MONSTER PROBLEMS

In offbeat new series Lovecraft Country, the hero faces racism in America’s south as well as terrifying beasts out for his blood

Travelling through America’s south in the 1950s on a quest to find his missing father, young African-american Atticus Freeman knows he’ll be facing racism at every turn. What he isn’t expecting to come up against are monsters – vast, terrifying creatures that kill on sight.

But that’s precisely what confronts him and his companions – his uncle George and Letitia Lewis, a former civil rights activist – in ten-part fantasy drama Lovecraft Country, which is based on a 2016 novel by Matt Ruff.

‘They are the stuff of people’s nightmares: vampires and vast, multi-eyed, super-charged animals,’ explains Jonathan Majors, the American actor who plays former soldier Atticus. ‘And they appear in our story, right out of the blue.’

It seems as though the creatures could have leapt straight from the horror books of early 20th century writer HP Lovecraft – creator of a genre of fiction known as Lovecraft Country – which Atticus read when he was younger.

At first they’re only in Atticus’s nightmares – in one he’s back fighting in the Korean War when a large flesh-eating octopus arrives on board a spacecraft. But the next time, they’re very real and lurking in woods, as Atticus and the gang attempt to escape from a group of racist, gun-toting police officers, including Sheriff Eustice Hunt. Atticus also experiences racism when riding a bus in episode one, with a lady named Maybelle.

‘Preparing for the scenes with the monsters could be funny – and fascinating,’ says Jonathan, the star of last year’s hit The Last

Black Man In San Francisco. ‘We once watched the special effects team spend an hour working out how to get the spit from one monster absolutely as they wanted it!’

In spite of the danger from human and alien monsters, Atticus presses on. Jonathan says, ‘He has a letter from his father Montrose telling him he is now living in Lovecraft Country, a place in

Massachusetts immediately recognised by sci-fi fiction lover Atticus as the setting for the series of weird fantasy stories by HP Lovecraft.’

More weirdness comes in the form of Christina Braithwaite and her henchman William. She travels by chauffeur-driven Rolls-royce and belongs to a secret order which appears to be looking out for Atticus.

Jurnee Smollett-bell, who plays

Letitia, says, ‘Lovecraft Country is an important piece of drama which, sadly, has current day resonances in American society. The story taps into the racism that our nation was built upon, and this means that we go to some dark places during the series.’