COSMIC HORROR - Terrible Writing Advice

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Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

[TerribleWritingAdvice]

Quick note: This video does not require payment to watch. YouTube is just being dumb again.

[brendanwalsh]

The real horror is the friends we made along the way.

[anadice]

These cosmic beings are unknowable and beyond our comprehension, so here's a handy chart detailing their names, what they look like, where they come from, what they can do, and even a family tree.

[patrickhessman]

"Or as I call it, the Not-Necronomicon."

Should have been"Necro-not-micon."

[dexis]

“Love craft light. Now with 30% less racism”

But does it affect the taste?

[abdullamaseeh]

So basically

1) Come up with your own pantheon (distinct from Lovecraft)
2) Don't name them old ones, great old ones, elder ones, etc..
3) Have pantheon be active in the story
4) Be descriptive. Don't be lazy and say "Looking at it would drive you mad!!", or resort to every monster looking like a Shoggoth.
5) Don't copy the Necronomicon
6) Cults should have complex motivations and goals. If they are secretive, it should be properly explained as to how and why they have remained so.
7) Like 6), learn how actual cults work.
8) If your going to blend cosmic horror with fantasy or sci-fi, do it organically. Tone should be consistent.
9) Don't ease the tension by having creatures be too vulnerable.

Please correct me if I missed anything or got something wrong.

[jackpollard]

That ending line really got me.
“Didja know that around 20 to 30 people a year are killed by ants? Isn’t that an interesting statistic, Cthulhu?”

[terhiherukka]

A love triangle?
More like *A lovecraft triangle*
I’ll show myself

[OsmSkylandersCheats]

2:25
“It was a strange, shapeless creature, its colors a mix of pink and orange and brown. Placed randomly around its body were white spikes, clusters of eyes and mouths of various sizes, all of which had sharp white teeth. There didn’t seem to be any limbs. Appendages, perhaps, maybe a tail...was that a head? No, none of the mouths were where they should be.”

[billuraral]

To be fair, the eldricth abominations were pretty killable in the original Lovecraft stories. I mean, thehalf man half- cosmic horror monster guy in "The Dunchwich Horror" was killed by a dog of all things, and the giant, unspeakable monster who'se true form could drive men to insanity... was killed by three university proffesors who were armed with latin books, some elixits and a shotgun.

[AbelDuviant]

I love how you made the one female cultist's robe as little body covering as possible, because that is of course the best way for female cultists to differentiate themselves from the males in their full body cover!

[BirdRaiserE]

I like how everytime JP smiles, the mindflayer face flashes temporarily

[ShidaiTaino]

*phone vibrates*
“Oh it’s an email/text/snap.”
*Checks phone*
“Oh no it’s *better* .”

[soulfestyouactivatedmytrap]

You can say this bloody genre is


...out of this world?

[PlexusCaeruleum]

Here's my Cosmic horror story, it's called the Eldritch horror:
It was so indescribable, that everyone went mad and died.
















The end

[seb]

Too be honest, i would pay good money to see Chtulhu getting punched by a Gundam.

[lauramarschmallow]

But.. but... but what about the love triangle between the elder abomination, the beautiful heroin and her bff sidekick who is secretly in love with her?

[theproplady]

Actually, there were a lot of Lovecraft's stories where the monsters were killable. The Dunwich Horror, the Shunned House, etc. Some monsters even had limitations (such as being unable to endure light, etc.) I think it's ridiculous to shit on a story just because the author gives the humans a fighting chance. Remember the Darkness Induced Audience Apathy trope. If all of your stories end with humanity being destroyed or a man going mad and shitting his pants, they're going to get boring to read really fast.

[iainhansen]

Remember tentacles are the only thing your cosmic god is allowed to use to attack the protagonist. We don’t want to be creative now do we?
Edit: also we need a love triangle

[floydlooney]

Cthulhu can only be defeated by a LOVE TRIANGLE