What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in The Colour out of Space? 

According to Stableford (2007), Lovecraftian horror is essentially horror that comes from knowledge too great and incomprehensible to bear, and deals with the unchartered aspects of space rather than the mundane human world and the pedestrian evil humans are capable of. Ralickas (2008, page 364) describes cosmic horror as the “fear and awe we feel when confronted by phenomena beyond our comprehension, whose scope extends beyond the narrow field of human affairs and boasts of cosmic significance.”  

The two main philosophies of cosmicism that are used to convey a sense of dread, or fear and anticipation, in The Colour out of Space are how the horror within the story is largely unknown and abstract, and how little we really understand about the cosmos and our own insignificance in it.   

One of the ways that cosmicism is used to convey a sense of dread in The Colour out of Space is through its unknown horror. The horror within cosmicism isn’t necessarily seen, but its presence is felt, and its abstract nature and difficulty in describing its horror makes it that much more terrifying (Stableford, 2007). In the short story, the reader is never told exactly what the evil force is. All we know is that a meteor crashes into the Gardner’s property, after which some sort of blight effects the surrounding soil, poisoning the vegetables, animals, trees and eventually everything around it, turning it into dust. Eventually the whole family is driven to madness and subsequently perish. The Colour out of Space leans heavily on the limited amount of information about the cosmic entity to make it appear more incomprehensible and dangerous to the human protagonists (Slåtten, 2016). Throughout the story we are never told if the meteor brought a single or group of alien entities, the physical characteristics of the alien, or whether it is sentient and came to earth with any purpose (Slåtten, 2016). In the 2019 film adaptation, while we do see the physical form of the alien entity, or the ‘Colour’, it is still portrayed as an obscure threat that we cannot touch. For example, Nathan Gardner is able to shoot and kill the monster his wife and son have turned into, however, the Colour is still present and able to wreak its havoc. The unknown and untouchable nature of the Colour is hugely effective in conveying dread, as it allows the imagination to take over. The creations of our own imagination are often far more horrifying than what we see with our own eyes, and so the fact that the Colour is so obscure makes it even more terrifying (Halldórsson, 2010). 

Another philosophy of cosmicism is our limited understanding of the cosmos, and that humans are ultimately helpless and insignificant in the grand schemes of the universe (Stableford, 2007). We see this in The Colour out of Space, as the Colour is brought from a meteor from another cosmos and serves as a reminder that there are unknown forces and entities that exist outside of Earth. According to Slåtten (2016), the Colour is proof that a cosmic reality exists that is both foreign and horrifying to humans. The knowledge of this reality is not met with positive amazement or fascination, but rather insanity and fear (Slåtten, 2016). The Colour literally turns members of the Gardner family insane until they perish, and rather than investigating and coming to understand the Colour, the people of the town want to flood the area it infected with a dam to try and cover it up. The Colour represents a hostile cosmic force that humans have very little understanding of, and therefore is something they fear (Slåtten, 2016). Halldórsson (2010) argues that the Colour and the events it causes are not acts of evil, but rather go beyond that and are meant to be further than the comprehension of the reader, operating on a different set of laws. All the horrible things that happen to the Gardener family are merely side products of the cosmic force – it didn’t have a specific intention to terrorize this family in particular – reinforcing the insignificance of humans within the cosmos and how we are merely a means to an end (Halldórsson, 2010). All of this perfectly conveys a sense of dread. The revelation of our own insignificance in comparison to the universe is a frightening thought, as we are reminded how futile and powerless we are against forces we have a very limited understanding of (Halldórsson, 2010). 

The Colour out of Space leaves us with unanswered questions about our place in the universe and if we’re ever truly safe from unknown evil. The fact that it leaves us unsure if we ever defeated the evil is truly terrifying, heightening our sense of dread and fear for what’s to come.  

References 

Halldórsson, K. R. (2010). HP Lovecraft. The Enlightenment and connection to the world of Cosmicism [Doctoral dissertation, University of Iceland]. Skemman. https://skemman.is/handle/1946/6241 

Ralickas, V. (2007). “Cosmic Horror” and the Question of the Sublime in Lovecraft. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 18(3), 364-398. 

Slåtten, K. Ø. (2016). Humans in a hostile cosmos: Science, cosmicism and race in HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos [Master’s thesis, University of Stavanger, Norway]. University of Stavanger. http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2400445  

Stableford, B. (2007). The cosmic horror. In Joshi, S. T. (Eds.), Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares (pp. 65-96). Greenwood Publishing Group. 

2.What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

The philosophy of cosmicism is that there is no such thing as the divine being, such as the Gods, that we can recognize in this universe, and that humans are not particularly significant on a vast scale at the intergalactic level. So in Lovecraft’s Cosmic Horror, humans face a vast universe that is incomparable to them. As a result, they fail to accept their meaninglessness and become terrified and insane. “At first glance ‘‘cosmic’’ seems to be used here merely as a replacement term for ‘‘supernatural,’’ but the substitution also implies a particular psychological attitude to the supernatural. The text refers to ‘‘that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguards against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space’’(Stablefold, 2006). Also, cosmicism tends to emphasize the meaninglessness of human being itself and all human actions. In Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology, it is only cosmic beings who can leave a significant mark, and humans can never understand the meaning or intention contained in their actions. So it maximizes the fear of humans.

This philosophy of cosmicism is faithfully reflected in The Color Out of Space. The merits of this movie are visualized tension, which expresses the sudden presence of the unexplored universe and the fear of human beings exposed to death unprotected. As Lovecraft(2013) said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”, the work expresses the unknown from the transcendent existence of the universe in color, showing human fear of it and human helplessness toward destruction and endings.

These cosmicism philosophies also appear in The Shadow over Innsmouth. Lovecraft’s works tend to arouse readers’ fear of something else, often describing unknown as a terrible threat to the rest of humanity. In The Shadow over Innsmouth, the main character learns the truth about Innsmouth and runs away, but finds out that there is Insmmouth blood in his bloodline, and as the day goes by, he feels that he is turning into something other than himself. It shows a sense of dread that a human being turns into an unknown identity, a monster. So this is linked to cosmicism in that it shows the futility of man and the fear of being unknown.

References

Lovecraft, H. P. (2013). Supernatural horror in literature. The Palingenesis Project (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group).

Stableford, B. (2006). The cosmic horror. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 65-96.

Stanley, R. (Director). (2020). Colour Out of Space [Film]. SpectreVision.

1. What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

Cosmicism is the scholarly way of thinking created and utilized by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft in his works of “weird” fiction. Lovecraft was the creator of thoughtfully extraordinary stories of horror that included themes and ideas of what was deemed out to be “mysterious marvels”, such as for instance the concepts  like astral projection and alien miscegenation, and the topics of his fiction after some time added to the advancement of this philosophy (“Cosmicism,” 2006). When comparing cosmicism to humanism, the idea of the two are incompatible. The being of cosmicism imparts numerous qualities to the thoughts of nihilism. Anyway it is to take note of that one noteworthy contrast is that cosmicism will when all is said in done underline the unimportance of humanity and its doings, as opposed to immediately dismissing the conceivable presence of some higher reason (or purposes); e.g., in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu stories, it isn’t the nonattendance of implying that causes dread for the heroes, as it is their revelation that they have definitely no capacity to transform anything in the tremendous, apathetic universe that encompasses them. In Lovecraft’s accounts, whatever importance or reason might be put into the activities of the grandiose creatures is totally difficult to reach to the human characters. In spite of the fact that cosmicism shows up profoundly skeptical, H.P. Lovecraft thought of himself as neither a person who was deemed optimist or even pessimistic for that matter.  However, he instead saw himself as a logical (per say, scientific) or “cosmic” indifferentism. This a topic communicated in his fiction as a means of expression (Lord dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury, 2014). That being said, the theory of comicism is a Lovecraft’s fiction give a decent material in a conjured up universe, for example, baffling articles, prohibited privileged insights, experiences desert, the disclosure of repulsions in a city in terms of the horrors that were present, metaphases, stunning disclosures, the concept/ ideas of dream and reality, outsider creatures, inestimable beasts, and so forth (Menegaldo, 2019). For instance, the use of cosmicism is used to convey a sense of dread in The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931) demonstrated the comic to the commonplace; The comic’s components are introduced under the surface to show their capacity. A dispossessed hero who goes by the name Robert Olmstead he was never actually named in the story yet however the name was present in Lovecraft’s story notes (Joshi, 2006), is an extraordinary incredible grandson of Obded Marsh and a Deep One, whom would eventually transform into one of the land and/or water types of “amphibian” whom miscegenation between outsider fish-frogs like he observes in the rotting Massachusetts city of Innsmouth. In ‘the Innsmouth look” is a sign that let them know something is going on in their initial being of place, something that is of a large and significant physiological and mental change that will come and frequent them in essentially everlasting and stay perpetually in their undersea urban communities (Joshi, 2006). This same applies for ‘The Colour out of Space’ and this is when something from above falls down onto their backyard with bright intense colour, that this then is a sign for them to believe it or not. Some characters in the movie believe that this is a seemingly unlucky sign and that they need to leave from there before it is too late too. Despite that, some did not believe in it. They continue to stay in the house they were at yet horrible things continue to happen making it so they can not leave from there any more. Taking a look at all this, the one thing that was common in: The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and “The Colour out of space” is where they dwell in terms of lets say where the aliens used to hide themselves before they decided to make moves and scare people which also then further led to  making people start to lose their mind. The overall concept of aliens is one that can be deemed to be that is unpredictable and unexplainable even with the use of science. A greater audience of people tend to believe in the beings of aliens but many still do not. “The colour out of space” goes as far as showing the audience that at the end of the day it is really up to humans whether they chose to believe such things or not. 

References:

Cosmicism. (2006, April 9). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicism

Lord dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury: Spectral journeys. (2014). Choice Reviews Online, 51(12), 51-6626-51-6626. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-6626

Menegaldo, G. (2019). HP Lovecraft on screen, a challenge for filmmakers (allusions, transpositions, rewritings). Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 7(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/brumal.591Joshi, S. T. (2006). The Cthulhu Mythos. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 97-128.

Joshi, S. T. (2006). The Cthulhu Mythos. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 97-128.

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What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

Philosophy of comicism is a Lovecraft’s fiction provide some contempt for nascent medium. His works often relating to an imaginary world such as mysterious objects, forbidden secrets, adventures desert, the discovery of horrors in a city, metaphases, shocking revelations, dream and reality, alien beings, cosmic monsters, etc (Menegaldo, 2019).

In that cosmic perspective, man has a dire consequence of losing his mind if he fails to get the messages or cannot understand the mysteries of the universe (Menegaldo, 2019) (Joshi, 2006). In Cthulhu Mythos that Lovecraft was the ancient Philistine god Dagon in “Dagon” (1917), it was only in “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926) that the Cthulhu Mythos have come into genuine existence and the four subsidiary icons such as typography, occult love, gods and cosmicism that are conjoined into a coherent whole (Joshi, 2006). “A professor unearths evidence that a race of extraterrestrial entities, led by a creature called Cthulhu, came to earth from the depths of space millions of years ago, building a geometrically bizarre city called R’lyeh” (Joshi, 2006). Lovecraft’s stories up to this point had exemplified as his signature conception with all of the element of cosmicism that is evident only in a small number of tales.

‘The Shadow over Innsmouth” (1931) showed the comic to the mundane; the comic’s elements are presented under the surface to show their power. A bereft protagonist name Robert Olmstead (never named in the story but name in Lovecraft’s story notes) (Joshi, 2006), is a great great grandson of Obded Marsh and a Deep One; he soon will become one of the amphibious monsters whom miscegenation between alien fish-frogs like he witness in the decaying Massachusetts city of Innsmouth. In ‘the Innsmouth look” is a sign the tell them for something is happening in their place, something is big and profound physiological and psychological change that will come and haunt them in virtually immortal and dwell forever in their undersea cities (Joshi, 2006). Same for ‘The Colour out of Space’ when something falls into their backyard with an intense colour that is a sign for them whether they believe or not. Some of the characters in the movie believe that it is an unlucky sign, and they need to get out of there before it is too late, but some people do not believe in it. They keep staying in the house and many horrible happen; they cannot leave that area anymore. One thing in common in ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and “The Colour out of space” is that they have dwell where the alien use to hide there before they haunt and make people lose their mind.

Philosophy of comics is where the existence of two or more galaxies, alien from different galaxies and humans in the earth where we are living now accidentally meet or see extraordinary things happen like alien and they are different from us humans. That aliens come from others galaxies, and they often bring fair to human, and they are something that is unpredictable or cannot explain to the science now and hardy to believe if the sciences do not see it by themselves. Many people believe in these aliens, but many not. “The colour out of space” shows the audience something hard to understand or cannot explain in science and it is up to human whether they believe or not.

“The colour out of space” want to show audience that the aliens is exists and it is a nightmare for human. Seeing how aliens with no form like us, it is basically just a colour harm humans and turn them into a monster like two characters in Gardner family. Everything happen in the movie is a sense of dread that I think everyone who is watching the movie will feel the same fear. The movie leave an no answer questions to everyone who watches it. I feel unsure about what is actually happening and terrified of what is happening in the movie.

Reference:

Omeragić, E. (2016). A Study of Horror Elements in HP Lovecraft’s Short Stories of the Cthulhu Mythos (Doctoral dissertation, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Department of English Language and Literature.).

Menegaldo, G. (2019). HP Lovecraft on screen, a challenge for filmmakers (allusions, transpositions, rewritings). Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 7(1), 55-79.

Joshi, S. T. (2006). The Cthulhu Mythos. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 97-128.

1. Reyes (2014), describes Body Horror as being a “fictional representation of the body exceeding itself or falling apart, either opening up or being altered past the point where it would be recognised by normative understandings of human corporeality.” How do The Colour out of Space and Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth make use of this definition to explore themes of the unknown?

The concept of body horror is closely associated with the horror genre as another way to instil a sense of fear within the viewer. Seeing that the objective of the genre is to accomplish this, it is an effective way of making the viewer feel disgusted. Body horror is a broad term however and can cover a wide variety of different ways that the body can be changed, Reyes (2014, p. 11) describes body horror as being a “fictional representation of the body exceeding itself or falling apart, either opening up or being altered past the point where it would be recognised by normative understandings of human corporeality.” This definition relates closely to the cosmic horror genre as it uses imagery and concepts that are incomprehensible to our understanding of human corporeality. Colour Out of Space (Stanley, 2020) uses Reyes’ definition of body horror to explore a key theme in cosmic horror which is the unknown.

Within the Lovecraft mythos, a way in which the unknown is depicted is the presence of extra-terrestrial beings that arrive on earth and begin to influence the world from the shadows, Joshi (2007, p. 99) states that the Lovecraft mythos “depicts the incursion of immensely powerful forces from the depths of space labelled as gods by the human beings who either combat them or seek to gain a sliver of reflected power by worshipping them.” This is where body horror can appear in cosmic horror as these beings have appearances that are incomprehensible to the human mind. Also, as their influence over the world spreads further it can begin to affect people who remain close to them, body horror can take effect when this happens. This is how Colour Out of Space depicts its extra-terrestrial being and uses themes of the unknown as neither we nor the characters in the film can understand what its motivation is, where it came from, why it is here, or what it even is. Body horror also affects the characters in various ways that further explores the themes of the unknown.

As mentioned, body horror covers a lot of different attacks on the body, Reyes (2014, p. 52) mentions that “the general understanding seems to be that, if a text generates fear from abnormal states of corporeality, or from an attack upon the body, we might find ourselves in front of an instance of body horror.” This is certainly true for Colour Out of Space as there is a clear intention to generate fear from the viewer and this fear comes from how the characters are affected. It both scares the viewer and explores the unknown as they are transformed in ways, we cannot comprehend. The most obvious example of body horror is when Theresa and Jack are fused into an amorphous blob that is incomprehensible to our minds, as it is unknown why or how they were morphed together. The same body horror happens with the Llamas and family dog. Another example of body horror is when Ezra’s body seemingly collapses in on itself, presumably because he had been granted some form of insight. In every example of body horror in Colour Out of Space, the characters are transformed beyond human recognition, and by using body horror in this way the film explores the unknown as we cannot understand why or how their bodies have been morphed. It makes the viewer fear the unknown as they cannot understand the body horror nor the being responsible for it.

References

Joshi, S. (2007). The Cthulhu Mythos.

Reyes, X. (2014). Body Gothic: Corporeal Transgression in Contemporary Literature and Horror Film. University of Wales Press.

Stanley, R. (Director). (2020). Colour Out of Space [Film]. SpectreVision.