HBO's Lovecraft Country: A Non-Review

From HBO's Lovecraft Country

I reviewed Matt Ruff's novel Lovecraft Country about a month ago, and I told myself I'd review Misha Green's HBO adaptation once the season was complete.

My analogy of the relation between the book and the show is like the relationship between Bob Dylan’s and Jimi Hendrix’s versions of “All Along the Watchtower.” All the versions are good and technically the latter things are adaptations of the former, but the adaptations in both cases explode the original ideas into higher, mind-bending dimensions. (Misha Green's adaptation plays with this idea in interesting ways that I won't spoil).

I enjoyed the book, but I loved the show. Sometimes the show moved so fast it was hard to keep up, but... I'm not sure the world needs another white dude's opinion. Definitely not about this show.

So, instead, here are some resources from Black academics, creators, and critics that can help to explore the multi-layered dimensions of HBO's Lovecraft Country.

• Since I'm a professor, maybe I should start with the Lovecraft Country Syllabi from the Langston League. This "unapologetically Black" source digs into the historical context, music, art, and literature that animates each episode. Great stuff!
• There's also Lovecraft Country Radio, a podcast with writer and horror enthusiast Ashley C. Ford and Lovecraft Country writer Shannon Houston. Each episode covers an episode of the show, and there are great guests: cast members including Jurnee Smollett, writers including Tananarive Due, and show creator Misha Green. One of my favorite podcasts in the last two months!
• Check out Professor of Philosophy and Africana Studies Laurence Ware's "Lovecraft Country’s Premiere Captured the Horror That Almost Killed My Grandfather: 'Sundown towns' were all too real—and not just in the South." 
• Moving into the Realm of the TV Critics, Tambay Obenson's ‘Lovecraft Country’ Review: HBO Tackles Racism with Confounding Jim Crow-Era, Genre-Bending Drama is a more traditional TV review with plenty of nuance.
• Hannah Giorgis provides a valuable, more critical review with "What Lovecraft Country Gets Wrong About Racial Horror" that contrasts the show with Get Out and other works of racial horror.
• An incisive, insightful critique can be found in Maya Phillips's "The Unintended Racial Horror of ‘Lovecraft Country.'"
• And jumping to the end, check out Charles Pulliam-Moore's detailed review of the season finale.

I'm sure there's a lot of other great stuff out there. Since I didn't have access to a multiverse machine, I couldn't hope to find everything. Please let me know what I missed!

In the meantime, I'll be waiting for HBO's making-of documentary Crafting Lovecraft Country and hoping the horrors of our current age don't prevent the summoning of Season 2!