What's so great about Cthulhu?

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I don't wish to cause offence to anyone who's like really into the Cthulhu mythos for whatever reason. I'm not trying to be confrontational I'm just struggling to understand.

I know the internet has a thing for overusing science-fiction references, particularly those from sci-fi horror, but I can't understand why the idea of Cthulhu is as revered as it is, because from where I stand there's nothing particularly special about it.

As I understand it (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Cthulhu is basically a Dragon crossed with a Kraken, two mythological creatures that had already been thought of long before Mr Lovecraft came along, with the trappings of a distant, all-powerful God entity thrown in, which is an idea that's been around since before the Old Testament. So Cthulhu is nothing more than the bastard love-child already established ideas masquerading as something original, which Lovecraft used to underpin the plot of pretty much everything he ever wrote (seriously "Guy sees Cthulhu/something to do with Cthulhu and goes slightly batty" could be the plot summary of the vast majority of his works) so I don't get why people are so taken by it.

Even letting the 'rip-off' factor slide, why is Cthulhu scary? I've never understood why something so, how do I put it, 'far-fetched', is considered scary. Surely the scariest stories are about things that you interact with all the time, and consider to be comforting or at least benign, turning out to be anything but. For example, your friendly next-door neighbour who you talk to every day turning out to be a child molester, that's scary. A previously obedient and faithful dog suddenly turning on its master and tearing their throat out, that's scary. Something unsavory hiding in your bedroom, the safest and most familiar place you know, that's scary. 'Frankenstein' was scary because for the audience at the time it was considered to be believable. The idea of a huge monster beyond our comprehension that may or may not one day come and eat us all... I'm sorry, but I just can't get engrossed in that idea.

So to anyone who is a big fan of Lovecraft, or just likes the idea of Cthulhu... what am I missing? What is so special about Cthulhu and why are the stories about him considered the benchmark for all sci-fi horror stories.

 

[Garrsus]

the idea of cthulu is that there would be no survival, that's why its scary, just about how it does it, causing mass hysteria etc, originality doesn't always matter, just how it goes about doing it.
and i haven't even read it, just know of him.

 

[KnowYourOnion]

I don't wish to cause offence to anyone who's like really into the Cthulhu mythos for whatever reason. I'm not trying to be confrontational I'm just struggling to understand.

I know the internet has a thing for overusing science-fiction references, particularly those from sci-fi horror, but I can't understand why the idea of Cthulhu is as revered as it is, because from where I stand there's nothing particularly special about it.

As I understand it (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Cthulhu is basically a Dragon crossed with a Kraken, two mythological creatures that had already been thought of long before Mr Lovecraft came along, with the trappings of a distant, all-powerful God entity thrown in, which is an idea that's been around since before the Old Testament. So Cthulhu is nothing more than the bastard love-child already established ideas masquerading as something original, which Lovecraft used to underpin the plot of pretty much everything he ever wrote (seriously "Guy sees Cthulhu/something to do with Cthulhu and goes slightly batty" could be the plot summary of the vast majority of his works) so I don't get why people are so taken by it.

Even letting the 'rip-off' factor slide, why is Cthulhu scary? I've never understood why something so, how do I put it, 'far-fetched', is considered scary. Surely the scariest stories are about things that you interact with all the time, and consider to be comforting or at least benign, turning out to be anything but. For example, your friendly next-door neighbour who you talk to every day turning out to be a child molester, that's scary. A previously obedient and faithful dog suddenly turning on its master and tearing their throat out, that's scary. Something unsavory hiding in your bedroom, the safest and most familiar place you know, that's scary. 'Frankenstein' was scary because for the audience at the time it was considered to be believable. The idea of a huge monster beyond our comprehension that may or may not one day come and eat us all... I'm sorry, but I just can't get engrossed in that idea.

So to anyone who is a big fan of Lovecraft, or just likes the idea of Cthulhu... what am I missing? What is so special about Cthulhu and why are the stories about him considered the benchmark for all sci-fi horror stories.

It's hard to explain, but it just sounds like it isn't your type of horror. The whole context is pretty important though Lovecraft was writing in a time when science was doing incredible things and there was a tangible fear of the unknown.

I suggest you give 'The Color Out of Space' a read, it's Lovecraft at his best and it's not really linked to the Cthulhu mythos. Also the things Lovecraft wrote about were unique at the time, he was the progenitor of modern horror and a lot of authors credit him as the basis for their interest in horror.

Oh and by the way Cthulhu only appeared in one story, in all the rest he's a background character that's referenced in passing. Most of his stories are about the madness but summarise his works as you did is terrifically unfair. Go and buy the Necronomicon Collected Works and the Miscellany of the Macabre and then say they all follow the same pattern.

EDIT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6d_eT5bFh0 that's some chap reading Colour out of space, it's pretty good

 

[Versuvius]

Everything about it. Everything. It was also the first example of horror/sci-fi mix to hit the media as a whole. It was the birth of a whole genre which we take for granted. HP Lovecraft was a fictional pioneer and deserves the respect given to him.

 

[Sewer Rat]

.... Get off the internet... now... Go to a library, pick up a collection of the works of HP Lovecraft, read it, then tell me you don't see how Cthulhu can be considered scary..

 

[Versuvius]

Tangentally, when the At The Mountains of Madness film was put into development hell, i went into nerdrage mode.

 

[Genericjim101]

It's a zeitgeist thing for the most part. Back then the idea of an otherwordly being of which no-one understands or can even comprehend is pretty scary. But in today's narratives it;s kind of commonplace.

Mass Effect's Reapers are a race of Cthulus (Cthuli?)where their whole reputation is their power and mystery. See indoctrination as a parallel for Cthulus maddening presence.

So take a threat of unimaginable power that can send someone insane and the sheer matter of cosmic scale of said threat to get a sense of terror. Works for some XD

 

[Keith Reedy]

I never found Lovecraft scary, madness holds no fear for me I'm not perfectly sane at any rate so eh. And a unfathomable super being is at this point in fiction old hat. Of course I had already know alot about the Chaos gods of warhammer 40k which make Cthulhu look like a scared child.

All that buisness of not being able to control your destiny never really bothered me. I'm gonna do what I'm gonna no reason to sweat of whatever eventual unknown fate I shall have.

 

[dlsevern]

Monsters from an alternate space that would make you go insane just to take a peek at them who's cults and priests attempt to bring them into our world and destroy humankind as we know it. Sounds pretty scary to me.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Everything about it. Everything. It was also the first example of horror/sci-fi mix to hit the media as a whole. It was the birth of a whole genre which we take for granted. HP Lovecraft was a fictional pioneer and deserves the respect given to him.

Pretty much this. He is pretty much the reason we have any good horror as he more or less gave birth to modern horror.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I don't wish to cause offence to anyone who's like really into the Cthulhu mythos for whatever reason. I'm not trying to be confrontational I'm just struggling to understand.

I know the internet has a thing for overusing science-fiction references, particularly those from sci-fi horror, but I can't understand why the idea of Cthulhu is as revered as it is, because from where I stand there's nothing particularly special about it.

As I understand it (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Cthulhu is basically a Dragon crossed with a Kraken, two mythological creatures that had already been thought of long before Mr Lovecraft came along, with the trappings of a distant, all-powerful God entity thrown in, which is an idea that's been around since before the Old Testament. So Cthulhu is nothing more than the bastard love-child already established ideas masquerading as something original, which Lovecraft used to underpin the plot of pretty much everything he ever wrote (seriously "Guy sees Cthulhu/something to do with Cthulhu and goes slightly batty" could be the plot summary of the vast majority of his works) so I don't get why people are so taken by it.

Even letting the 'rip-off' factor slide, why is Cthulhu scary? I've never understood why something so, how do I put it, 'far-fetched', is considered scary. Surely the scariest stories are about things that you interact with all the time, and consider to be comforting or at least benign, turning out to be anything but. For example, your friendly next-door neighbour who you talk to every day turning out to be a child molester, that's scary. A previously obedient and faithful dog suddenly turning on its master and tearing their throat out, that's scary. Something unsavory hiding in your bedroom, the safest and most familiar place you know, that's scary. 'Frankenstein' was scary because for the audience at the time it was considered to be believable. The idea of a huge monster beyond our comprehension that may or may not one day come and eat us all... I'm sorry, but I just can't get engrossed in that idea.

So to anyone who is a big fan of Lovecraft, or just likes the idea of Cthulhu... what am I missing? What is so special about Cthulhu and why are the stories about him considered the benchmark for all sci-fi horror stories.

While having never read Lovecraft, from researching his stories (synopses mind you), the terror comes from the fragility of man's mind. Kind of like the theme behind The Killing Joke is "we're all just one bad day away from insanity", Lovecraft fixated on the tenuousness of sanity in modern mankind. The existence of some kind of extradimensional creature which does not conform to our predisposed ideas of rationality or reason would indeed be a terrifying thing. Also, Cthulu is not the only "God" in the Cthulu Mythos: there's a whole race known as the Elder Gods which seeded humanity on Earth, thus denying the rational explanation of how we came to exist on the planet (again, these stories were written in the 1920s, when people more and more were trying to explain things in purely rational terms.) Perhaps it doesnt sound scary to you, but knowing that the entire world, my whole life, was just some fabrication designed to assuage my mental faculties from finding out the terrifying truth that I am not the master of my destiny....well, there's a reason why the Matrix was so popular, wasnt there?

Well, that was the reason why I liked the Matrix. However, I think the main reason why it was so popular may have a lot more to do with slow mo kung-fu fights...

Maybe I got a bit carried away and slightly missed my own point. I can fully understand why the idea of unknown forces manipulating your life in ways you can't imagine could be scary, or at least intriguing. What I want to know is why the internet has developed such an attachment to the entity of Cthulhu in particular, rather than just the theme of control.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

This video will explain everything

But yeah he is one of Lovecraft?s coolest creations

 

[darthotaku]

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/cc.asp

read the only story to feature Cthulhu in a main role. but more than that, read the rest of the stories. Cthulhu is just the most famous of Lovecraft's creations.

Most people call Stephen King the master of horror, Stephen King says the same thing about Lovecraft.

 

[Keith Reedy]

Everything about it. Everything. It was also the first example of horror/sci-fi mix to hit the media as a whole. It was the birth of a whole genre which we take for granted. HP Lovecraft was a fictional pioneer and deserves the respect given to him.

Pretty much this. He is pretty much the reason we have any good horror as he more or less gave birth to modern horror.

In all honesty thank to my person opinion of horror (I think it on the whole crap but with a few good stories) and what the internet has done to it. I have no respect for Lovecraft. But thats me and I don't have much respect for any writer

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It's less about Cthulu...he's just an Old God, but more about what he represents.

In the Mythos world, we are nothing but ants to numerous races that have lived for thousands of years - and treat us with amusement - sort of like the Greek/Roman Gods, but with no care whether we worship them or not.

Cthulu himself is asleep in R'yleh - and through his dreams, Humanity is rocked with pscyhosis and paranoia. When he wakes up, 90% of Earth will die screaming, the other 10% will live screaming.

And there's nothing we can do to stop it. Absoloutely nothing. Nukes will melt him away for 15 minutes and then he comes back radioactive.

Deep Cosmic Horror - That's what Cthulu is. We are nothing to his majesty and never could be.

 

[SkellgrimOrDave]

I never really enjoy-

I'A DAGON!!

I'A HYDRA!!!

CTHULHU F'TAGN!!!!!!

 

[dlsevern]

I don't wish to cause offence to anyone who's like really into the Cthulhu mythos for whatever reason. I'm not trying to be confrontational I'm just struggling to understand.

I know the internet has a thing for overusing science-fiction references, particularly those from sci-fi horror, but I can't understand why the idea of Cthulhu is as revered as it is, because from where I stand there's nothing particularly special about it.

As I understand it (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Cthulhu is basically a Dragon crossed with a Kraken, two mythological creatures that had already been thought of long before Mr Lovecraft came along, with the trappings of a distant, all-powerful God entity thrown in, which is an idea that's been around since before the Old Testament. So Cthulhu is nothing more than the bastard love-child already established ideas masquerading as something original, which Lovecraft used to underpin the plot of pretty much everything he ever wrote (seriously "Guy sees Cthulhu/something to do with Cthulhu and goes slightly batty" could be the plot summary of the vast majority of his works) so I don't get why people are so taken by it.

Even letting the 'rip-off' factor slide, why is Cthulhu scary? I've never understood why something so, how do I put it, 'far-fetched', is considered scary. Surely the scariest stories are about things that you interact with all the time, and consider to be comforting or at least benign, turning out to be anything but. For example, your friendly next-door neighbour who you talk to every day turning out to be a child molester, that's scary. A previously obedient and faithful dog suddenly turning on its master and tearing their throat out, that's scary. Something unsavory hiding in your bedroom, the safest and most familiar place you know, that's scary. 'Frankenstein' was scary because for the audience at the time it was considered to be believable. The idea of a huge monster beyond our comprehension that may or may not one day come and eat us all... I'm sorry, but I just can't get engrossed in that idea.

So to anyone who is a big fan of Lovecraft, or just likes the idea of Cthulhu... what am I missing? What is so special about Cthulhu and why are the stories about him considered the benchmark for all sci-fi horror stories.

While having never read Lovecraft, from researching his stories (synopses mind you), the terror comes from the fragility of man's mind. Kind of like the theme behind The Killing Joke is "we're all just one bad day away from insanity", Lovecraft fixated on the tenuousness of sanity in modern mankind. The existence of some kind of extradimensional creature which does not conform to our predisposed ideas of rationality or reason would indeed be a terrifying thing. Also, Cthulu is not the only "God" in the Cthulu Mythos: there's a whole race known as the Elder Gods which seeded humanity on Earth, thus denying the rational explanation of how we came to exist on the planet (again, these stories were written in the 1920s, when people more and more were trying to explain things in purely rational terms.) Perhaps it doesnt sound scary to you, but knowing that the entire world, my whole life, was just some fabrication designed to assuage my mental faculties from finding out the terrifying truth that I am not the master of my destiny....well, there's a reason why the Matrix was so popular, wasnt there?

Well, that was the reason why I liked the Matrix. However, I think the main reason why it was so popular may have a lot more to do with slow mo kung-fu fights...

Maybe I got a bit carried away and slightly missed my own point. I can fully understand why the idea of unknown forces manipulating your life in ways you can't imagine could be scary, or at least intriguing. What I want to know is why the internet has developed such an attachment to the entity of Cthulhu in particular, rather than just the theme of control.

The Mythos was the first and the best, Cthulhu just happens to be the most recognized of the Great Old Ones. I suggest you read the Mythos, that is the only way to understand it. If you don't get it after that, well, it's just not your cup of tea I guess.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

This video will explain everything

But yeah he is one of Lovecraft?s coolest creations

That was... um... what did I just watch?!