Cosmic horror--it isn't
the typical scary stuff about a fear of dying or evoking
some kind of physical terror, but an existential crisis
made manifest-- the idea that we as humans
have no purpose whatsoever, essentially making our lives,
our very existence, meaningless,
turned into a monster. H.P. Lovecraft is often cited as the originator,
or at least popularizer, of cosmic horror. In all of his fictional texts,
he explores the theme, resulting in some
pretty terrifying plots, like in At the Mountain
of Madness, where humanity's existence
is revealed to be an accidental result
of a scientific experiment by aliens. Then there are
his original monsters. There are fungal beings
who appear as winged, clawed carapace-covered creatures; shapeless, protoplasmic bubbles
made of iridescent black slime; and the most notorious-- a tentacled cosmic giant,
Cthulhu. Cthulhu is the Old One's
high priest who can help humans
liberate themselves from the constructs
of morality to "shout and kill and revel
and enjoy themselves in a destructive revelry
'of ecstasy and freedom.'" Lovecraft may be
Cthulhu's inventor, but the creation has outgrown
its originator, impacting both the horror genre
and real life in significant ways. [theme music] I'm Dr. Emily Zarka,
and this is "Monstrum." Cthulhu's head
is a pulpy mass of tentacle-like feelers
resembling an octopus. Its rubbery, grotesque body
is covered in scales. Its back has
rudimentary narrow wings, and long talons adorn
its hind and fore feet. Described as
part dragon, part octopus, and part human,
this monster is so bizarre, so terrifying, it drives
anyone who sees it mad. In Lovecraft's universe,
Cthulhu is a leader or holy figure
akin to a priest and one of the Great Old Ones-- an extraterrestrial species
that inhabited Earth long before humans
called it home. The Old Ones and Cthulhu
aren't really gods, per se-- after all,
"God" is a human construction-- but they serve as symbols
of unknowable cosmic forces. While the Old Ones are no longer
physical beings on Earth, they cannot die, so calling them
dead doesn't quite work. They lie awake in the dark,
ever-watching, hidden under the Earth's crust
and beneath the ocean's depths and can still be contacted. They are considered
a lost culture, although some parts
of Lovecraft's world continue to worship
the creatures. The Old Ones continue
to communicate with humans telepathically and can be physically evoked
through rituals, but only if the astral
alignments are just right. The notorious Cthulhu
first rose from the depths of the ocean from
a sunken city called R'lyeh in Lovecraft's short story,
"The Call of Cthulhu," originally published
in the February, 1928, pulp magazine "Weird Tales." "The Call of Cthulhu"
is told from the perspective of narrator
Francis Wayland Thurston who investigates
the strange records left by his recently deceased
great uncle. In the story
that started the legacy, Cthulhu is never encountered
physically by a character, seen only in dreams
and artwork. Lovecraft's inspiration
for the story came years earlier
in a dream about a man exploring a museum
of antiquities. When Lovecraft
returned to the idea, he wove in elements
from his current life in Providence, Rhode Island, including real addresses and
even a documented earthquake. He also found inspiration
in pre-existing literature, like the invisible
mind-manipulating presence at the center of French author
Guy de Maupassant's The Horla, as well as A. Merritt's
The Moon Pool, Arthur Machen's
The Three Imposters, and W. Scott-Elliot's
Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria. I also have to mention
that Lovecraft wrote extensively about how much he
hated eating seafood and fish, which makes those tentacles
and horror-from-the-ocean themes seem a lot more intentional. Lovecraft grew up during the
second Industrial Revolution, when the increased presence
of railroads, automobiles, electrical power,
telephones, and other
rapid industrial advancements contributed to urbanization,
commercialism, and cultural development
all around, not to mention
environmental impacts. Lovecraft asked his readers
to consider what would happen if our impact was taken away
or made meaningless. For fans of Lovecraft today,
it may come as a surprise that for nearly two decades
after his death in 1937, he was widely dismissed
as an untalented writer by critics
and public audiences alike. His works were viewed
as nothing more than fodder for young adults
and eccentrics, although some would argue
similar sentiments today. Born in Providence in 1890, his father died of syphilis
in a mental asylum and he was raised by his mother
and maternal family members from a young age. While intelligent--he was
an avid reader at age three-- he was also
a high-school drop-out. His literary career
began in 1914 as a journalist, although he quickly expanded
into fiction. His influences were vast, and included gothic literature,
historical travelogues, Greek classics,
Romantic literature, scientific discoveries
of the 19th century, and his own agnostic beliefs
and ancestral history. After a failed marriage
in his 30s-- their separation
partially a result of his xenophobic
and anti-Semitic beliefs-- his wife, Sonia,
was the daughter of Jewish-Russian immigrants--
he lived with his aunts. His own published work
never produced a livable income. He used his inheritance
and skills as a copy editor and ghostwriter to survive. Lovecraft's lifetime
marked a period of transition in the United States, as the country attempted
to come into a cohesive identity amid the first world war, changing views of sex
and women's rights, the spread of socialism,
new scientific discoveries, and increasingly booming
immigrant population. All of these themes and
the anxieties surrounding them are present in his work. Despite some of these
now-outdated opinions, Lovecraft's influence
on other writers and creators of all kinds is extensive, enough so that it can be
a challenge to even locate all the references
to his works, especially because Lovecraft
used overlapping narratives-- sticking references
to his own creations into the texts
he was ghostwriting and encouraging other authors to reference his universe
in their own. Books, characters, towns,
and even monsters appear in-world,
as a collective tradition commonly called
the Cthulhu Mythos. The term Cthulhu Mythos
was coined by Lovecraft's author friend,
August Derleth, the first person
to collect and publish Lovecraft's short stories
in one volume under the Arkham House
publishing company. Some argue that the success
of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos is at least in part
made possible by the habitable worlds
he created. Stories were often set
in seemingly realistic spaces-- New England towns,
for instance-- whose physical characteristics,
character genealogies, and histories
are crafted with such detail they feel real
to the reader. Even Cthulhu possesses
just enough recognizability. It is
a non-supernatural monster who is both god
and extraterrestrial, but its appearance contains enough physical
real-world markers, like the octopus comparisons, that is existence
seems plausible... but still very, very scary. Cthulhu is an Eldritch being-- a weird, eerie,
sinister force. The etymology of the word
"Eldritch" can be traced
back to monsters-- elves, more specifically. Originating
in the Scottish language, the term applies to those things
that resemble or suggest elves or supernatural beings, invocating associations
with the weird, the foreign, the strange,
and the uncanny. Cthulhu is
considered extraterrestrial and no doubt a monster. Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones
force humanity to reconsider their place
in the world. Lovecraft's creatures are not
malevolent, just indifferent, at least to humans. Some scholars and fans
even argue that this is where much of the horror
of Lovecraft comes from. We are disturbed by the fact
that not only are we inferior, but that the beings
older and wiser than us simply don't care
about our existence. The concept of Eldritch
post-H.P. Lovecraft is inherently tied
to what is generally believed to be a modern invention--
cosmic horror. This unique form of spooky is an extension
of the gothic and nihilism, where terror arrives
from that which reminds us that we not only
cannot comprehend everything in the universe, but that those things
are inherently bad. Part of Cthulhu's history is outlined in
the Necronomicon-- an invented mythical work supposedly penned by one
of Cthulhu's devotees that Lovecraft references
in many of his stories. It outlines the origins
of the Old Ones. Lovecraft initially claimed
the Necronomicon was translated
from a real-world Arabic text-- a playful allusion
to the romantic gothic genre where other fictional
origins of texts became a common trope. He would later admit
that the Necronomicon text never existed. Lovecraft himself called it
"synthetic folklore." Keep in mind,
Lovecraft's original texts that included mention
of the Necronomicon are intentionally vague. While some passages have been
incorporated into his stories, there was no full manuscript
anyone could base a book on, so people made one up. In the 1970s, physical copies
of the Necronomicon were published by an author
under the pseudonym of "Simon," although it borrowed more
from Sumerian mythology. Hoax versions of the text
still pop up from time to time. Considered a religious text,
a cult book, or demonic grimoire
depending on the audience, Lovecraft's entirely fictional
Book of the Dead became a real-world participant
in the Cthulhu mythos. There are real people
who worship Cthulhu, and even crimes have
been committed in the name of the so-called religious text. Not all of
Lovecraft's influences are so serious, however. The Necronomicon
plays a key role in the "Evil Dead" franchise, pops up in "Jason Goes to Hell," and appears in many comics. In the 1980s, Lovecraft
and his most famous creations were introduced
to a much wider audience with the production
of the role-playing game called "Cthulhu," which was basically about
your character going insane. Video games have also been based
on Cthulhu mythos. There are even kid-friendly
versions of Cthulhu, like plushies, baby books,
and school gear. The cute interpretations
literally soften the monster's grotesqueness and encourage playful
or even protective behavior rather than existential terror. And I for one would love to know
how the author would feel about cute Cthulhu, especially given
its commodification. While Lovecraft is considered a prolific and significant
author of the 20th century, it is undeniable
that much of his fiction reflects his real-world racism. While his xenophobia
might have been more acceptable
during his lifetime, it's jarring
for the modern reader. Modern texts
like Lovecraft Country, Ring Shout,
and The Ballad of Black Tom, deal with the racist
and misogynist tensions in his texts head-on, crafting new additions
to the Cthulhu mythos that are still applicable
to our world today. Humanity has come a long way
from what the world looked like when Lovecraft was alive, but the contemplation
of our role in the universe, or lack thereof, is still at the forefront
of our minds. History lovers, we need to tell you
about a new series from PBS
called "The Bigger Picture." Hosted by
Professor Vincent Brown, it's a show that examines
famous photographs and unpacks the historical
context around them. In doing so, we reveal
what these photos can tell us about our history,
but also how we view ourselves. Check out the first episode
at the link in the description and head
to the PBS YouTube channel to see it for yourself. Tell them "Monstrum" sent you. Lovecraft's original texts
that included mention of the Necronomonicon-- Why am I changing up
the vowels? In the 1970s, physical copies
of the Necronomo--
