The Monstrosities of the Outer Circle
by Timothy J Jarvis
Towards the end of William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The Hog’, Carnacki explains the motives of the tale’s cosmic horrors to his circle of listeners in the following terms:
The monstrosities of the Outer Circle are malignant towards all that we consider desirable […] They are predatory – as all positive force is predatory. They have desires regarding us which are incredibly more dreadful to our minds when comprehended than an intelligent sheep would consider our desires towards its own carcass.
I wonder why it is so many recent tales of cosmic horror have fallen back on the banal fear of being treated as mere beasts fit for the shambles. Hodgson’s intimation is more dread, more awful.
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I think this may be why Laird Barron’s Outer Entities are so dread and compelling. They may eat us, yes, they may use us to incubate their loathsome broods, but not as means to an end. Theirs is a purposeless malevolence. They’re simply fucking with us.