Who are some authors or what are some books that cover the 'cosmic

Ligotti.

Thomas Ligotti basically brought cosmic horror to its logical conclusion. Stories like "the sect of the idiot" and "nethescurial" read like lost Lovecraft masterpieces. Though arguably Ligotti is a much better stylist, since his literary influences aren't horror writers per se but more along the lines of Bruno Schulz and Thomas Bernhard.

Probably, H.P Lovecraft is unique, his terror is unique
But the terror is vast. M.R James is a great writer, Lovecraft appreciated James's work.
And there are the masters of terror.
But Lovecraft is still unique

>>9230144
nethescurial is pretty anti-lovecraftian. he basically takes lovecraft's big tropes and throws them in the blender a bit and spits out the whole 'we're just meat puppets' thing. i'd agree it's the logical conclusion but i don't think it aligns with lovecraft's view of cosmic horror because the horror isn't at all cosmic in so much as it informs all aspects of malignant life.

>>9230169
count magnus is a good proto-lovecraft yarn. james in his own right is unique, i'd say. he has a terse style that i haven't encountered elsewhere and some of his stories are far better than any of lovecraft's. a warning to the curious is excellent.

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I'ma keep on shilling:

If you're looking for malignant antediluvian nightmares nothing really hits the mark like pic related. It's not short, and it's a very difficult read (you might hate it) but the style perfectly complements the subject matter. It's hallucinogenic prose, constantly upending you and defying any attempt to grasp a coherent line of thought, which is good when we're talking about inconceivable cosmic horrors. You can't explain something that's unthinkable, and this is as close as you're going to get to what your brain would feel like if you tried to comprehend Cthulhu, or read the Necronomicon, etc.

Thematically I'd say it's a good match, though if you're looking for stories as in narrratives about humans facing cosmic horrors look elsewhere. This is more like a continental philosopher wrote a dissertation while high on datura.

>>9230141
This.
Also Hodgson.
House on the Borderland is dope.

It's unfortunate that Ligotti so often dominates this topic. He was a great addition to the field, but is hardly its apex or "logical conclusion."

OP, these are some of what you seek:

-Classic-
The Willows or The Wendigo, Algernon Blackwood
Genius Loci, Clark Ashton Smith
The Great God Pan, or The White People, Arthur Machen

-Vintage-
The Circular Valley, Paul Bowles
The Ceremonies, or Black Man with a Horn, T.E.D. Klein
Sticks, Karl Edward Wagner
The Inhabitant of the Lake, Ramsey Campbell

-Contemporary-
The Broadsword, or Hallucigenia, Laird Barron
Practically every story in The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies by John Langan (but especially Technicolor and The Shallow) and North American Lake Monsters, by Nathan Ballingrud (but especially The Monsters of Heaven and The Crevasse)

>>9230094
Clark Ashton Smith. I believe he predates Lovecraft and was influential to him to some degree

>>9231941
>The Willows or The Wendigo, Algernon Blackwood
came to post this. great recs on Klein, KEW, and Ballingrud as well.

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>>9231941
>>9232080
same

>>9232069
They were contemporaries and friends that influenced each other

>>9231941
Just read John Langan's book. I enjoyed it very much. I've read all of Barron's collections and I have to say he's probably the best living horror author. (I know King and Ligotti are still alive but Ligotti barely writes anymore and seems like King is writing crime fiction now).

>>9232522

I thought "Technicolor" was one of most innovative horror stories I've ever read. But then again I'm a sucker for anything metafictional.

I would have agreed with you about Barron right after I tore through his first three collections and The Croning. But then I read Swift to Chase and Xs for Eyes. The former is both a retread and a big step down, IMO, and the latter is just plain silly, bordering on self parody. I think he's been reading to many of his rapturous reviews.

Check out Michael Wehunt's Greener Pastures if you haven't already. Like much of Ballingrud's stuff, a lot of his stories somehow manage to be even more unsettling for their tenderness and humanity.

Two more modern masterpieces I forgot to mention are "7C" by Jason Roberts (winner of the first August Van Zorn prize and originally published in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories) and "each thing I show you is a piece of my death" by Gemma Files and Stephen Barringer (published widely but available for free at the link below). Neither is cosmic, per se, but I think both show the intersectional possibilities weird fiction has opened for the genre.

http://www.apex-magazine.com/each-thing-i-show-you-is-a-piece-of-my-death/

I started a horror general if anyones interested:

>>>9233795

>>9230941
Cheers anon, I'ma read it. Just not till summer probably.

>>9231941
Have you read The Secret of Ventriloquism by Padgett, by any chance? I keep seeing his name brought up as someone influenced heavily by Ligotti

>>9233939

I haven't read the text, but I heard the podcast of it he produced and narrated for Pseudopod. It has a slow burn and unique delayed effect that really sticks with you. Definitely recommended.

http://pseudopod.org/2015/04/09/pseudopod-433-20-simple-steps-to-ventriloquism/

(FWIW, I won't say which, but a piece by me preceded it on Pseudopod by a couple months).

>>9233939
>>9234006

Sorry, I misread your question. I thought you were referring to the title story. That's the only story by Padgett I'm familiar with, but if his others are as good, or nearly so, then that collection would certainly be worth your money.