H. P. Lovecraft and the Sublime
I recently read H. P. Lovecraft's horror story, "The Call of Cthulhu," for the first time. It evokes feelings hard to fully describe. As the story progresses, a looming sense of dread engulfs you as more and more of the terrible reality of Cthulhu is revealed. You realize just how small and insignificant you are in the great cosmos, much like the very real terror of pondering how deep and dark the ocean really is and how little of it man has actually explored. But something about it all makes you want to keep reading... it is a strange attraction that I initially could not quite put my finger on...
What is it about Lovecraftian horror that man finds so attracting? Even after reading only one short story, it is not difficult to see why Lovecraftian horror is qualified as its own subgenre of horror. We are not dealing with cheap/shallow horror of the jump scare variety, but rather of cosmic horror, the horror of beholding something so beyond comprehension that it should not even exist.
The answer, I believe, is that man was made for the sublime. In the face of something so grand and cosmic, it is a rare occasion when all of our attention can be taken off of us. As I heard it put once, nobody goes to the Grand Canyon, looks out, and thinks to himself, I'm awesome. On the contrary, in the face of something so... well, grand... one stands in awe of such majesty and wonder.
When we come face to face with Cthulhu, we are beholding the sublime. Cthulhu is grand, inspires awe, and strikes fear into us, for we are in the presence of something that could crush us in an instant. He is after all, one of the "Great Old Ones."
Considering the Holy Scriptures, one example immediately comes to mind of man encountering the sublime. Consider the reaction of the prophet Isaiah when he comes into the presence of the LORD.
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
- Isaiah 6:1-5 (KJV)
What makes the horror of Lovecraft's works exactly that—horror—is found in the difference between Lovecraft's gods and the God of the Bible. Cthulhu will ruthlessly destroy you. He will kill you indiscriminately and move on. Of course, the LORD can kill you as well; part of what contributes to His sublimity is that you are utterly powerless before Him. But the LORD abounds in mercy and grace as well, something lacking in Cthulhu.
Let us all be warned. The LORD is not one to be trifled with, and the day of judgement will indeed be a horror for many. But thanks be to God that those who are in Christ will not meet His wrath but His mercy instead.