If you are not into Lovecraftian horrors beyond description, then congratulations, you are likely a fine, well-adjusted, upstanding individual. Here’s a puppy for you! Seriously, you’re probably better off for it. But, if you’re like me (and you know who you are), you are attuned to an entirely different wavelength. One that resides in the shadows. So, for you, with it being spooky season and all, I took it upon myself to bring the mood down and showcase some of the creepiest LEGO Lovecraftian horrors we’ve had the displeasure of summoning. So dim the lights, pour yourself a Moscow Ghoul, and settle in for some existential dread and unspeakable terrors.
We’ll let Shannon Sproule set the mood here with a rather atmospheric piece he calls Meeting by the statue, slurp, slurp, slurp. Already we have more questions than answers and we’ve just gotten started. Esoteric cultists, weird monsters and cosmic horror is going to be a recurring theme here. Shannon surely embodies all of the above with this creation.
Lovecraftian mythos is chock full of hideous malevolent deities called Outer Gods; later renamed as The Great Old Ones by August Derleth and other literary scholars after Lovecraft’s death in 1937. They are generally located in deep space outside of our solar system or even from beyond our known dimensions. Some are specific to the Cthulhu Mythos but others, such as this offering by one of our favorite monster builders Nathan Don sort of fits the description for what an Outer God should be. With four arms, four eyes not necessarily on the face and the ubiquitous tentacles, you have yourselves the makings of true Outer God nightmare fuel.
Imagine you’re just minding your own business one day and suddenly, kablammo, one of these Outer Gods just shows up and destroys the entire Earth. What brought them about, then? Chances are, you, or someone else, wasn’t actually minding your damned business but rather conjuring up some hellish demon with a name like something right out of the IKEA catalog. Their arrival may have also been aided by one of these Servitors of the Outer Gods as built by alex_mocs. Much like Zamfir, this squid-frog’s flute playing conjures up the worst abominations imaginable.
So what’s with this cosmic horror we’ve been going on about, anyway? It’s a subgenre of horror that focuses on the fear of the unknown, human insignificance, and the terrifying vastness of the universe. All of this is at the heart of H.P. Lovecraft’s writing. Human insignificance can be particularly unsettling to those who garner certain religious beliefs that profess man is created in God’s image and the Earth resides at the center of the universe. This Yithian as rendered by Ivan Martynov has opposing thoughts on the matter. Your body and your planet just might be a small cog in it’s plan for universal domination.
No stranger to weirdo Lovecraftian monsters, Ivan comes back with this Star Spawn of Cthulhu. You’ll hear more from that big baddie later. There’s a few things in this world H.P. Lovecraft despised with a passion. Non-white people, for one. Unfortunately, he was a terrible racist, even for 1930’s standards. The other thing he disliked was seafood. This Star Spawn, and much of his work really, reflects this fear of all things lurking in the dark depths of the sea.
Being a fan of Lovecraft’s work, as I am, means somehow reconciling with his racist tendencies. It could be easy to just dismiss him as a bigoted crank but he is also the father of cosmic horror and has profoundly influenced modern literature, film, video games, and boardgames. He didn’t earn a livable wage off his writing in his lifetime, so maybe that helps a bit. But he’s also encouraged other writers and creative types to delve into his mythos to concoct our own versions of what could be. My own contribution and perhaps my reconciliation, spawned in the form of this creation depicting Mangrove Swamp the denizens there are a multicultural, self-sustaining lot tasked with saving the world from certain annihilation in the form of occasional blood sacrifices to a hidden tentacled horror. This time alligators are on the menu. Fear of the murky depths and human insignificance come into play again here.
Tentacled horrors are going to be a common theme here due to Lovecraft’s aforementioned aversion to creatures from the sea. Likely no one demonstrates this squiggyness for tenticular abominations more than Toni A. (Not testicular abominations- damn you, spellcheck!) That would be a Google search I’m gladly willing to forego. But it’s somewhat related as this unspeakable monstrosity gives us an unsettled feeling deep in the nether bits. It’s really uncanny.
You may recall blooming monstrosity that was featured recently from creature builder [VB]. Well, he’s back with Demon King Asmodeus. In VB’s own words; “He giveth true and full answers unto thy demands. He maketh one Invincible. He showeth the place where Treasures lie, and guardeth it.” It also scareth the crap out of me with all that Old English speak.
This wouldn’t be a Lovecraftian creature roundup without an offering or two from Fedde Barendrecht Here’s one of the aforementioned IKEA furniture-sounding baddies Nyarlathotep; known in some circles as The Crawling Chaos. The octopus piece, in many colors, has helped flesh out many a Lovecraftian LEGO creation.
Fedde rounds out our -uh- roundup again with this Abyssal Abhorrence. It is possible he is one of the most prolific builders when it comes to Lovecraftian horrors. I mean, the dude’s online handle is Karf Oolhu. That’s practically Cthulhu. You know whatever this guy builds is gonna be squiggy- but kinda fun.
Speaking of Cthulhu, what exactly are we going on about? I’ve mentioned that word a few times already and to the uninitiated it sounds like a rather violent sneeze. In terms of the Great Old Ones or Outer Gods, Cthulhu is the freakin’ Chairman of the Board. He’s a massive baddy first introduced in Lovecraft’s story The Call of Cthulhu in 1928. He (allegedly) slumbers in the sunken non-euclidian city of R’lyeh deep beneath the Pacific Ocean and has been since aeons before mankind was ever a thing. According to the mythos, cultists believe that should Cthulhu arise, he will destroy the entire planet without giving it a thought. He epitomizes Cosmic Horror; the notion that mankind is insignificant in the whole scope of things. Also, Lovecraft’s disliking of seafood or all things from the sea, really is manifested here. Prolific monster maker Bart De Dobbelaer presents Cthulhu rising from R’lyeh with a foreboding charm only he can pull off. Is that a LEGO city built inside a bottle? Yes, it is!
We can do an entire feature on Bart’s Lovecraftian Horrors alone, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t show you what he calls The Glarburg Horror. Not only does it perfectly reflect Bart’s uncanny style, but it encompasses all of the Lovecraftian lore. Cultists, esoteric rituals, hideous monsters, alien architecture and world-ending dread. It’s all right here!
Getting back to Cthulhu for a moment, he’s the most well-known monster from Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; an entire lore with him at the center of it. Thousands of artists have replicated his horrifying likeness with everything from detailed illustrations, to plush toys to gaming miniatures. There was even a Seuss-like (but not written by Dr. Seuss) children’s adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu. It’s no wonder that multiple LEGO artists have given their own spin to the titular creature. Here’s Carl Merriam’s version that we featured way back in 2013, proving that The Great Old One has seeded a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of fans such as Carl and myself.
By this point, we have established that, not only did H.P. Lovecraft spearhead a timeless genre, but was wracked with intense nightmares and a set of crippling phobias including but not limited to Xenophobia, Astrophobia, Agnostophobia, Enochlophobia, Thalassophobia, Ichthyophobia, and Aquaphobia. There are others. Lots, actually. But the others were not highlighted in this roundup. His writings, admittedly a bit heavy, flowery and antiquated, even for his time, makes clear the unsettled mind he had. Of course, after reading this article, you’ll go your own way but if this was new to you or if it sparked a little bit of interest, then this Top 10 compilation curated by John Bushnell rounds up the best Lovecraft stories better than I can.
I’ll leave you with one last LEGO creation that closely resembles the sum of so many fears but also encompasses beauty and awe. It’s Dagon, the Great Leviathan from The Shadow Over Innsmouth as build by one of our all-time favorite builders Joss Ivanwood.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into the lore and mythos of H.P. Lovecraft’s writing. By this point, it might be too late to join the crowd who clicked on the puppy early in this roundup but if you made this far, you are my kind of weird, my friends. Thanks for reading.