

And there's a good chance that if he's not killed before the Big bad enters, the Big Bad will kill him anyway. Expect the cult's leader to be the secondary villain, and be very charismatic. Their goal is typically to open the door so that the Big Bad can enter. And that's where its agents or worshipers in the mortal realm come into the fray.

note Or it just doesn't care about Earth, in the same way you don't care about any one particular stone in the gravel in your driveway.

As a genre, Cosmic Horror is at the very pessimistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism. This type of fiction doesn't just scare you with big, ugly monsters-though it can certainly have them-it depresses you with the fatalistic implication of being insignificantly powerless before such vast, unknowable and fundamentally alien entities. Lovecraft, pioneer, Trope Maker, and Trope Codifier of the Cosmic Horror Story. The vile essence of an alien disease lurks in the recesses of your own family tree, a genetic time bomb just waiting to go off. Ghosts hover unseen and unheard around you, discerning and mocking your every thought and secret. Parasites and worms slither unseen in whatever food or drink you dare put into your mouth. Demons gibber in the tunnels beneath your feet. Take one step away from the comforts of home, and you will find danger hiding almost anywhere, terror and madness on every nook and corner - dark cults, hideous monstrosities, truths so terrible that none may comprehend them and remain sane.
