Lovecraft Meets ‘Watchmen’ in HBO’s 88% RT Sci-Fi Horror Series

Published Sep 13, 2026, 1:58 PM EDT

Julio is a Senior Author for Collider. He studied History and International Relations at university, but found his calling in cultural journalism. When he isn't writing, Julio also teaches English at a nearby school. He has lived in São Paulo most of his life, where he covers CCXP and other big events. Having loved movies, music, and TV from an early age, he prides himself in knowing every minute detail about the things he loves. When he is older, he dreams of owning a movie theater in a small countryside town.

Fans of horror have been treated to some great movies and series recently, but it's still rare to see stories in visual media adapting the works of H.P. Lovecraft. His writings are foundational for anyone who wants to explore the weird and cosmic side of horror, from his short stories to the Cthulhu mythos, but only one series has openly used his work to tell a fresh story: Lovecraft Country. This short-lived HBO series is still one of its best, applying Lovecraftian horror to a story set in the Jim Crow U.S. and tackling issues of race, segregation, and prejudice from a unique perspective. With an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it remains one of television's best takes on Lovecraft and cosmic horror.

What Is 'Lovecraft Country' About?

As a series, there's a level of self-awareness to Lovecraft Country that makes it a little more interesting than other horror stories on TV. H.P. Lovecraft himself exists in this world as one of the favorite authors of the main character, Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), and his uncle, George (Courtney B. Vance), and serves as the lens through which they interpret many weird events that happen throughout the story.

When Atticus returns to Chicago after serving in the Korean War, he finds a letter from his missing father, Montrose (Michael K. Williams), about his family's unknown legacy in Massachusetts. Worried about what might be happening, Atticus and George team up with Atticus's childhood friend, Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett), to make the trip and quickly learn that Montrose's disappearance is connected to a larger conspiracy led by the white supremacist cult Sons of Adam.

What the trio also quickly understands is that monsters and cosmic beings are far from the most dangerous things they might face. As they drive through Lovecraft Country (the name that fans of H.P. Lovecraft use to refer to the fictional and real places in New England, where his stories are set), deeply rooted prejudice among residents proves to be the key to horrors beyond imagination. As weird and monstrous as some of these horrors may appear, they are also, unfortunately, painfully recognizable.

‘Lovecraft Country’ Uses H.P. Lovecraft’s Work to Both Honor and Criticize His Legacy

Image via HBO

As great and influential as H.P. Lovecraft's work is in horror, it's impossible to ignore how his stories often reflect racism and xenophobia. Lovecraft Country doesn't shy away from that, however, and flips the script by making Atticus, a Black man who loves horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, the hero in a story that could very well have been written by Lovecraft himself. What really drives the series' story, however, is how rooted it is in historical events and the real-world issues of racism and segregation. Lovecraft Country doesn't limit itself to H.P. Lovecraft's mythology and acknowledges folklore as a legitimate source of horror as well, balancing folklore and biblical imagery and using this to broaden the scope of how its characters deal with their lives and fears as they are impacted by very real events.

In that regard, Lovecraft Country has plenty in common with another HBO hit that came out only a few months before it: Watchmen. There are no superheroes, of course, but both series understand that speculative fiction is an excellent tool through which to frame harder issues as both absurd and terribly surreal. Lovecraft Country is incredibly hard-hitting when it comes to the story's social and civil rights aspects, making both series almost complementary — or at least a great double feature.

‘Lovecraft Country’ Didn't Have a Chance To Expand Beyond Season 1

As fascinating and terrifying as H.P. Lovecraft's work may be, there are still way too few adaptations in visual media. Lovecraft Country stands out because it engages with Lovecraftian horror while completely recontextualizing it. His most famous ideas are built around the dread of not knowing what's out there beyond our world, and taking that to screens is a challenge in itself given the sheer scale of his stories. Instead, the series uses this to help us to look inside and confront the fears that lie here with us, not in some cosmic realm.

Unfortunately, we will never get to see where Lovecraft Country could have gone after its single 10-episode season. While the show was airing, creator Misha Green was already working on Season 2, but in 2021, the series was abruptly canceled. Green later revealed what the show bible for Season 2 looked like, but, as exciting as it was, it seems now it will never leave the page.

Still, Lovecraft Country is worth watching, even if only for how it approaches Lovecraftian horror as something separate from its creator. It also shoulders the weight of releasing post-Watchmen after mere months, reaffirming that genre storytelling can be timely and relevant while also being authentic. Few works have ever taken Lovecraft's darkest ideas and transformed them into something so thoroughly their own.