Sr3yas's Reviews > Lovecraft Country

❝ From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.❞
-------- H. P. Lovecraft-------

Do you know what the irony here is?

Despite the supernatural elements like black magic, haunted houses, mysterious coven and nameless realms which populate this tale, the real horrors that haunt these pages are the injustices of Jim Crow era; The blind racism which raged through Uncle Sam like a wildfire consuming lives, proving once again that It's not the ghosts you need to fear, but the man himself.

Oh, one another thing.

H.P. Lovecraft: The man who captivated the imagination of millions of readers with his unsettling mythos and entrancing writings. He was also a racist who never shied away from showing it. The irony here is naming this book after him even though the story hardly has anything to do with Lovecraft or his mythos. I was actually chuckling at the fact that yet another book exists with Lovecraft's name where the heroes are African-Americans.

Lovecraft must be glaring at Matt Ruff from abyss ever since the publication of this book!

(Bonus Irony: Using Lovecraft's own quote as the lead-in to this review. 10 points to me!)

The shadow over Chicago.

The story is set in the mid-50's; We are introduced to an array of characters, notably Atticus Turner, his father Montrose, Monrose's brother George & his family and Letitia & Ruby, two sisters living in Chicago.

The story begins with a road trip to find Atticus's father, who went missing while he was trying to find out about his wife's ancestry. As Atticus, Letitia and George enter an odd locality to find him, they are introduced to unimaginable wonders and *horrors rituals that set off events which put their life and their family's life inside a dark and complex web of power struggles.

(*They can imagine all sorts of horror. They were African-Americans living in the 50's)

Despite being billed as a horror story, this is a surprisingly fun read. The story is episodic in nature, each chapter focusing on one event and a set of interconnected characters, which finally leads to a grand finale.

I loved the structure of the story and the situations presented in it. But the best parts are undoubtedly the excellent characterization of the cast, their rich dialogues and naturalistic portrayal of racism.

This is neither a horror read nor a Lovecraftian one. The story is closer to urban fantasy and adventure genre and it is very very exciting. The characters are very likable (Even our anti-hero is too damn likable) and the stories are filled with memorable moments.

Highly recommended.
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“But you love these stories!” Atticus said. “You love them as much as I do!”

“I do love them,” George agreed. “But stories are like people, Atticus. Loving them doesn’t make them perfect. You try to cherish their virtues and overlook their flaws. The flaws are still there, though.”