Do even self-described atheists fear supernatural EVIL ? H.P. Lovecraft , for example ?

I read this story on a Sunday afternoon and I still wonder if H.P. Lovecraft's militant " materialism " ( as expressed in his voluminous letters ) only suppressed a deep FEAR of supernatural evil ? This story could have inspired William Peter Blatty's very Catholic horror novel ( and movie ) titled " The Exorcist " . I see myself as an oh so scientific minded individual influenced in my younger days by Bertrand Russell , Isaac Asimov , Carl Sagan . But my soul remains a Pre-Vatican II Catholic that at times can sniff out Satanic EVIL . Go figure ! Are you really a MATERIALIST if all your life you have the most vivid dreams of COSMIC HORROR and supernatural EVIL ? To be sure , the New Atheism seems to be a fading " movement ". Even Isaac Asimov wondered if God ( if HE exists ) would tolerate WISE GUY irreverence ?