Abstract

Discernment is a central question in Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy and H. P.
Lovecraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” But whereas Otto’s perspective is as a Christian
theologian, Lovecraft is an atheist. Nevertheless, both thinkers define the supernatural as an
encounter with the spectral. Despite their divergent theological assumptions, there is a deep
structural affinity between them. Their convergence is the idea that although our encounter with
the supernatural is horrifying, it is also transformative. This thesis demonstrates that although
Otto is duplicitous about the horrifying nature of the supernatural and its connection to evil,
Lovecraft’s horror fiction – without Otto’s theological restraint – gives full expression to this
realization and its consequences.
The first chapter of this thesis examines how Otto is duplicitous about the horrifying
nature of his numinous and its close association with evil. This is addressed by a close reading of
The Idea of the Holy and analysis of critical works on Otto by Todd A. Gooch, Melissa Raphael,
and Yoshitsugu Sawai. The subsequent chapters of this thesis, through the critical methodology of
Gérard Genette, argue how Lovecraft amplifies Otto’s mysterium horrendum and would define
the numinous through his philosophy of cosmicism by examining S. T. Joshi’s biography on
Lovecraft I Am Providence and some of Lovecraft’s non-fiction and fiction works. This is
supported by citing critical works on Lovecraft by Benjamin E. Zeller, Robert Grant Price,
Giovanni Mariotti, Jack Hunter, Michel Houellebecq, Peter Dendle, and Tracy Bealer.