The genre of cosmic horror might never be as popular with the masses as slashers, ghosts, or demons. A Bird Box here or there notwithstanding. But one of the most popular horror (or at least horror-adjacent) properties of the last decade, Stranger Things, took many cues from cosmic horror, particularly as conceived by writer H.P. Lovecraft in stories like At the Mountains of Madness. And Stranger Things brought cosmic horror elements to the mainstream in a way nothing really ever had before. Here are some cosmic horror motifs the Duffer Brothers used when crafting their pop culture juggernaut Netflix series.
The Dark Dimensions of H.P. Lovecraft Inspired the Upside Down
In the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, particularly his Cthulhu Mythos, he referred to several other dimensions where his dark forces lay in wait. Some of these were the Dreamlands, the Outer Voids, and the Ultimate Gate. These other dimensions seem like the obvious inspiration for the Upside Down as seen in Stranger Things. In fact, the term “gate” is often used to describe the portals and entryways into the Upside Down, which feels very Lovecraft-inspired. In Lovecraft’s From Beyond, a scientist uses a device on someone that opens their mind to other realities. It reminds one of Dr. Brenner and Eleven in Stranger Things. Humans meddling in affairs beyond their understanding and opening portals is a staple of cosmic horror, and one the Duffers leaned into heavily.
Stranger Things‘ Mind Flayer Drew Inspiration from Cthulhu
The Mind Flayer, particularly in the first three seasons before Vecna, draws comparisons to Cthulhu. Both are gigantic and monstrous figures who seemingly reign supreme in their own dark dimensions. Creator Matt Duffer said, “There’s an H.P. Lovecraft sort of approach: this interdimensional being that is sort of beyond human comprehension. We purposely don’t want to go too much into what it is or what it wants.”
Eventually, however, Stranger Things revealed that the Mind Flayer really was a creation of Vecna, who began life as a human on Earth. So they did break the cosmic horror tradition and make a more knowable villain. But in its early seasons, the Mind Flayer had more in common with the enormous and unknowable Cthulhu. Like those entities, the Mind Flayer often becomes contained, but rarely fully defeated. The name “Mind Flayer” is, of course, a Dungeons & Dragons reference, as are a metric ton of things in Stranger Things. But its roots are in cosmic Lovecraftian horror.
The Bio-Organic Horrors of Cosmic Horror Inspired the Demogorgon in Stranger Things
Another staple of cosmic horror as a genre are its many bio-organic monsters. They exist in movies like The Thing and Alien, and many others as well. Well, Stranger Things strongly took a cue from these biological monsters when it introduced the Demogorgon in season one. Often in cosmic horror, the bio-organic monsters look like a perversion of human biology in some way, or even animal biology. The demogorgons (and the demodogs) completely fit into this mold.
While the works of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg are often cited as the main source of Stranger Things, it wouldn’t exist without the cosmic horror concepts introduced by writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood. Cosmic horror will likely never go as big and as mainstream as it did in Stranger Things, although we’d love to be proven wrong. Because as a genre, there is still a lot of untapped potential for film and television.
The post STRANGER THINGS and How Cosmic Horror Shaped Its World appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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