This post isn't about William Blake, I'm just being a tease.

There sure are many unspeakable nasties in Mage: the Awakening, isn't there? I just listed the kinds of evil demons/inimical affrons to sanity I could think of.

There's the Abyss which is home to tons of creatures inimical to the world (because they sorta embody that coarse matter/higher world seperation.

There are demonic, evil creatures in the shadow world.

Goetic demons, that embody one's own shortcomings and sins.

The underworld has some unnatural creatures who may have died when the world was torn apart. As such they're neither alive nor dead (nor even undead!)

There are (according to Summoners) stranger spheres beyond ours, from whence weird, alien stuff seeps in.

Oh, and the Lower Depths!

Hot enuff for ya?

That lead me to think a little on the whole Outsider/alien god-monster trope

In NMage, some of the creatures come off as being much of a muchness, really. They are generally cool, but we don't really need all those categories and origins. It is kinda cool, granted, but it is also a bit confusing.

As for the trope itself, I recognize that saying that a creature is from Outside Reality(!) is similar to giving a character a leather jacket and dark sunglasses. You make it more badass, without necessarily adding much of substance.

On the other hand, I am a sucker for it! The idea that the world itself has sprung a leak and stuff's getting in is a pretty powerful one, and trying to think up creatures that are alien can stoke one's creativity.

Often it's a lazy way out though. "Dude, stick some tentacles on it and call it K*glottal stop*hrunga! We're ready to play". It becomes just another dumb monster with vague goals.