As soon as a project emblazons the name Lovecraft across it's marketing, there is a mixed reaction among the lifelong horror fans who know what baggage comes with it. Some simply celebrate the work that's seeped into the dark corners of our minds, filling those shadowy spaces with roiling tentacles, clawed hands that seem once human, and glimmering black eyes that shine in clusters like bubbles floating atop a puddle of water. Others are quick to point out the author's blatant racism, which, understandably, ruins any and all work the man did in his lifetime. HBO's Lovecraft Country swims deep and unflinchingly into these murky waters, delivering monstrous entities with a thousand eyes and teeth that leave no man recognizable, and on that same page, puts the viewer on the receiving end of a 1950's world designed to treat black folks as less than human. All at once, a "sundown town" means a region where black men and women can be rightfully hung after dark and a place where, deep in the forests, you may hear a branch snap far above you and a low growl build with anticipation before an unspeakable terror claims your life.
