The sensation Lovecraft wants to create in his weird tales is fear, because, as he states in the first sentence to his noteworthy thesis Supernatural Horror in Literature, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” But exciting cosmic fear can be a daunting challenge, since the aim is to maintain some semblance of the unknown whilst throwing open the door to a monstrous horror. Therefore we must judge a weird tale not by the author’s intent, or by the mere mechanics of the plot but by the emotional level which it attains at its least mundane point. We may say, as a general thing, that a weird story whose intent is to teach or produce a social effect, or one in which the horrors are finally explained away by natural means, is not a genuine tale of cosmic fear but it remains a fact that such narratives often possess, in isolated sections, atmospheric touches which fulfil every condition of true supernatural horror‑literature. “Atmosphere is the all‑important thing, for the final criterion of authenticity is not the dovetailing of a plot but the creation of a given sensation.” Lovecraft continues: According to Robert Bloch ( Psycho, “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”), who corresponded with Lovecraft and was a member of the Lovecraft Circle of contemporary writers who borrowed and contributed to what is popularly known as the Cthulhu Mythos, “Gradually built up a rationale for both reality and dreams, nothing less than a history of the universe.” Quite an accomplishment, but more important to Lovecraft was that his pantheon allowed him to create the desired atmosphere in his stories. Lovecraft writes, “The one test of the really weird is simply this–whether or not there be excited in the reader a profound sense of dread, and of contact with unknown spheres and powers a subtle attitude of awed listening, as if for the beating of black wings or the scratching of outside shapes and entities on the known universe’s utmost rim.” To better create this dread and awe, Lovecraft concocted a pantheon of malicious or ambivalent Ancient Ones such as Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, and Nyarlathotep to represent the uncaring cosmos. Well, not alone, precisely, and that is the rub. Lovecraft was an atheist who survived a somewhat tragic childhood, so it may not be surprising that his weird tales, like “Call of Cthulhu,” aim to disturb readers by confronting them with how small, powerless, and alone we are in the universe. No omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent beings that exist apart from the universe, but other-dimensional deities like the Elder Gods and the Great Old Ones. Hybrids abound in cursed places like Innsmouth and Dunwich, while elsewhere stalk witches, at least one vampire ( but possibly more), aliens, primordial survivors, throwbacks, and, for lack of a better term, gods.

The “Dream-Quest” tales overflow with fantastical shamblers, and his earliest published stories, like “Herbert West: Reanimator” and “The Lurking Fear,” are brimming with what could be called man-made monsters. The Lovecraft canon is replete with monsters.

Lovecraft’s “Call of Cthulhu”is a story about a monster and the monstrous.

Warped reality cthulhu