The phrase "awful prospect" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation or outcome that is perceived as very unpleasant or undesirable.
Example: "The thought of losing my job was an awful prospect that kept me awake at night."
Alternatives: "dismal outlook" or "grim possibility".
Perhaps he was contemplating the awful prospect of yet another defeat by his tormentor.
All of which is an awful prospect for the long-suffering Greek people who would see their savings shrink.
Don't let the awful prospect of a threesome with Crosby put you off – he sings Triad gently and beautifully.
The awful prospect loomed that a popular prime minister might impart some of his popularity to his party and its allies, depriving the opposition of a chance at power for years to come.
The awful prospect of missing out on a chunk of our huge investment in rebuilding Iraq made them eager to consider forgiving billions in odious loans they had happily extended to Saddam's tyranny.
Today, the people here face a pretty awful prospect: by far the largest local employer is the public sector, and the austerity to come threatens a public-services body blow to follow all that pain in the private realm.
For as bad as life has been under the guerrillas -- and it has been awful -- the prospect of a Colombian military takeover meant the certain arrival of the murderous paramilitary forces.
So awful is the prospect of a repeat, so raw are the emotions, so lingering is the dread that it distorts our thinking and warps assessments of what actual threats are out there.
From the beginning, he and Mr. Eisenbach hoped that the production might rise to the level of "pretty good," but they knew that "awful" was always a prospect.
On the contrary, it only demoralised the soldiers, who heard nothing but another terrible threat: new suffering, great dangers, the prospect of an awful death in a vain and useless sacrifice, because no one trusted the outcome of this new butchery".
The prospects are awful when fossil fuel companies play both sides of the fence – oil companies such as Shell and ConocoPhillips have also put money into geoengineering.
