaiman]] gets in on this with a short story in his book ''[[M Is For Magic]]''. Two kids end up at the wrong party and one of them is almost consumed by hearing [[The Virus|the song]] of a disembodied race from ... somewhere that is fundamentally at a right angle to our existence. The other one tries to make out with a different type. Things don't go so good for either of them.
** The story is "How to Talk to Girls at Parties." The people at the party are, specifically, {{spoiler|the physical embodiment of planetary bodies, or ideas of them. The latter boy inadvertently pisses off ''a sun''.}} The first kid doesn't understand what happens, and after they leave the party he never hears from his friend again.
** Likewise, Gaiman's ''[[A Study in Emerald]]'' is a [[Sherlock Holmes]] [[Homage]] set in a late 19th century where the Great Old Ones took over centuries ago. While the world superficially is much like ours and the God-Monsters themselves seem as if they've [[Going Native|gone native]], one doesn't need to scratch the surface much to find exceedingly unpleasant facts and goings-on {{spoiler|which may soon lead to [[The End of the World as We Know It]] - [[Fridge Horror|Imagine the first half of the 20th century if all world leaders were]] [[Cosmic Horror|cosmic horrors]]}}.
* ''Cthulhu's Reign'', edited by Darrell Schweitzer, is an anthology of short stories on what life - well, existence anyway - on Earth would be like when the Old Ones return.
* In Jack Williamson's ''Born of the Sun'', the planets of the Solar system are {{spoiler|actually [[That's No Moon|eggs of space-dwelling dragon-like monsters]] that start hatching. [[Pluto Is Expendable|Pluto first]]}}.
* Mark Z. Danielewski's debut novel {{color|blue|House}} [[House of Leaves|of Leaves]]. As a book about a book about a film about a {{color|blue|House}} [[Eldritch Location|that is a maze]] (or, in short, a book that is a maze), it layers its [[Mind Screw]] into several overlapping narratives, [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|all commenting on each other]],<ref>{{color|red|some warning you of danger}}</ref> accompanied by some ''seriously'' [[Self-Demonstrating Article|screwed-up typography]], all to give the reader the sense of disorientation one would feel inside the ever-shifting, enigmatic {{color|blue|house}}.
** It's made particularly explicit when the protagonist of the A-story says that the eponymous {{color|blue|house}} [[Eldritch Location|actually is]] [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|God]].

== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Sapphire and Steel]]'' took place in a universe threatened by formless evils. The (presumably) non-human "Elements" Steel and occasionally even the more sympathetic Sapphire, could, on occasion [[Humanoid Abomination|seem alien themselves]].

== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' takes place in a world infiltrated by Chaos, a [[The Corruption|corruptive]] [[More Than Mind Control|force]] [[The Heartless|given strength by the ickier parts of the human psyche]]. The only way to combat Chaos is to be [[Knight Templar|frighteningly dogmatic and wipe it out whenever it looks at you funny]], [[I Did What I Had to Do|no matter who gets caught in the crossfire]].
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' is ''[[Crapsack World|even worse]]''. Not only is Chaos even more of a threat (powerful daemons in ''Warhammer'' can devastate armies; powerful daemons in ''40K'' can devastate '''star systems'''), there are also the [[Nigh Invulnerability|implacable]] legions of the Necrons and their [[Physical God|C'tan]] masters, and the [[We Have Reserves|limitless]] [[Horde of Alien Locusts|Tyranid hordes]] controlled by its immortal [[Hive Mind]]. Indeed, it's often noted that humanity still survives despite [[The World Is Always Doomed|the galaxy always being doomed]] not because of anything they do, but because the various unstoppable, incomprehensible menaces keep ''getting in each others' ways''.
* ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' subverts the trope; the setting's big secret is that {{spoiler|the universe is humanocentric, existing only for our benefit. Any horrific monsters beyond time that make us insignificant, then, are actually the product, not the cause, of our sense of insignificance. It's a vicious cycle.}}
** Even more subverted: {{spoiler|Every supernatural being in existence was human, the creation of humans or the ghost of a human (as hinted by the [[Arc Words]] "You did it"). As a result, even the most debased [[Eldritch Abomination]] around has human emotions and human motivations, as much as they loathe admitting it.}}
* The [[Old World of Darkness]] has elements of this in each of its gamelines, with each one having an apocalyptic ending. [[Vampire: The Masquerade|Vampire]] has the [[Eldritch Abomination|Antediluvians]], their ancient, cannibalistic and godlike forefathers and [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Werewolf]] has [[Cosmic Horror|The Wyrm]] and the titular apocalypse. Of the bigger lines, only [[Mage: The Ascension|Mage]] gives the potential for a happy ending, and doesn't involve one flavour or another of the Old Ones eating everything (unless the PC's screw up BADLY).
* The Swedish RPG ''[[Kult]]'' mixed Gnosticism, Kabbalah, Aleister Crowley occult traditions and the ''[[Hellraiser]]'' movies, and took its aesthetics from [[Punk Punk|Splatter Punk]], [[Clive Barker]] and [[H. R. Giger]] art. It's actually a subversion. Humans are hopeless against supernatural forces, but {{spoiler|will triumph once awoken. In fact, most supernatural beings are hopelessly trying to prevent that. In other words, they [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu|broke their arms punching]] [[Humans Are Cthulhu|us]].}}
* The same Swedish company also released ''[[Mutant Chronicles]]'', whose basic premise is somewhat similar to that of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', if on a much smaller scale (humanity still hasn't expanded beyond the solar system); although depending on the [[Game Master]]'s choices for his own campaign, [[Lovecraft Lite|it could be entirely possible for the players]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|to rip]] [[Big Bad|the Dark Soul]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|a new one]] [[Earn Your Happy Ending|if they try hard enough]]. [[Hope Spot|Or not]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120425221344/http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/kovalic/pokethulhu/ Pikathulhu's Gonna Catch You All.]
* ''[[The Whispering Vault]]'' offers an odd inversion in that the player characters are all minor Eldritch Abominations who act as a "police force" that apprehends and retrieves abominations who have illicitly made their way to Earth. It does bear mentioning, though, that {{spoiler|conventional reality is [[All Just a Dream]], controlled and maintained through lucid dreaming by those abominations who haven't gone rogue}}...
* ''[[JAGS Wonderland]]'' {{spoiler|is a massive subversion}}. The world is being menaced by the Caretakers, a group of [[The Fair Folk|entities who live based on story rather than physical laws, as we humans do]]. They have collectively decided to drive humanity to [[Driven to Suicide|self-destruction]], and have done so via a [[The Virus|viral]] insanity that causes ''reality'' to lose its grip on ''you''...{{spoiler|[[Lovecraft Lite|And then the subversion hits.]] The Caretakers hate humans because they're actually ''terrified'' of us, since [[Humans Are Cthulhu|we act in ways they find utterly incomprehensible]]. That, and [[The Reveal]] of the fact that ''vice versa'' is not true...Let's just say the default is [[Earn Your Happy Ending]] for humanity and leave it at that.}}
* If the works of H.P. Lovecraft were one of the defining explorations of Cosmic Horror, ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'', as an RPG based on his works, embraces and expands upon what he developed (though at times in the direction of [[Lovecraft Lite]], depending on the [[Game Master|Guardian]] or scenario).
** In ''[[Delta Green]]'', a modern-day [[Conspiracy Kitchen Sink|conspiracy-heavy]] setting for COC, [[It Gets Worse]]. Curiously enough, it's mentionned in the main book that by the turn of the millenium, most [[Cthulhu Mythos|Mythos entities]] and their minions are [[Orcus on His Throne|far less present and/or active]] than they were even in [[Genteel Interbellum Setting|the 20s and 30s]]... {{spoiler|They don't need to be. [[Foregone Conclusion|They already won]]. They just need to wait a comparatively short while [[When the Planets Align|for the Stars will soon be]] [[The End of the World as We Know It|Right]].}}
** And for a different take on modern-day Mythos espionage roleplaying, [[The Laundry Series]] has been made into its own game, using the same basic Chaosium rules as CoC and DG, making all three fully compatible. Have fun.
* ''[[Cthulhu Tech]]''. Mix the above with ''[[Robotech]]'', ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', ''[[Guyver]]'' and ''[[Akira]]''. The good news: You have all sorts of wonderful toys ([[Magitek]] [[Humongous Mecha]], [[Psychic Powers]], [[Functional Magic]], [[Lovecraftian Superpower]]s...) to fight against the [[Starfish Aliens|Migou]] [[Alien Invasion|invaders]] and the [[Eldritch Abomination]]-worshipping [[cult]]s. The bad news: the fact that the Migou and the cults [[Evil Versus Evil|also fight each other]] only barely slows down their systematic conquest of more areas, both have thoroughly infiltrated human society despite [[The Government]]'s increasingly (and justifiably) [[Knight Templar|draconian security policies]], a handful of godlike abominations and countless lesser ones are already here, and the first storyline-progressing book can be summed up in three words: [[It Got Worse]]. It's even mentioned in the core book that should [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Great Cthulhu]] be woken up by the [[Religion of Evil|Esoteric Order of Dagon]], it's [[The End of the World as We Know It|game over for anything not in thrall to the Old Ones]].
* Long-defunct late-80's/early-90's RPG ''Dark Conspiracy'' had this sort of vibe—even though the [[Big Bad Ensemble]] of the Dark Lords took several cues from mythological gods and demons, they were still overwhelmingly powerful and unknowable extradimensional entities, who managed [[The Masquerade|from behind the scenes]] to turn [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|near-future Earth]] into a [[Crapsack World|horribly depressing]] [[Dystopia]] with the worst aspects of [[Cyberpunk]] cranked [[Up to Eleven]] and almost none of the cool stuff that comes with it (they stalled technological progress because too much of it could give humanity hope for the future, y'see, and since [[The Heartless|they thrive on our despair]]... ''Their'' minions had access to plenty of creepy, evil tech). Oh, and almost everyone even the slightest bit in the know was either an [[Unwitting Pawn]], [[Les Collaborateurs|collab]][[The Quisling|orating]], or worse, one of countless monstrous minions who infiltrated and preyed on an apathetically oblivious humanity in secret.
* Pelgrane Press [[Author Appeal|really seem to like this trope]], since the first three published settings for their ''Gumshoe'' system -- ''[[Trail Of Cthulhu]]'', ''[[Fear Itself]]'' and ''[[The Esoterrorists]]''—all contain varying degrees of it. The first one is classic [[Cthulhu Mythos]] pulp horror investigation; the second is about playing more or less normal people suddenly confronted to the fact that their world actually is like every [[Clive Barker]]-esque [[Punk Punk|splatterpunk]] story lumped together; and the third is about a secret organisation, the Ordo Veritatis, trying to stop an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] (the eponymous esoterrorists) from turning their world into a copy of the second one for fun and profit. Things are not going so well for the Ordo.
* ''[[Savage Worlds]]'' has published a supplement called ''Worlds Of Cthulhu''. No points for guessing [[Cthulhu Mythos|the premise]].
* Some years ago, a short-lived CCG called ''Hecatomb'' had this as its premise - each player was an [[Omnicidal Maniac|"Endbringer"]], someone who, whether [[Mad Scientist]], [[Evil Sorcerer]] or what-have-you, competed with other Endbringers to be the first to [[Your Soul Is Mine|gather enough souls]] to bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]] to fuel their powers, then move on [[All the Myriad Ways|to the next alternate reality]] to start over. You fought each other by summoning/creating monstrous minions (many of them [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]] in their own right) and [[Fusion Dance|fusing them together]] to form [[Hybrid Monster|Abominations]], calling down [[God of Evil|evil gods]] (including [[Great Old One]]s), and similar dirty tricks, all to get the requisite 20 soul tokens at your ennemies' expense. And since every player gained a soul token at the beginning of his/her turn...
* ''[[wikipedia:Noctum|Noctum]]'' has such a premise (mixed, like others on the list, with splatterpunk), but with the caveat that {{spoiler|The reason the [[Big Bad Ensemble]] abominations were attracted to our world is because [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]]}}.

== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Bayonetta]]'', [[Heaven]] is a white-and-pink patterned version of [[Hell]]. [[Light Is Not Good|That doesn't mean Heaven is all good]], [[Dark Is Evil|nor that Hell isn't all evil]]. No, [[God and Satan Are Both Jerks|they're both]] [[Evil Versus Evil|equally evil]]. Which means humankind is screwed the moment they give their last breath.
* Fractional Games specializes in this, with their games ''[[Penumbra (video game series)|Penumbra]]'', and the more popular ''[[Amnesia: The Dark Descent|Amnesia the Dark Descent]]''.
* The [[Survival Horror]] game ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' (cheerfully subtitled "Sanity's Requiem") for the Gamecube. This one takes one of the most interesting twists:{{spoiler|the most powerful [[Eldritch Abomination]], Mantorok the Corpse God, is actually mildly fond of humanity, even serving as a fertility god in a small village in Cambodia. He's ultimately responsible for the main character's destruction of the "evil" abominations, and he's probably the only abomination even close to being good. ''Ever''. [[Hidden Agenda Villain|Or is he?]]}}
* In 1987, [[Infocom]] made an [[Interactive Fiction]] text adventure called ''[[The Lurking Horror]]'' loosely drawing on the themes of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]].
* Another IF example: ''[[Anchorhead]]'' is an award-winningly well-regarded example of a text adventure set in the "slowly unraveling horror" Lovecraftian milieu. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120306220505/http://baf.wurb.com/if/game/17 Look here] for download and information on the game.
* In ''[[Drakengard]]'', [[The World Is Always Doomed]] because the gods are [[God Is Evil|not just evil]], but also composed entirely of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s. There are not slithering masses of tentacles that cause insanity by their very sight, but [[Humanoid Abomination|something very morbid]].
* The events of ''[[Persona 3]]'' ultimately leads to the [[The End of the World as We Know It]], complete with a doomsday cult and brain-dead people uttering prophetic warnings. This is all due to the subtle influence of the reawakened Nyx, a vast and ancient being {{spoiler|and who apparently ''[[That's No Moon|is the moon]]'',}} being called down to the earth. Her presence causes people to explode into puddles of black ooze and random organs. In all likelihood, she doesn't care in the slightest. Oh and she's mainly summoned by the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of the malice and despair in the hearts of humanity.
** What's more  {{spoiler|despite your best efforts, you ''do not'' punch it out. The best action taken was a reverse seal; the protagonist makes a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to keep said personification of malice and despair away from Nyx.}}
* The premise of a [[Sugar Bowl]] world with Cosmic Horror Story influences is almost as brain-breaking as Cthulhu himself is, but the ''[[Kirby]]'' series pulls it off in the last few levels and bosses of each game. With [[Alien Geometries]] for levels, [[Eldritch Abomination]]s for bosses, and [[Nightmare Fuel]] ahoy. The [[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!|anime]] actually implies that Kirby is a ''[[Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?|good]]'' [[Eldritch Abomination]].
* ''Shadow of the Comet'', ''Prisoner of Ice'' and the better-known ''[[Alone in the Dark]]'', by Infogrames, are all in the same Cthulhu Mythos-haunted world, with several direct Lovecraftian references, including [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|the Necronomicon and De Vermis Mysteriis]]. The name of the mansion from the first ''Alone In The Dark'', Derceto, is revealed in-game to be an alias of [[Mother of a Thousand Young|Shub-Niggurath]], the Mythos' equivalent of a fertility deity...
* ''[[Eversion]]'' gradually reveals itself to be a game of this kind. It starts out as a cute [[Sugar Bowl]] of a world, but as you progress further and use your [[Reality Warper]] powers in order to get the gems you need, the game gradually gets darker and darker. The [[Let's Play]] by [[Deceased Crab]] in particular reads like a Lovecraft story towards the end of it, right down to the rejection of the [[Sugar Bowl]] world's "cheery lies."
* ''[[EarthBound]]'' morphs into one of these for the final boss fight.
* ''[[System Shock]] 2'' fulfills almost all above tropes (minus [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] and [[The Unpronounceable]]) but on a fortunately contained scale (less fortunate for those who lived there.) However, Shodan ''is'' still out there...
* Whether or not [[Chrono Trigger|Lavos]] qualifies is up to the player's imagination, but as of ''[[Chrono Cross]]''...
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is a Cosmic Horror [[Space Opera]]. The Reapers are a race of sentient machines that wipe out all advanced life in the galaxy every 50,000 years or so. And they have been doing it for millions of years. Sovereign has been described as Mecha-[[Eldritch Abomination|Cthulhu]].
** And then ''Mass Effect 2'' pushes this to even more horrifying levels. The point of the cycle of extinction {{spoiler|is to turn all conquered species into the raw materials that go into constructing new Reapers.}}
*** Mass Effect 3 {{spoiler|arguably zig-zags by revealing the Reapers are ACTUALLY mere tools of a [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|vaguely-defined intelligence]] that wipes out advanced organic life and catalogues it in the form of Reapers. All so that organic life doesn't get [[Robot War|wiped out permanently by synthetics.]] [[Flat What|What]].}}
* The ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' series takes place in a universe where nearly every monster is an [[Eldritch Abomination]], especially in the first game.
* ''[[Pokémon]]''. In the early generations, it didn't really have that feel to it, and [[Olympus Mons|legendary Pokémon]] seemed to be more akin to [[Physical God]]s than anything else. The fourth generation takes off all gloves; the [[Big Bad]] enslaves Pokémon who are the origins of courage, knowledge, and emotion, and uses them to awaken two others, who are masters of time and space, with the intention of [[A God Am I|creating a new universe that lacks free will and emotions]]. He in turn pisses off ''another'' Pokémon, which is master of [[Alien Geometries|the Distortion]] [[Eldritch Location|World]]. Other gems from the fourth generation include nothing less than [[God|the creator of the Pokémon universe]] and a Pokémon that infects the nightmares of humans and takes them to a sinister island that even makes itself known by possessing a boy named [[Shout-Out|Eldritch]].
** The fifth generation introduces Kyurem. A frozen [[Our Zombies Are Different|zombie alien dragon]] that was once part of another dragon before being split into three different beings (Kyurem representing Wuji/Nothingness whearas Reshiram and Zekrom represent Yang/Truth and Yin/Ideals rspectively). [[It Gets Worse|Even worse,]]. [[It Got Worse|Even worse,]] Kyurem is said to have a taste for human flesh. No wonder the citizens of one town absolutely '''refuse''' to go outside at night.
* In ''[[Phantasy Star]] IV'', it's revealed that {{spoiler|the planets of Algo are the seal on the [[Sealed Evil in a Can]], [[Bigger Bad|the Profound Darkness]], that [[Big Bad|Dark Force]] is a fragment of the Profound Darkness' power that is able to force its way out of said seal, which was ''flawed from the beginning'', and that the sentient races of Algo exist for no other reason than to produce heroes who can defeat Dark Force and prevent it from destroying the seal and releasing the Profound Darkness back into the universe. Meanwhile, the Great Light has considered its work done, and has gone off to do whatever someplace else.}} Chaz [[Refusal of the Call|doesn't take well to this news.]]
* While it doesn't really have the atmosphere, ''[[Freelancer]]'' certainly has shades of this, what with {{spoiler|horrifically advanced alien parasites bodyjacking humanity's leadership to prepare it for outright slaughter. And that's just the Nomads. Imagine what the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] Daam K'Vosh are like!}}
* A pretty good example comes from the ''[[Chzo Mythos]]''. Well, it just so happens that there's another world next door, a world ruled by [[Eldritch Abomination|the VERY EMBODIMENT of PAIN]], and he can't wait to get his hands on our world. Don't worry that he has an intricate web of followers that are helping him to succeed, but thanks to his non linear view of time, {{spoiler|he already has}}.
** Though, luckily for humanity,  {{spoiler|it's all a [[Kansas City Shuffle]] on his part.}}
* While the Zerg of [[StarCraft]] are not a cosmic horror themselves, we have yet to have seen their creators, the Xel'Naga. Kerrigan and her insane extermination/assimilation war may yet be the lesser evil in this story.
** [[StarCraft II|The sequel]] only makes things worse. Not only are the main factions unsure about the Xel'Naga, but now ''their'' ancient enemy seems to have his own plans for the galaxy. It does ''not'' help that his first appearance was in a strongly Lovecraft inspired comic.
* The indie [[Survival Horror]] / [[Adventure Game]] ''[[Pathologic]]'' achieves this in a very minimalistic, [[Psychological Horror]] fashion (no darkness or monsters, just a [[Surreal Horror|surreal tale]] set in a town hit by a mysterious [[The Plague|plague]]).
* Surprisingly, the quirky cult hit ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'' ends up with elements of this genre.  {{spoiler|Throughout the game the protagonist seems to be dragged into an alternate reality and elements of his everyday life seem unnervingly surreal, yet his nonchalant attitude to it all paints him as an [[Unreliable Narrator]] whose grip on reality is seemingly quite weak. However, the [[Big Bad]] is ultimately revealed to be an immortal [[Humanoid Abomination]] from another plane of existence that has warped the hero's life since childhood and thrives on torturing humans [[For the Evulz]]. The story is just vague enough to make every detail questionable, making for a wonderful [[Psychological Horror]] experience.}}
* The [[MUD]] ''[[Lusternia]]'' features a [[Genre Busting|lot of different genres]], but this is one of the most prevalent. There was even a [[Hopeless War|war]] between the [[Precursors]] of mortalkind, the Elder Gods, and the resident [[Eldritch Abominations]], the Soulless Ones. (Also known as the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Heralds of Magnora]], Magnora being the [[Anthropomorphic Personification|personification of destruction]].) Nowadays they're ''largely'' [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sealed away]], but there's a world-spanning event every real life year or so where one breaks free...
* From a gameplay perspective, ''[[The Breach]]'' is closer to [[Lovecraft Lite]], but in narrative terms, it's more like this. At no point is there any hope of permanently defeating the Yellow, just pushing it back where it came from, and Sergei firmly believes that if [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|hyperspace experiments continue]], humanity is doomed.
** In the new ending, the 'Lite' is officially gone. {{spoiler|Sergei's luck runs out.}}
* ''[[Metroid]]'s'' backstory doesn't have Eldritch Abominations (they come later) but does have X: Microscopic organisms in large colonies that seek out and devour all that lives. [[Super-Persistent Predator|X never stop eating and reproducing,]] can reproduce exponentially in seconds, fly, turn intangible, project large amounts of energy and survive any trauma less than planetary explosions or prolonged exposure to the vacuum of space before they decide to turn to any abilities of previous life forms they ate to hunt you down. To hunt X came Metroids, which feed on life itself. Scientist note Metroids rarely puncture or damage their prey's body and they extract no matter but take in energy. The energy hasn't been identified or traced to an origin, yet when Metroids get it, prey dies. The only safe way to kill X is to suck life in a way scientists can't explain.
** While Samus shows up [[Late to the Party]] and saves the day [[Apocalyptic Log|the logs]] left by the first to encounter Gorea, the Ing and Phaaze read very much like cosmic horror stories in the [[Metroid Prime]] series.
* ''Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth'' is an alternate viewpoint retelling of Lovecraft's ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' {{spoiler|with the main character going irrevocably insane in the end, thanks in part to the knowledge that he has, at best, only slightly postponed the inevitable downfall of humanity}}.
* ''[[Star Control]]'' and the... erm... whatever it is from *below*. It is some kind of extradimensional being that can annihilate anything that learns about it. If you know enough about it, it can hurt you. If you're ignorant, you're safe. Well, mostly. The Orz are heavily implied to be a "piece" of this being that has managed to sneak into Normal Space ({{spoiler|the Orz at one point seem to make reference to "*chasing*" a race of aliens who were -presumably- killed thousands of years ago}}). And then there's Quasi-Space, the background music of which contains sounds that sound suspiciously like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz_k2l10YXA#t=50s screaming].
* ''[[Alan Wake]]'''s premise seems to be for the titular author {{spoiler|to prevent his world from falling into this trope}}.
* The primary antagonists of the ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series are a human cult who worship bizarre supernatural beings with inscrutable motives (assuming they have any at all). The plot of the first and third games involve said cult  {{spoiler|trying to birth their God into our world from..... [[Dark World|somewhere else]] through a human vessel}}. It is implied that this [[Apocalypse How|wouldn't be a good thing]]. The games involve a hefty dose of [[Psychological Horror]] and how much of this is being generated by the character's own minds isn't clear.

=== Visual Novels ===
* ''[[Saya no Uta]]''. That's the main theme.
* ''[[Muv-Luv]] Unlimited'' (though only informed, not seen) and ''[[Muv-Luv]] Alternative'', where we see the things and eventually learn the [[Awful Truth]].

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Thanks in part to [[Real Life Writes the Plot]], ''[[Thunderstruck]]'' has gained elements of a Cosmic Horror Story world. The city in which most of the action takes place is [[Foregone Conclusion|doomed, period]]. The primary action focuses on a race of gods for whom all of human history is a single generation - and the action is centered on the ''scions of the preceding generation's champion''.
* ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' has [[Mario]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20100526224028/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/comic075.html jumping into paintings] like in ''Super Mario 64''. He makes a bad choice in deciding to jump into [[The Scream]]; we are spared whatever horrors within unlike Mario.
** Considering that the picture takes on the form of [[EarthBound|Giygas]] when Mario jumps through...
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': Andrew Hussie cites ''[[EarthBound]]'' as an inspiration, and ''oh boy'' does it show. Entire universes are created for the sole purpose of recruiting players for a game, one which violently destroys the players' home planets. Victory at the game results in (at best) one's home planet being recolonized, and the creation of a new universe—both of which will eventually be host to new instances of the game. And that's when things go right. The protagonists have accidentally rendered the game [[Unwinnable]], by enabling the [[Big Bad]] to obtain the powers of a [[Physical God]]. Now, the only way to defeat him is to reset the universe—which will pave the way for the arrival (albeit, in a different universe) of a time-travelling demon who feeds on dead universes. In any case, given the way that [[Stable Time Loop]]s work in this story, the protagonists may already be doomed to fail. And in case all that's too subtle, the comic takes an acrobatic [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] pirouette off the handle and into the deep end with [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004748 "Jade: Wake up"], where the Lovecraft-inspired Noble Circle of [[Eldritch Abomination|Horrorterrors]] make their on-screen debut. And then we find out that the Horrorterrors need the protagonists' help, because ''[[It Got Worse|something is killing them]]''.
** And to make things worse it's been stated in the comic that the vast majority of sburb sessions are doomed to fail from the start, never producing new universes, but tumors that just to make a big F-U to those who try. So the nearly all of your race is destroyed, and the most of races don't actually ever even win. So um....
* The premise of ''[[Lovecraft Is Missing]]'' is that [[H.P. Lovecraft|Lovecraft]] wrote truth disguised as fiction. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|And now he's missing]]...
* ''[[The Watcher of Yaathagggu]]'' is ''[[Post Apocalyptic]]'' Cosmic Horror.
* ''[[Ow, My Sanity]]'' is a Cosmic Horror [[Magical Girlfriend]] / [[Unwanted Harem]] story. [[Word of God]] is that it most likely [[Foregone Conclusion|won't end well for the protagonist]].
** Actually, [[Word of God]] just said that the comic will have a "lovecraft ending"; take that as you will.
* ''[[Necessary Monsters]]'' could be considered such, since while the comic itself takes a more [[Spy Fiction]] approach, the fact remains that the world is actually controlled by an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] of every type of monster possible, from [[Slasher Movie]] and [[Urban Legend]]-style [[Serial Killer|serial killers]] to outright [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]], with a vested interest in preserving humanity—because when you've got a self-perpetuating all-you-can-eat buffet with everything you and your pals like to eat in it, you don't want anybody to go around thrashing it.

== Web Original ==
* In the world of the ''[[SCP Foundation]]'', the only thing standing between humanity and a legion of sanity-shattering artifacts or implacably destructive monsters is a shadowy organization of [[The Men in Black|Men in Black]]... whose ruthlessness makes them only slightly less dangerous than the things they're protecting humanity from.
* The ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' has a Cosmic Horror Story backstory, and the Sara Waite stories are all centered around one or more [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]]... including Sara Waite herself. Plus, there's an in-universe example, since  {{spoiler|Sara Waite's previous form}} Michael Waite wrote a best-seller called "Incongruity" which turns out to be The First Book Of The Kellith, which is now in print all over the world. [[Oh Crap|Oops]].
* ''Stickman Exodus'' traps hapless stickmen in a Cosmic Horror Notebook ([[Played for Laughs]] -- [[Dead Baby Comedy]] laughs). Their goal, the Promised Page, the one place the [[Humans Are Cthulhu|"Great Doodler"]] can't touch, might not even exist for all they know. We won't either since the series had a [[No Ending]].
* Most of the stories in [[The Slender Man Mythos]] are this in some form or another.
** As well as those part of [[The Fear Mythos]], of which Slender Man is also a part.
* H-M Brown's ''[[Shell]]'' is the prologue to the ''Geolyth Lore'' series.
* The ''[[Bionicle]]'' serial, ''Sahmad's Tale'', features a plague that robs its victims [[Dream Stealer|of their ability to dream]], gradually causing them to go completely insane and eventually die. It is eventually revealed that the plague is caused by  {{spoiler|an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that resembles a miniature sun with tentacles, who feeds on dreams for sustenance}}.
* The [[Castle Series]], told with [[Stick Figure Animation|stickmen]], but not [[Played for Laughs]]. The cosmic horror in this series comes from the titular Castles that [[Genius Loci|may or may not be sentient]].
* This comes up now and again in various [[Creepypasta]], most notably [[The Holders]] series.
** And one of the strangest has to be the fast-food themed [http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Burgrr_Entries Burgrr Entries], along with its accompanying [https://web.archive.org/web/20150113012736/http://bogleech.com/burgrr-walkthrough.html incredibly elaborate ARG] and the ongoing webcomic [http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/archive.html Awful Hospital] set in the same universe.

== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Mighty Max]]'' arguably takes place in such a universe. Although over the course of the series we find Max beating his fair share of enemies, ultimately the great [[Big Bad]] is shown to be unstoppably powerful, and our hero's only hope to even TIE with him is to let all his friends die and restart the timeline with his own death in the hopes it goes better the second time. Unfortunately, given the prophecies frequently referenced, [[Groundhog Day Loop|this cycle has happened at least several dozen times]].
* The premise of ''[[Shadow Raiders]]'' is that the 4 elemental worlds must band together using ancient technology to fight a great [[Planet Eater|giant planet that wants to eat their homes]]. It is [[Implacable Man|unstoppable]], [[Determinator|unrelenting]], and [[Nigh Invulnerable|unbeatable]]. The only hope is to run away, or face certain destruction. And they can't run forever. [[What Do You Mean It's for Kids?|For a child's show this is somewhat jarring]].
* The premise of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' is that an unstoppable, endlessly malevolent force of literal evil (the [[Start of Darkness]] episodes reveal that Aku is simply a ''tiny fragment'' of a creature that formed in the first moments of the universe) has conquered the world and is spreading its influence throughout the stars, and that a lone warrior wielding the only thing in existence that can even harm it embarks on a hopeless quest to defeat the evil and [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]].
*  The short-lived 80's Cartoon Show ''[[Inhumanoids]]'' was heavily influenced by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. It pushed towards this trope as hard as was possible for a [[Merchandise-Driven]] cartoon from [[The Eighties]]; even the comedy episodes had more than their share of [[Nightmare Fuel]]. One can only imagine how they would have upped the ante had it been successful enough to get more than one season (and toy wave)...

== Real Life ==
* While the "Human life is meaningless" statement and the philosophy of Nihilism have been discussed before Lovecraft and [[Gothic Horror]], supposedly Lovecraft's own inspiration was contemporary discoveries in astronomy that there really are things out there so enormous so powerful and so [[Mind Screw|mind-shatteringly complex]] that our entire world is [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet|meaninglessly small]] in comparison. Subsequent discoveries have only added to the strangeness of the universe, but most of the people who know just how weird physics and astronomy can get and how humans are so small [[The Anti-Nihilist|find this awesome]] rather than a total suicide-fuel.
** The [[wikipedia:Great Attractor|Great Attractor]] in particular stands out.
* [http://www.cracked.com/article_16817_5-cosmic-events-that-could-kill-you-before-lunch.html This] ''[[Cracked.com|Cracked]]'' article lists a few cosmic events that can wipe Earth clean. While none of them are outright inevitable, they can all strike without sufficient warning for us to actually do anything to prevent them.
* There's also that hypothetical [[wikipedia:Nemesis (star)|evil red star]] flinging extinction event comets at us every few million years.
* No one sleeps better after realizing the ultimate logical extension of the [[wikipedia:Second law of thermodynamics#Heat death of the universe|Second Law of Thermodynamics]].
* The Higgs Boson might be capable of causing an apocalypse on a cosmic scale.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/stephen-hawking-higgs-boson-warning_n_5783938.html?utm_hp_ref=science</ref> It's not the God Particle, it's the [[Cthulhu Mythos|''Outer'' God]] Particle.

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''They're coming, they're[[Killed Mid-Sentence|-]][[Apocalyptic Log|-]]''

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[[Category:Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]]
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