I read Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft Country back in 2016 (you can read my review here). While I was reading Lovecraft Country, I thought: “This would make a great TV series.” And, lo and behold, four years later we have the HBO series Lovecraft Country. HBO’s advertising of the program says: “Atticus Freeman joins up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.”
After only one episode, it’s hard to form a definitive opinion, but Lovecraft Country follows Matt Ruff’s novel fairly closely. The characters face terrible racist attacks and then contend with horrors beyond their imagination. If the next few episodes follow the novel, more Lovecraftian terrors will emerge to threaten Tic, Letitia, and George. And, I’ll be watching. GRADE: A- (provisional grade)
I didn’t read the novel but enjoyed the first episode of the series. So far so good.
Steve, like you I’m enthusiastic and hopeful about the prospects for LOVECRAFT COUNTRY.
I’d really intended to read the novel but somehow never got to it, and right now I’ve got a stack of library books as high as an elephant’s eye. HBO always brings out the big guns on Sunday nights and, after one episode, this is looking like a worthy successor to their terrific “Perry Mason” reboot.
Michael, I’m considering watching the HBO PERRY MASON based on your comments.
We recorded it and watched it last night. I thought they did a really good job. What I particularly liked was the way they let the story unfold and mostly let you figure things out for yourself without a lot of exposition hitting you over the head. The scariest thing was not the Lovecraftian monsters, but rather the human monsters in Sheriff’s uniforms who were clearly ready and willing to kill black people with impunity. Nice job.
Jeff, you’re right. The horrors of Jim Crowe America rival the Lovecraftian monsters that lurk everywhere in LOVECRAFT COUNTRY.
I loved the novel. I’m seriously considering signing up for HBO just to watch the series.
Jerry, I wish you lived closer to Western NY. I’d invite you to my LOVECRAFT COUNTRY watch party! Plenty of pizza and sangria!
I just couldn’t take the racism. I know that’s the point but I could not bear to watch it. Too bad that I am a coward.
Patti, the racism in LOVECRAFT COUNTRY is extreme. I’m sure some viewers will be turned off.