Bonus points if it's so divorced from the spectrum of human perception that it causes permanent insanity, brain damage, or death just by looking at it, and/or distorts reality because it is just that incompatible with the laws of this world. Are the antagonist or its minions indescribable - literally? Lines like ' I cannot find the words to describe the vile thing I saw.' are a hallmark of Cosmic Horror Stories.Are the antagonist or its minions so alien in appearance or mentality that simply being near them or even seeing them is enough to drive a human to madness?.Is the attitude of the antagonist towards humanity disregard, simple pragmatism, or incidental hatred or disgust? (A godlike antagonist that actively hates humanity and its works is more in line with Rage Against the Heavens or God Is Evil.) Does the antagonist have a worldview and motivations that doesn't really seem to take humanity into account? Is it just a predator looking for prey? Is humanity just a means to an end? Are the motivations of the antagonist difficult to explain using human terms?.Bonus points if the Big Bad has no concept of loyalty or if their idea of a reward is to kill their worshippers first - to these beings, the cultists are just Loony Fans who happened to do the right things to attract their attention, and their attention does not take into account voluntary service or any other sort of allegiance. 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. Does the Big Bad have any human worshipers or servants? If the said villain can destroy the world with a mere finger lift, why hasn't it done this already? Odds are it's probably locked away, or locked out.

note This also covers cases of a Greater-Scope Villain, where the Big Bad of the story is human-sized, and his boss, while covered by this point, is also not directly appearing in this story.

Is the antagonist evil or uncaring on a cosmic scale? We're talking a Big Bad who is capable of destroying humanity, planet Earth, the universe, or all three and doing so with very little, if any, preparation and/or intent, and with about as much effort as it takes you to swat a mosquito that's landed on your arm.

If you aren't sure if a work is a Cosmic Horror Story or not, ask yourself these questions: 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.

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