Lovecraft Country: 10 References To H.P. Lovecraft’s Works Fans Never Noticed

HBO’s Lovecraft Country brims with references to all kinds of books, movies, and historical events, but none are more central than the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The famous – and in many ways infamous – author crafted an entire mythology within sci-fi and horror all on his own. His novels and short stories have since influenced countless movies and television shows, some much less obvious than others.

That being said, Lovecraft himself tarnished his legacy due to the fact that he was a pretty hateful person. Unlike previous adaptations and homages to Lovecraftian stories, Lovecraft, his work, and his beliefs have become part of the foundation of the HBO series. This helped turn the show into both a pulp adventure and a deep, unflinching study of the history of race in America.

10 H.P. Lovecraft Himself

The most significant reference to Lovecraft’s work so far are the ones made the man himself, H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft exists in the world of the show alongside the creatures of his own fiction, and he is constantly a point of reference as the series progresses. From the very first episode, Lovecraft Country confronts the complicated legacy of Lovecraft in both the fictional and real world.

Atticus Freeman finds his works compelling, though his father Montrose rejects it on the basis of Lovecraft’s inveterate racism for more literary examples (like “The Count Of Monte Christo,” which too is routinely referenced in the show). The value of the work – and the author – have become major themes of the series, which is a dilemma that many of Lovecraft’s modern readers can also relate to.

9 H.P. Lovecraft’s Incredibly Vile Poem

H.P. Lovecraft created a complex and compelling mythology, but much of his fiction was rooted in a world view that was deeply racist. This is nowhere more evident than in a vile poem – the title of which will go unmentioned here due to its incredibly racist content and title – from 1912.

The poem is referenced in the first episode as Atticus and his uncle George discuss the merits of Lovecraft. The author’s ingrained racism informed much of his storytelling and their underlying themes. According to author N.K. Jemisin, this bigotry and hatred is central to Lovecraft’s works.

8 Arkham, Massachusetts

Lovecraft Country has a lot of fun with the mythology of Lovecraft’s works, which is is set up in the very first episode in numerous ways. One of them is the town of Arkham. Arkham is the central location of many of Lovecraft’s stories which is not unlike Stephen King’s tendency to locate many of his stories in Derry, Maine.

Atticus initially misreads a map, thinking the place his missing father has gone is ‘Arkham,’ as is written in Lovecraft’s books. It ends up being Ardham, but the place they find is much the same as it is in Lovecraft’s works.

7 H.P. Lovecraft’s Literary Inspirations

H.P. Lovecraft inspired a lot of films and television shows over the years, and he himself was inspired by a lot of authors. Some of his own inspirations got a nod in the second episode.

While at Ardham Lodge, George is gifted with a massive library. George revels in his library and references three authors he found in it: Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson, and Clark Ashton Smith. Hodgson, in particular, played a massive role in the development of Lovecraft. His novel “The House On The Borderland,” also referenced in the show, was particularly impactful on the horror author.

6 Herbert West, Re-Animator

During the reference laden discussion between Atticus and George in episode one, Atticus flips through a collection of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft originally published in 1939 by Arkham House Publishers. He references that the Arkham they’re looking for is the location of a short story by the author. This short story in question is, of course, “Herbert West, Reanimator.”

West is a scientist seeking to bring corpses back to life, in something of an updated version of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” The story served as the basis for the cult classic Re-Animator and its sequels. The original film starring Jeffrey Combs remains one of the best H.P. Lovecraft adaptations out there.

5 The Outsider & Others

The book that Atticus browses in George’s shops is one of the most significant in Lovecraft’s oeuvre. The Outsider And Other Stories contains two other popular Lovecraft stories, “The Call of Cthulhu” (more on that later) and “The Horror at Red Hook.” The book along with many of Lovecraft’s stories had mostly faded into obscurity around the time of his death, though.

The aforementioned Arkham House Publishers salvaged his works and began reprinting it. Lovecraft’s true success came decades later via retrospective analyses and appreciation, though modern readers and scholars have been debating the value of his work due to their racial undertones and Lovecraft’s own terrible beliefs — which is something the show also tackles.

4 The Sons Of Adam

The villains of Lovecraft Country are the Sons of Adam, a secretive cabal of alchemists (and racists) out to obtain the secret of immortality. While the group has no particular antecedent in the works of Lovecraft, the idea behind them does.

His short story “The Alchemist” provides much of the groundwork for the ideas and goals of the Sons of Adam. Samuel Braithwaite’s ambitions in the series mirror those of the short story’s Count Antoine, who tries to find a cure for a curse that kills all the members of his family at the age of 32.

3 Cthulhu

The amazing opening scene of Lovecraft Country provides a thrilling tour through numerous references to sci-fi and fantasy works. Perhaps the most significant in respect to Lovecraft is his most famous monster, Cthulhu. The massive tentacled creature is central to the author’s mythology of the ancient cosmic entities, the Old Ones. Notably, this Old God gets killed via homerun in the show’s pilot episode thanks to none other than legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson.

Cthulu has featured in numerous films, books, and TV series that either directly or indirectly reference Lovecraft. Among them is the original Hellboy movie, a very underrated comic book movie where Cthulhu influenced the design and lore of the ancient being that Rasputin is trying to summon: the Ogdru Jahad.

2 The Necronomicon

Another major piece of Lovecraftian mythology that has featured in numerous films and television shows is the Book of the Dead. Known more broadly as the Necronomicon, this book was referenced in the second episode’s dialogue. Though it’s yet to be discovered and even seen within the show, it will likely play a role at some point.

The Necronomicon has been the subject of many movies and was most famously the catalyst of the Evil Dead films, a timeless horror classic from the ’80s that has since become a pop culture fixture.

1 Shoggoth

Shoggoths make a frightening appearance at the end of the pilot episode and continue to play a role in the following events. In the stories of Lovecraft, Shoggoths are primarily protoplasmic creatures with numerous eyes. The series portrays them more as vampiric creatures that are also very allergic to light.

The Shoggoths debuted in At The Mountains of Madness, a major novel in the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft that has long been the ambition of many filmmakers, most notably Guillermo del Toro, but remains difficult to realize on screen. As of now, the closest there is to a movie of At The Mountains Of Madness is the Alien prequel Prometheus, which was heavily inspired by the Lovecraft classic.

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