Lovecraft Country
A Novel
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3.9 • 18 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Now an HBO® Series from J.J. Abrams (Executive Producer of Westworld), Misha Green (Creator of Underground) and Jordan Peele (Director of Get Out)
The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.
Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.
At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.
A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism—the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Before you binge-watch Lovecraft Country, which is getting lots of buzz, check out the immersive, terrifying novel it’s based on. Author Matt Ruff takes us on a wild ride through the segregated world of 1950s America, where monsters—both human and phantasmagorical—lurk around every corner. Korean War vet Atticus embarks on a journey to find his missing father, accompanied by his uncle George and his childhood friend Letitia. The trio venture into the deeply racist heart of Massachusetts and straight into the waiting arms of a mysterious cult. Ruff packs his creepy tale with bone-chilling encounters, bloodthirsty demons, and blinding lights. And you definitely don’t have to be a fan of problematic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft to enjoy this dark fantasy. Action-packed and totally mind-bending, Lovecraft Country makes us contemplate how disturbing the existence of otherworldly magic would be—especially in the hands of racists.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This timely rumination on racism in America refracts an African-American family's brush with supernatural horrors through the prism of life in the Jim Crow years of the mid-20th century. The novel's episodic events involve the extended family of Chicagoan Atticus Turner, who are lineal descendants of slaves once owned by the ancestors of New Englander Caleb Braithwhite. As Braithwhite jockeys for ascendancy in the sorcerous Order of the Ancient Dawn, he draws Turner and his family and friends into a variety of intrigues, including the recovery of a book of occult lore, the manipulation of a Jekyll-esque split personality, and encounters with ghosts. Ruff (The Mirage) has an impressive grasp of classic horror themes, but the most unsettling aspects of his novel are the everyday experiences of bigotry that intensify the Turners' encounters with the supernatural. Readers will appreciate the irony of how the Turners' conditioning in enduring racial bias empowers them to master more macabre challenges.
