Recently gotten back into a cosmic horror/lovecraftian kick recently after finishing up watching a cosmic horror Minecraft ARG called Finding A World That Doesn’t Exist, so I drew The King In Yellow based on what I think he looks like in the video (he’s censored by a black box in the first part which explains the black box over his face)
In his novel debut, Cullen Bunn captures much of what I have seen in his comic work. Tapping into some good ol' cosmic horror.
what do yall think? I find the subgenre is sparse and I tend to be super picky about it once I come across a novel that falls under that umbrella (I honestly didn't like The Fisherman all that much, for example).
would love to know your thoughts on this novel and cosmic horror in general!
yes these two are the same creature. the second image is a 3d avatar THP made and it's what the human mind forces you to see
recently got back into drawing and found an interest in creating horror creatures. here's my first lovecraftian creature
FCI Lore
I actually made the mask and costume first and then decided to write a story about an entity that wears it.
A couple drives into their apartment complexes parking lot, and they begin to walk towards the front door
As they reach their door, Carol glances over her shoulder.
A neighbor stands in the distance.
Not moving.
Just staring.
His face is pale. Unnaturally pale.
“Henry… he’s making me uncomfortable,” she says under her breath.
Henry barely looks. “You’re fine. Let’s just get inside.”
Carol quickly unlocks the door and steps in. Henry follows.
Darkness inside the complex
Carol flips the light switch.
Nothing.
“Seriously?” she mutters.
“Breaker probably tripped,” Henry says, already pulling out his phone. “I’ll check.”
His flashlight cuts through the dark as he heads down the hall.
Carol stands alone in the living room, her own light trembling slightly in her hand.
Then—
Tap.
She freezes.
A small ball rolls across the floor and bumps into her foot.
Angel her cat's toy.
She exhales, nudging it away. “Not now, Angel…”
The ball rolls back.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Carol frowns.
“Angel?” she calls softly.
No answer.
Henry returns briefly. “Carol, I’m gonna grab maintenance. Stay here.”
“Wait—”
But he’s already gone.
Carol turns, her light sweeping across the apartment.
It lands on the back door.
Slightly open.
Her stomach drops.
She walks over slowly… pushes it shut… and locks it.
Click.
Behind her—
The ball rolls again.
Carol turns.
Her light drifts across the floor—
And stops.
Angel lies there not moving and appears to be bleeding
Carol screams—
A figure lunges out of the darkness.
Hands clamp around her throat.
The neighbor.
His face
A smooth, white mask.
Carol claws at him, her nails scraping plastic. No skin. No warmth.
Just cold, hollow resistance.
Her vision blurs.
Her lungs burn.
Everything goes black.
Her body collapses.
The man lets her fall.
Minutes later, Henry walks back in with a maintenance man.
“Carol?” he calls.
Their flashlights sweep the room—
And find her.
“What the hell happened to her?!” the maintenance man shouts.
Henry drops to his knees. “Carol! Stay with me!”
They start CPR in the freezing dark.
Then—
She gasps.
Violently.
Air floods her lungs as she jolts awake, panicking.
Henry grabs her. “You’re okay—”
“There’s someone in the house!” she screams.
A deafening BANG cuts through the room.
The pantry door SLAMS open.
The masked man sprints out of the darkness.
The bat swings—
CRACK.
Henry drops instantly.
The maintenance man raises his arms, but the bat slams into his ribs. He collapses, gasping.
The masked man keeps going.
Stomping.
Over and over.
A wet crunch fills the apartment.
Carol runs.
She throws open the front door and bolts into the night.
Footsteps thunder behind her.
Fast.
Closing in.
She sprints toward the apartment manager’s office, light spilling from inside.
She bursts through the door.
“There’s a man trying to kill me!”
The manager rushes to lock the tinted glass door just as the masked man appears outside.
A shadow behind dark glass.
Watching.
Waiting.
“Get the hell out of here!” the manager shouts.
The bat explodes through the glass.
Carol screams.
The masked man reaches in, feeling for the lock—
The manager kicks his hand and arm hard.
The hand jerks back.
“I think I hurt him,” the manager says, breathing fast.
Carol runs into the bathroom and locks the door.
Silence.
For a moment.
Then—
Glass shatters somewhere else in the office.
He’s inside.
“No!” the manager shouts.
The bat cracks into his legs. He collapses, screaming.
Another hit.
And another.
The bat clatters to the floor.
The masked man walks slowly toward him, grabs his ankle, and drags him back.
Hands wrap around his throat.
Squeezing.
The manager claws at him, gasping—
And looks into the mask.
There are no eyes.
Only darkness.
The bathroom door bursts open.
Carol grips the bat.
She swings.
THUD.
The masked man drops.
The manager gasps for air. “Hit him again!”
She does.
Again and again til she collapses from exhaustion
Police arrive minutes later.
The masked man is pronounced dead at the scene.
Carol and the manager are rushed to the hospital.
Henry and the maintenance man don’t make it.
At the morgue, something is wrong.
They can’t remove the mask.
It won’t come off.
“Why would someone do this?” Officer Darwin mutters.
His partner shrugs. “Some people are just messed up. Probably glued it on.”
Two hours later.
The morgue is silent.
A drawer slides open.
Empty.
“Where is he?” the assistant whispers.
Then—
They look up.
Blood drips from the ceiling.
Spelling out the words.
"BE BACK SOON"
Hope to make new friends here 🐙 If you want to know my favorite Lovecraft works it's Dagon and Mountain of Madness.