The success of Lovecraft Country seems all but guaranteed. It’s got the exec-producing chutzpah of Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) and J.J. Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield), the storytelling dexterity of showrunner Misha Green (Underground), and is being brought writhing and shrieking to screens by HBO (Game of Thrones, Westworld), that purveyor of near-transcendent TV. Critics are already declaring it the most unique thing you’ll see in 2020. So, don’t be a Cthulhu: read our guide below and watch Lovecraft Country online for free now.
Premiere episode ‘Sunset’ will be broadcast on the HBO network on August 16 at 9pm ET / PT, with each subsequent one-hour instalment airing every Sunday. It will be made simultaneously available on HBO Max (opens in new tab). Lovecraft Country has a TV-MA rating and has 10 episodes in total.
Based on the Matt Ruff novel of the same name, Lovecraft Country was inspired by the cult Science Fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft, whose uncanny tales, populated by ancient, incomprehensible beings, evoked a mood of cosmic terror and existential dread. And, although the phrase “Lovecraft Country” was coined by his avid devotees – referring to an area of Massachusetts invented through his fiction – neither the book or TV series pays Lovecraft any kind of fan service, given his undeniably racist views.
Instead, the HBO adaptation uses the author’s horror stories to confront a culturally-engrained prejudice, with Lovecraft Country set in 1950s Jim Crow-era America. Korean war veteran Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors from When We Rise) returns to his hometown to find his father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams) has vanished. Joined by his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), and his childhood friend “Leti” (Jurnee Smollett-Bell of True Blood), they depart Chicago on a road-trip across racially-segregated America, where, in addition to recognizably human monsters, they encounter the multidimensional kind too.
An epic, genre-bending journey into the heart of darkness, a story of redemption, and a rich paean to Black culture, Green promises Lovecraft Country will be “unlike anything else on television”. Its male lead Jonathan Majors is equally enigmatic: “All I can say is it’s one hell of a ride!”
On that note, grab a front row seat and prepare to shriek – once your face covering’s in place of course – as we detail how to watch Lovecraft Country online from anywhere in the world.
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Watch Lovecraft Country online from outside your country
If you find yourself out of the country when Lovecraft Country becomes available on HBO Max, you'll be dismayed to discover that WarnerMedia’s streaming service is only available in the United States. Luckily, using a VPN will alter your IP address, allowing you to bypass geo-blocks and enjoy the latest TV shows and blockbusters that would otherwise be regionally restricted.