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This paper deals with all five novels from the original Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series. The paper aims to show how and to what extent do the novels from the series belong to the cosmic horror subgenre of horror fiction, which was invented by H. P. Lovecraft. This goal will be achieved by firstly showing Adams’s departures from conventions of science fiction genre to which Adams’s works are traditionally said to belong. The paper then explores and analyses the definition of cosmic horror given by Lovecraft himself and a later theorist. Later, the paper focuses on more specific similarities between the works of two authors, such as similarities in the themes and ideas both writers tackle and the subtle similarities in the literary techniques they use, with emphasis on irony. Lastly, the paper will present the key philosophies which had a tremendous impact on the concept of cosmic horror subgenre itself, as well as Lovecraft’s and Adams’s literary works, namely nihilism and absurdism. The paper highlights the differences between the two authors as well, the main one being their different styles and tone of writing. Adams’s humorous, satirical tone makes it somewhat more difficult to classify Hitchhiker series as a representative of cosmic horror, but the paper will argue that the implications and ideas presented are nevertheless equally dreadful as Lovecraft’s. |
