10 Cosmic Horror Films To Scare You Into Oblivion

Lovecraft may have had all of New England to play with, but Stephen King has planted his flag firmly in Maine. King was the ‘80s answer to Lovecraft, bringing cosmic horror to the masses by inflicting trippy horrors onto ordinary characters.

The Mist (2007) was adapted from King’s 1980 novella by the same name. It follows a group of people trapped in a supermarket after a deadly mist takes over their small town. Inside the mist lurks a variety of spine-chilling creatures. But, for a while, we don’t see them.

Cosmic horror is all about the unknown, and The Mist ramps up its fear of the unknown by keeping these deadly critters shrouded in fog for the first act of the film. It makes the viewer’s imaginations run wild, wondering what horrific beings could be lurking outside the glass doors of the store.

But, even more impressively, when the monsters are finally shown, they are as scary as anything our minds could’ve conjured. Their designs are based on creatures the viewers will recognise – pterodactyls, locusts, squids – however, they are warped, deadly, interdimensional versions of those animals.

In one disgusting moment, Norm (a shop worker) attempts to restart to store’s generator in the basement, but is caught by a gigantic tentacle. As it touches his body, it’s suction cups and barbs rip off his skin, leaving him flayed. This grotesque feature is what keeps the creatures in the realm of the unknown: just when you think your recognise something, it subverts your expectations.

This film also gets 10/10 for its ending… which won’t be discussed here.