FIRST LOOK: Lovecraft Country (TV Series) – HBO Max

I sleep better at night knowing Lovecraft’s cosmic horror is at work somewhere in space and time. Currently, those sprawling, monstrous things that should not be horror are targeting the 50s and some rather despicable racists.

This adaptation of a novel by Matt Ruff has found a home at HBO Max, releasing new episodes every Sunday from August 16 through October 18, 2020. Dare I suggest this could be the perfect lead-in to Halloween 2020?

(we’ve had a historic, horrific year so far)

Lovecraft Country, the new series produced by Jordan Peele and Misha Green, mixes the terrors of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novels with the real-life terrors of racism. In the new HBO series, adapted from Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, Lovecraft’s monsters and ghouls run amok in 1950s Jim Crow America, particularly terrorizing Korean War veteran and sci-fi lover Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his friend Leti Lewis (Jurnee Smollett), and uncle George Freeman (Courtney B. Vance) as they search for Atticus’s missing father.

How to Watch ‘Lovecraft Country’—With or Without a TV

I watched episode 1 and it starts out with a War of the Worlds type moment among a battlefield, then lulls viewers into a 30+ minutes of setup, only to finish with plenty of Lovecraft.

Yes, this will more than fill the Sunday void left by no more Stargirl. If the first episode is indicative of what’s coming every episode of the 10 scheduled for season 1, we’re in for a gritty little country tour. Have to see at least one more episode before committing to review this every week, but I enjoyed the first episode anyway.

Anybody else checked this out yet? What did you think?

Lovecraft Country, Season 1, Episode 1 “Sundown” now available for streaming on HBO Max.