In the opening scenes of the movie Aquaman, we are shown his father's apartment. On his coffee table is the H.P. Lovecraft book The Dunwich Horror. The camera comes close - we are meant to read the spine of the book. I was pleased and surprised - the principle of Chekov's Gun means to me that being conspicuously shown that book meant that Lovecraftian elements were forthcoming. Yay!
But no. Aquaman was visually very beautiful and a fine film but there was no Lovecraftian horror I could discern. The closest I can come to understanding a Dunwich Horror reference is that the Lovecraft story describes an extraplanar monster that produces horrific offspring with an inbred hillbilly woman. In Aquaman, radiant Nicole Kidman would have to be the extraplanar monster and the horrific offspring would be the hunky demigod Aquaman. Nah. Aquaman is much more Greek myth than Lovecraft.
So my question - is the Lovecraft reference random, or a reference to things to come (please!), or just letting Chekov down.