Lovecraft

Hard to describe what lovecraftian means, but here's an example.

I have never had the pleasure of reading any HP Lovecraft books, but his influence is referenced in countless instances of fiction. It's hard to say what's exactly Lovecraftian, but you know it when you see it. Some of the key elements are driving people insane, tentacles, ancient beings, and more tentacles. The prominence of these creatures in popular culture still shocks me when people still don't know what Lovecraft means. Hopefully, if you were unfamiliar with the term before reading this, then you'll now recognize this theme.

Even though I have never read a Lovecraft book, I get excited when a story introduces a Lovecraft element. World of Warcraft has been slowly introducing creatures called "the old gods" that are basically Cthulu and pals. Some of the names are similar too. In vanilla WoW, there is a boss called C'thun which is a clear reference to Cthulu. In the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the master was trying to resurrect the old ones. He even referenced that they are imprisoned under the earth. The flood parasites from Halo could arguably be considered Lovecraftian due to their design. I don't know what it is, but a story just gets cooler for me when they bring these guys up. I think it's because these creatures have the unique characteristic of being the ultimate evil (even more so than the devil in my opinion) and therefore the greatest challenge for a hero to overcome.