For Lovecraft, this landscape does not create “a sense of the sublime”, but rather “fails to rouse the concomitant sense of awe in the viewer” (Ralickas, 2007, p. This is perfectly illustrated by ruins or ancient traces of civilization. For the author, anthropocentric thought turns out to be another misconception because on a cosmic scale the human condition is insignificant (Ralickas, 2007). Nevertheless, this does not mean that Lovecraft enhances Romanticism, since he also subverts the notion of humanism. In other words, the unshakeable faith in technology and reason derived from the Enlightenment in the 18th century is presented as a fallacy that has failed to truly represent the world. Ultimately, Lovecraft dismantles the greatest products of Western culture, one of which is scientific positivism. As the plot unfolds, the once thrilling “archaic mystery” loses its spark and “nature” becomes “more and more hideously plain” (Lovecraft, 1985, p.

By juxtaposing the characters’ initial excitement about the natural phenomena and their subsequent repulsion toward the same nature, the author manifests the protagonists’ new awareness of Western values’ inability to depict the world as it is (Ralickas, 2008). This excerpt of the novel explicitly addresses the breaking point of the anthropocentric narrative and represents the essence of Lovecraft’s story. Hence, cosmic horror dismantles an “anthropocentric understanding of the universe.” (McWilliam, 2015, p. The world created by Lovecraft suggests that the belief in the importance of human life is, after all, a convenient excuse for people to feel safe. Therefore, Lovecraftian horror consists of the realization of our insignificance it “lies in our acknowledging that fact” (Miéville, 2005, p. The author presents a negative outlook on the world where not only is science useless, but it is also a threat to the human future because it can reveal our irrelevance on a major scale. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror is “a nihilistic view of the universe that, if accepted, threatens to unravel human epistemology as currently understood.” (McWilliam, 2015, p. Although the latter explores new forms of terror and intrigue narration, Lovecraft is the one who thoroughly analyzes the notion of science fiction horror.

Lovecraft was a well-known American writer whose work was deeply influenced by another author, Edgar Allan Poe.

Baranger at the mountains of madness