You know what's better than a top five list of the most terrifying Lovecraftian stories
ever written?
Leaving out some of the best ones so we can make a second part for all of you cosmic horror
fanatics.
Nah, I’m just kidding - because as I said, the first part of this video definitely had
a personal bias - but fear not, because I’ve scoured the comment section cosmos and compiled
all of your eldritch ramblings into one condensed list - so - hold onto your hats, because we’re
heading back into the abyss.
Hello horror fans - and once again, welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube - Top
5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch - as we creak open the parlor door and
gasp in horror at what lies ahead - and curiously take a look at the Top 5 Scariest Lovecraftian
Stories - Part 2.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that film was from 1989’s Leviathan - which, let's not
beat around the bush - is so bad that it’s good, but if you’ve got an hour or so to
kill - it’s worth a watch.
Let’s be honest, nothing says Lovecraftian appropriate clip like a snarling mouth on
a hand.
Right?
Yeah, right.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Call of Cthulhu
And a lot of you guys were curious as to why this one didn’t make the first part of this
list - but for me, The Call of Cthulhu is perhaps the best entry to the Lovecraftian
universe for any budding horror scholar.
Yeah, I understand that if you’re a serious Top 5 Scary fan - you’ll know that we covered
this story in our Cthulhu Monster Files video - so I guess you can call this one a double
whammy.
Written in the summer of 1926, The Call of Cthulhu is perhaps one of the most complex
and ambitious narratives throughout his entire body of work.
Lovecraftian scholar Peter Cannon remarked that it was one of Lovecraft’s bleakest
fictional expressions of man’s insignificant place in the universe.
Now, that’s what I call an accolade.
The intrigue from Call of Cthulhu comes from it’s almost panoramic narrative, encompassing
a fictional documentary of sorts that weaves three separate narratives together that slowly
make up the bleak realisation of Cthulhu’s existence.
Now, I’m trying my hardest not to ruin anything - as a lot of the magic behind The Call of
Cthulhu comes from personal discovery - but take that as a reason to read this one, because
it’s some of Lovecraft’s finest work, and it will have you feeling like a cosmic
horror detective in no time.
Next up at Number 4 - The Music of Erich Zann
Which I know that for many of you, The Music of Erich Zann is considered one of the most
beautiful demonstrations of H.P Lovecraft’s proficiency for prose - and I would have to
wholeheartedly agree.
And I’ll do you one better and leave a link below if you haven’t read it.
Written in December 1921, this short story is pretty much the cosmic horror version of
Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris - which is also one of my favourite movies of all
time, so go figure.
Lovecraft himself considered The Music of Erich Zann one of his greatest accomplishments,
and what plays out is an atmospheric, slow burning crawl into the abyss.
The story itself is narrated by an unnamed student of metaphysics, who, struggling financially,
rents a place in a mysterious neighborhood known as Rue d’Auseil in what is suggested
to be Paris, although it’s never fully revealed.
There, he meets a mute German viol-player named Erich Zann, who plays weird, indescribable
cosmic harmonies in his attic apartment that may or may not be the abyssal music of the
endless void.
As per usual, I don’t want to ruin anything - because there are some incredible twists
and turns in what is essentially a three-thousand word story - but the thing that makes The
Music of Erich Zann so successfully haunting is what it suggests in it’s ambiguity.
Give it a read - it’s awesome.
Swinging in next at Number 3 - The Colour Out Of Space
Which for me - has one of the most awesome horror endings in all of Lovecraft’s work.
Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it, and we’ll leave you a link so you can read it for yourself.
In The Colour Out Of Space - once again, we head back to Arkham, Massachusetts, Lovecraft’s
fictional New England county where the majority of his best work was set.
Again, as is usual with Lovecraftian horror - an unnamed narrator, a land surveyor from
Boston - tells the tale from a first person perspective, of a mysterious, wild land in
the rural Arkham landscape, referred to by the locals as the blasted heath.
Of course, in typical Lovecraftian fashion - the explanation for this particular heath
being so unfortunate is down to the nefarious machinations of the cosmos.
Poor humanity, we can’t ever catch a break.
The thing that makes The Colour Out Of Space so horrifyingly unique, is the literal weight
that Lovecraft gives the titular colour.
An alien lifeform which is only explainable by the human mind in analogy.
Reading this horror short story is an experience in itself, and it was Lovecraft’s incredibly
successful attempt at trying to create a completely unique alien lifeform.
It’s one of his finest demonstrations of science fiction and horror - and it’s widely
inspired the genre as a whole.
Next up at Number 2 - The Shadow Out Of Time
Which in many ways, is a story based on H. P Lovecraft himself - and his incessant, overwhelming
feeling of not quite fitting into society throughout the majority of his life - as well
as drawing stark parallels to Lovecraft’s father - Winfield Scott Lovecraft, who displayed
eccentric behaviour during a five-year period of madness.
It makes sense then that The Shadow Out Of Time tells the tale of the Yith - an extraterrestrial
species, with the ability to travel through space and time - that can possess the bodies
of unfortunate humans - inducing visions of strange, cosmic vistas whilst simultaneously
living their lives through the ages.
Written in 1934, The Shadow Out Of Time tells the tale of Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, a professor
of Political Economy at Arkham’s Miskatonic University - and perhaps one of Lovecraft’s
most fully formed protagonists.
The scope of this story is absolutely massive, and it traverses some of the highest concepts
in cosmic horror - but it’s in it’s small, referential nuances that makes The Shadow
Out Of Time so damned good - and creepy!
It’s genuinely scary - and serves as almost a codex to Lovecraft’s work - effortlessly
tying together some of his most terrifying themes, while managing to keep the horror
to a personal level.
If you can’t tell - it’s great - and you should read it.
And finally - coming in at our Number 1 spot - The Whisperer In Darkness
While some of you may not agree with the order of our last three spots on this list, I’m
taking a little bit of liberty in putting this story at our top spot - because, in my
personal opinion, The Whisperer In Darkness is the best demonstration of how perfectly
bleak and unstoppable the dread of science fiction horror can be.
And it culminates in a brain in a jar - because for me, there’s nothing more terrifying
than falsely finding humanity in something that is far, far from human.
Published in 1931 - The Whisperer In Darkness is a story told by Albert N. Wilmarth, perhaps
one of Lovecraft’s most iconic narrator’s, whose family name is regularly referred to
in Lovecraftian fiction.
Wilmarth is a professor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham - who begins a correspondence
with his fellow folklorist, Henry Wentworth Akeley, about the mysterious goings on in
the isolated foothills of Vermont.
Again - no spoilers - because going into this story with no idea is the best way to experience
it.
We’ll leave a link down below.
It also references Lovecraft’s Magnum Innominandum - the great not to be named, the mysterious,
all-powerful entity that lingers in the shadows of his cosmic horror fiction - and on second
reading, there is much more to this story than what first meets the eye.
Give it a read.
Well, there we have it horror fans - make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comment
section down below.
Before we depart though, let's read out some of your more creative comments from over the
past few days.
Frontal Lobe says -- I thought Lucy shivved you in your last video, you recovered fast,
must be something Supernatural about you.
-- Well Frontal Lobe, that’s a sound observation - but did Lucy really shiv me?
Or did she simply successfully shiv another version of me?
Who knows?
Ori BB says -- It’d be interesting to hear about a top ten Stephen King short stories
or novels.
-- Well Ori BB, it’s interesting that you should say that - because I may or may not
have something on the cards already for you.
Stay tuned for more.
Unfortunately folks, that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video - cheers for
sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video - make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell, and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As always, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary
Videos - and until next time, you take it easy.