Michael Foster-Sanders
editor-in-chief

Throughout history, brilliant works of art were created by people who had damning things about themselves. In this case it’s one of the architects of horror and science fiction author H.P. Lovecraft. 

The author created magnificent tales that had readers imagine themselves in alternate realities where they could fly, fight space monsters or solve mysteries. But the caveat with his brilliance is that he was also a devout racist, and xenophobe.

This is what the foundation of HBO’s new series Lovecraft Country is built on.

Adapted from a novel of the same name by Matt Ruff from 2016, the show blends Jim Crow racism, elements of  horror and fantasy to tell the story of Atticus ‘Tic’ Freeman played by Jonathan Majors

The young adult is a black Korean War veteran who imagines himself as a hero in Lovecraft tales despite Jim Crow’s America reminding him that he will never be equal to a white man even though he fought for his country.

Tic receives a mysterious letter from his father informing him that he has an inheritance in Ardam, Mass.. Tic then goes to his Uncle George to find out answers about this letter and the whereabouts of his father who he has a strained relationship with.     

Uncle George is played by Courtney B. Vance who is a publisher to the ‘The Safe Negro traveling guide’ which helps black people avoid dangerous towns during Jim Crow era America, sundown towns and places where they eat, or if they need assistance.

Rounding out the trio is Leti who is a childhood friend of Tic played by Jurnee Smollett. Down on her luck, she travels back to Chicago at the same time of Tic’s return to search for his father. With no place to go, and a strained relationship with her older siblings, she decides to join Tic and Uncle George on a road trip. They encounter hatred, magic and monsters leaving their outlook on reality shaken to the core.

Lovecraft Country works  because of Lovecraft’s  deep lore and the relationship between the characters that invites the viewer to feel their relationship. 

The father-son relationship between Tic and his Uncle George is beautifully portrayed because George nurtures Tic to dream beyond the horrors that Black people go through on a daily basis. While his father Montrose made him look at the reality of  how white people view a black man,  especially reminding Tic of his favorite author H.P. Lovecraft’s racism with his Poem “On the Creation of Niggers.”

People will learn alot about America’s shameful past with the show, and it’s timely in this volatile environment. When the trio encounters a sheriff  at Sundown Town,’ which reminds them they have eight minutes to get across the city limits line or they could be hanged. The viewer becomes one with Tic while he is behind the wheel  trying not to go over the speed limit with the sheriff in pursuit to pull them over. The pressure that this scene could make a person hyperventilate.

Lovecraft Country has everything going for it that the Emmy committee looks for during awards season.

history, brilliant works of art were created by people who had damning things about themselves. In this case it’s one of the architects of horror and science fiction author H.P. Lovecraft. 

The author created magnificent tales that had readers imagine themselves in alternate realities where they could fly, fight space monsters or solve mysteries. But the caveat with his brilliance is that he was also a devout racist, and xenophobe.

This is what the foundation of HBO’s new series Lovecraft Country is built on.

Adapted from a novel of the same name by Matt Ruff from 2016, the show blends Jim Crow racism, elements of  horror and fantasy to tell the story of Atticus ‘Tic’ Freeman played by Jonathan Majors

The young adult is a black Korean War veteran who imagines himself as a hero in Lovecraft tales despite Jim Crow’s America reminding him that he will never be equal to a white man even though he fought for his country.

Tic receives a mysterious letter from his father informing him that he has an inheritance in Ardam, Mass.. Tic then goes to his Uncle George to find out answers about this letter and the whereabouts of his father who he has a strained relationship with.     

Uncle George is played by Courtney B. Vance who is a publisher to the ‘The Safe Negro traveling guide’ which helps black people avoid dangerous towns during Jim Crow era America, sundown towns and places where they eat, or if they need assistance.

Rounding out the trio is Leti who is a childhood friend of Tic played by Jurnee Smollett. Down on her luck, she travels back to Chicago at the same time of Tic’s return to search for his father. With no place to go, and a strained relationship with her older siblings, she decides to join Tic and Uncle George on a road trip. They encounter hatred, magic and monsters leaving their outlook on reality shaken to the core.

Lovecraft Country works  because of Lovecraft’s  deep lore and the relationship between the characters that invites the viewer to feel their relationship. 

The father-son relationship between Tic and his Uncle George is beautifully portrayed because George nurtures Tic to dream beyond the horrors that Black people go through on a daily basis. While his father Montrose made him look at the reality of  how white people view a black man,  especially reminding Tic of his favorite author H.P. Lovecraft’s racism with his Poem “On the Creation of Niggers.”

People will learn alot about America’s shameful past with the show, and it’s timely in this volatile environment. When the trio encounters a sheriff  at Sundown Town,’ which reminds them they have eight minutes to get across the city limits line or they could be hanged. The viewer becomes one with Tic while he is behind the wheel  trying not to go over the speed limit with the sheriff in pursuit to pull them over. The pressure that this scene could make a person hyperventilate.

Lovecraft Country has everything going for it that the Emmy committee looks for during awards season.