What is Cosmic Horror?

Cosmic horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that dwells on the fear of the things that a human mind cannot comprehend. Cosmic horror is also called Lovecraftian horror as Howard Philip Lovecraft was the founder of this particular cosmic horror genre. Howard Philip Lovecraft mostly concentrated on mythical and supernatural entities or phenomena to create the fear of the incomprehensible. The most famous example of the cosmic horror genre that was created by H.P. Lovecraft is the myth of Cthulu. The cosmic horror genre also contains the element of religion, superstition, and fate. The cosmic horror genre also sheds a light on human psychology, exploring the human mind when it is faced with a phenomenon beyond comprehension.

In most of Lovecraft's stories, the main character finds their way to a strange place they are mostly not welcomed. When the story progresses, the main character experiences a lot of things that cannot be explained. One of Lovecraft's chilling stories called The Music of Erich Zann includes these specific elements. The main character of the story is a broke university student who is forced to live in a strange apartment which is almost abandoned with its empty apartments. The story reaches its climax as the main character's curiosity gradually increases and finds the secret of the mysterious violinist Erich Zann. When the main character first hears the enchanting music coming from the above apartment, he secretly watches Erich Zann while he plays his violin. Even though the main character initially enjoys hearing Erich Zann's music, Zann plays his violin to drown his other gruesome audience, the voices coming from a black void.