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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
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.
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** 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 [[Mac Guffins]] 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 [[Theres 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]].
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== 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 [[
* ''[[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]].
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== 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
* ''[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]].
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== Films -- Live Action ==
* [[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
* ''[[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]]
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== 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
* ''[[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
* [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}}...
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* 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:
* ''Shadow of the Comet'', ''Prisoner of Ice'' and the better-known ''[[Alone in
* ''[[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."
* ''[[
* ''[[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]]''...
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* 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 [[
** [[
* 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.}}
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* 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]] [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 [[
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': Andrew Hussie cites ''[[
** 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]]...
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