---
title: "Neural Network Is Frighteningly Good at Drawing Cthulhu"
description: "Users have been able to create some frightening and uncanny images of cosmic horrors and eldritch gods using text-to-image AI."
date: "2021-10-09"
modified: "2021-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Tony Ho Tran"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ttran"
url: "https://futurism.com/neural-network-cthulhu-nightcafe"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Virtual Reality"
tags:
  - "ai"
  - "art"
  - "cthulhu"
  - "spooky"
---

# Neural Network Is Frighteningly Good at Drawing Cthulhu

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/MOSHED-2021-10-9-11-23-23.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: u/Mere-Thoughts via Reddit/Tony Tran\</em\>*

AI-generated images can result in some pretty fantastic creations — but who knew it could create frighteningly uncanny pictures of cosmic horrors?

Users on the subreddit [/r/MediaSynthesis](<https://www.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/>), a community dedicated to synthetic images and art, have been posting a series of Cthulhu and other "cosmic demons" that were created using AI.

Here’s "[Rise of Cthulhu](<https://www.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/comments/q3vpdh/rise_of_cthulhu/>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/5k3vxkvin7s71.jpg>)
*u/Mere-Thoughts via Reddit*

"[Cthulhu’s Garden](<https://www.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/comments/q46tko/since_everybody_is_following_the_call_of_cthulhu/>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/lrwyjekwjas71.jpg>)
*u/w0nk0 via Reddit*

"[Cosmic Demon](<https://www.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/comments/q47f1g/final_version_of_cosmic_demon_500_iterations/>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/rsn5jf2gpas71.png>)
*u/Mere-Thoughts via Reddit*

Some have even gotten political such as "[Trump fights cthulhu](<https://www.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/comments/pc9sw9/trump_fights_cthulhu_pixelart/>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1cNroIh8kDbzf-a68wd90s84iw6Ox0dsHIZLW2K_AbE.png>)
*u/Tannon via Reddit*

Elsewhere, users have even taken everyone’s favorite Elder God to church with "[Cthulhu Mythos at the Last Supper](<https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/dQQcRPpcISkaQq8zUf4q>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/dQQcRPpcISkaQq8zUf4q-1.jpg>)
*@goob via NightCafe*

Many of the images were created using [NightCafe](<https://nightcafe.studio/>), an algorithm that allows you to turn words into AI-generated art. More specifically, the platform leverages a text-to-image art creation algorithm known as VQGAN+CLIP that allows you to transform normal words into surreal images.

Still, it begs the question: Why does AI create such good images of Cthulhu?

Well, it makes sense when you think about it. Lovecraftian monsters are typified by inconceivable colors, surreal visages, and non-Euclidean shapes. It would make sense that a AI and neural networks — which typically comes up with some very trippy images — can create something close to that.

Of course, we wanted to try it out for ourselves. With that, we present the first Futurism original AI art, "[Cthulhu Trick-or-Treating](<https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/xUZjjfV04FzjlDJA4is1>)":

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/xUZjjfV04FzjlDJA4is1.jpg>)

Starting price for the NFT is $1 million (that's how that works, right?).

**More on digital art:** [*Instagram Threatens to Delete Artist's Account for Selling NFTs of Cocaine*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/instagram-nfts-cocaine>)

## Author
Tony Tran is a former reporter for Futurism, and now an editor at the Daily Beast. His work has been seen in Playboy, HuffPost, Narratively, and wherever else fine writing is published. He lives in Chicago where he frequently plans tabletop gaming sessions for his friends.