I have come to really loathe "Pop" Cthulu and "Lovecraft Inspired" works as of late...
A: You don't need tentacles. ...
B: It doesn't need to be apocalyptic or unstoppable. ...
C: Sanity loss elements have to be used sparingly. ...
You probably need to take a Lovecraft Inspired break. :-)
A: Tentacles are used to invoke "strangeness". My friends who dive in the Puget Sound often describe the world under the waves as alien. Sea creatures of all strange shapes and sizes have been used to convey the alien landscape of the ocean. You don't
need them per se, but they are likely drawn on to get a feeling across quickly. I agree that any element used to often becomes overdone. It might be fun to see the next cool horror creator draw on something else for their alien inspiration.
B: This really steers the horror away from Lovecraft. The Elder Gods, et al are supposed to see us as fungus or insects. It draws strongly on the helpless factor of horror. Not saying that other horrors aren't terrifying, just that Lovecraft horror has that backdrop. One thing I believe creators focus too much on is an
immediately impending apocalypse, which pulls you out of the slow foreboding into the "disaster" part. I don't believe this is a good representation of Lovecraft. The apocalypse is coming, but not on your time schedule. You don't know. You're not supposed to know. I believe creators jump on that as a catharsis of sorts. Creating the sandbox to play in as a protest to the foreboding horror of the suggested apocalypse. "In your face Lovecraft!"
C: Totally agree. In an RPG it's probably better to demonstrate than inflict more often than not. However, Mental Illness, and the helplessness it invokes, is a strong horror element of Lovecraft's time. Even today, modern media portrays the loss of sanity in a dark light. In the US, our mental health policies are abysmal to non-existent. We treat mental health patients like 3rd class wards. It's an adjunct to body-horror --- mind-horror. The fear of losing oneself. Alzheimer's is a slow painful progression for example; one many of us fear. These themes are horrifying in their own right, and the fact that Things Man Was Not Meant to Know can rip your sanity away, just increases that dread.
Good thoughts! Good discussion. I think you want Lovecraft-adjacent horror more so than full Lovecraft horror. And that's cool.