Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country is a 2016 science-fiction/horror novel by Mark Ruff. The story blends elements of pulp fiction from the mid-20th century, especially as pertains to author H. P. Lovecraft, with the lived experiences of African Americans in the United States during this period. The novel was adapted for television in 2020.

Plot Summary

A young African American named Atticus Turner returns to Chicago in the mid-1950s. Atticus’s Uncle George is the writer of The Safe Negro Travel Guide, a book which helps African Americans remain safe during a time of racial segregation. Atticus reunites with George and they discuss a strange letter from Atticus’s estranged father, Montrose. Montrose claims to have uncovered a secret about their family in Ardham. Atticus’s childhood friend Letitia Dandridge joins them on the journey and her brother Marvin provides directions to Ardham. After a nighttime encounter with the local police, the characters escape and wake up the next day with little memory of the night before. They explore Ardham and find a manor house, where they are welcomed by the butler. They learn about an old family named the Braithwhites who founded a secret occult society named The Adamite Order Of The Ancient Dawn. Various generations of the family have tried to wield magical powers with disastrous results. Atticus knows that his mother’s great-great-great grandmother was Titus Braithwhite’s slave. She escaped while pregnant, making Atticus a direct descendent.

Atticus searches for his father in the village but does not find him. That evening, a meeting of the Order takes place. Atticus interrupts the dinner and demands information about his father. A young man introduces himself as Caleb Braithwhite and offers to take Atticus to Montrose on the condition that Atticus co-operates with Caleb’s father, Samuel Braithwhite. Samuel demands that Atticus take part in a magical ritual and Atticus reluctantly agrees. When Atticus is taken to Montrose, he tries to escape but fails. The next day, Atticus takes part in the ritual but sabotages Samuel’s experiments with the help of Caleb. Samuel and the Order are killed. Atticus and the others escape.

Months later, Letitia uses an unexpected inheritance to buy a house in a white neighborhood. Letitia’s sister Ruby is skeptical, particularly when she learns that the rundown building is haunted by its former owner, Hiram Winthrop. Letitia moves in but Ruby is scared away by the ghost and the harassment by the white neighbors. Atticus learns that Winthrop was a member of the Order and a rival magician to Samuel Braithwhite. Eventually, Letitia makes a deal with Winthrop’s ghost which allows her to live in the house in peace.

Caleb Braithwhite blackmails George and Montrose. He wants them to collect a book once owned by Hiram Winthrop. George and Montrose recruit fellow members of a Freemasons lodge and break into the museum. They secure the book and plan to trick Caleb, but he uncovers their plan. Lancaster, the local police chief and a member of the Order, helps Caleb take the book from George and Montrose.

Hippolyta (Atticus’s aunt and George’s wife) indulges her love of astronomy by visiting a secret observatory built by Hiram Winthrop. She travels to another planet, where she meets a formerly enslaved woman named Ida. Hippolyta eventually returns to Earth, but she is caught in a violent encounter with the police. She flees the murder scene.

Ruby loses her job. She meets Caleb, who offers her a potion which changes her appearance. Ruby wakes up as a white woman, whom she names Hillary. Ruby becomes addicted to life as Hillary and agrees to work for Caleb in exchange for the potion. As he tries to unite the disparate lodges of the Order, Ruby learns that the potion is extracted from a comatose woman in Caleb’s basement. She is unsure whether she can continue to work for him.

Caleb recruits Montrose to find Hiram Winthrop’s son Henry, as well as any books Henry stole. Atticus and Montrose discover that Henry and his family were killed by a racist mob. When Montrose meets their ghosts, Henry recounts the night he was murdered. Montrose recalls the night his father was killed. Montrose decides to hide Winthrop’s books from Caleb.

George and Hippolyta’s son Horace is questioned by Lancaster, who places a spell on him. The spell turns images and toys to life, and they chase Horace through the city. Horace finds a way to tell Ruby about the spell and she calls on Caleb to help him. Caleb plans to kill Lancaster.

Caleb recruits the other characters into his plan against Lancaster, but they resolve to get rid of both, asking Winthrop’s ghost for assistance. Atticus and Caleb go to Lancaster’s country club, where Caleb kills Lancaster. However, Atticus uses magic to reverse Caleb’s protective spells. He places a new spell on Caleb which forbids him to enter certain areas of the country and stops him using magic. In a short epilogue, the characters begin to plan for their futures.