"I haven't even gotten to the real strange part."
May 1, 2020 2:10 PM Subscribe
"Lovecraft Country", based on the book by Matt Ruff, and adapted by Misha Green, will premiere on HBO this August.
I've been waiting for this, and from the trailer, it looks like they're doing all of the stories.
posted by gladly at 2:19 PM on May 1, 2020
posted by gladly at 2:19 PM on May 1, 2020
That's excellent news -- looking forward to it!
posted by ourobouros at 2:38 PM on May 1, 2020
posted by ourobouros at 2:38 PM on May 1, 2020
Ruff deserves every success, but can it be as good as the book? Although if it is, wow, because there are some crazy sets & scenes in there.
posted by GuyZero at 2:41 PM on May 1, 2020
posted by GuyZero at 2:41 PM on May 1, 2020
Should be noted that Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams are both producing this series. I'm good with one half of that team, and hoping that the one has more influence than the other.
*looks at Jordan Peele with hope*
posted by Fizz at 2:50 PM on May 1, 2020 [15 favorites]
*looks at Jordan Peele with hope*
posted by Fizz at 2:50 PM on May 1, 2020 [15 favorites]
I thought about making mention of Peele's role as producer here, but he seems to prefer that people focus on the actual showrunner.
posted by Ipsifendus at 2:54 PM on May 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by Ipsifendus at 2:54 PM on May 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
I've never read this book, but I enjoyed Matt's first two books, Fool on the Hill and Sewer Gas & Electric. The trailer looks promising! Wish it weren't till August. That's like five years from now!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:32 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:32 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
hell yes
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:11 PM on May 1, 2020
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:11 PM on May 1, 2020
AAAAAAAAAHHHHH PLEASEDON'TSUCKPLEASEDON'TSUCKPLEASEDON'TSUCK. I am so looking forward to this.
Back before the show was announced, I thought I had read somewhere that the book "Lovecraft Country" originally started life as a bunch of ideas for an anthology series. But now I can't find it so I am wondering if I made that up.
I read the book a few years ago during a phase where I read a bunch of really good new mythos-related stuff that was all by or about Black folks, and it made me hope that H. P. was spinning in his grave about it. (among others, there was "Lovecraft Country", the "Call of Cthulhu" sourcebook "Harlem Unbound", and Victor Lavalle's stunningly good novella that retells "The Horror at Red Hook" with a Black man as the main character, "The Ballad of Black Tom".)
posted by rmd1023 at 4:13 PM on May 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
Back before the show was announced, I thought I had read somewhere that the book "Lovecraft Country" originally started life as a bunch of ideas for an anthology series. But now I can't find it so I am wondering if I made that up.
I read the book a few years ago during a phase where I read a bunch of really good new mythos-related stuff that was all by or about Black folks, and it made me hope that H. P. was spinning in his grave about it. (among others, there was "Lovecraft Country", the "Call of Cthulhu" sourcebook "Harlem Unbound", and Victor Lavalle's stunningly good novella that retells "The Horror at Red Hook" with a Black man as the main character, "The Ballad of Black Tom".)
posted by rmd1023 at 4:13 PM on May 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
I hope it premieres on Lovecraft's 130th birthday - it looks like one of those pointed birthday presents like a scale or hand embroidered sign reading 'STOP BEING RACIST YOU FUCK'
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:37 PM on May 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:37 PM on May 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
I somehow totally missed that this adaptation even existed until a couple of days ago and I'm SO EXCITED.
posted by jameaterblues at 6:11 PM on May 1, 2020
posted by jameaterblues at 6:11 PM on May 1, 2020
The book was a lot of fun, I will be looking forward to this!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:51 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:51 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised that Ruff's 'Bad Monkeys' hasn't been adapted. Lovecraft Country was great, I'm looking forward to seeing it on screen.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:29 PM on May 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:29 PM on May 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
Matt Ruff is such an interesting writer; everything he does is different than everything else.
I'm hoping Abrams' involvement is limited to money or something, rather than oversight.
posted by suelac at 8:05 PM on May 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'm hoping Abrams' involvement is limited to money or something, rather than oversight.
posted by suelac at 8:05 PM on May 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
Seconding that Bad Monkeys really needs to be a film.
Also loved Ruff's early work and am sorta weirded out by his continued inventiveness, and also that it has been clearly successful. Always thought of him as a sort of obscure cult author.
Still pissed at the friend who introduced me to Matt Ruff, because in gratitude I gave him a beautiful, mylar-wrapped first edition of Sewer, Gas, Electric only to spy it kicking around in the filthy, fast-food-package-graveyard back of his car months later.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:43 PM on May 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also loved Ruff's early work and am sorta weirded out by his continued inventiveness, and also that it has been clearly successful. Always thought of him as a sort of obscure cult author.
Still pissed at the friend who introduced me to Matt Ruff, because in gratitude I gave him a beautiful, mylar-wrapped first edition of Sewer, Gas, Electric only to spy it kicking around in the filthy, fast-food-package-graveyard back of his car months later.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:43 PM on May 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
This is awesome!! Matt Ruff is a genius, and I hope the show turns more people on to both him and HPL. Once you honestly admit Lovecraft's failings you can cope with them and see through to his unique visions. If you get interested in his life, it's exciting to read his later letters in which he rejects his earlier right-wing worldview and becomes engaged in radical socialism and social justice. Since he had stopped writing much by then you won't spot those changes in his stories, but it's wild to see old Lovecraft the FDR-crazy leftist denouncing his younger self and work (especially "The Horror at Red Hook"). [Note: He doesn't stop being a self-satisfied white American born in the 1800s, so set your expectations appropriately.]
Another good book with potential for a TV adaptation is Jonathan Howard's Carter and Lovecraft. Emily Lovecraft is a middle-aged black woman who owns a bookshop and wants nothing to do with her crazy distant ancestor, and then a retired cop walks in who says he's the descendant of HPL's not-so-fictional character Randolph Carter, and they're off on a mind-blowing adventure....
The "Dreamlands" stories would make a good setting for a TV show, too. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath was an unpublished novel he wrote for practice, mixing the action of Edgar Rice Burroughs with the style of Lord Dunsany. He wrote some other stories in the same setting ("The Cats of Ulthar" is short and glorious), plus there's an excellent piece of HPL fan-fiction called The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by "Kij" Johnson whose hero is a Dreamlands inhabitant, a college professor from Ulthar who sets off with her cat to seek the legendary waking world, the place from whence came her old friend Randolph Carter....
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2020 [8 favorites]
Another good book with potential for a TV adaptation is Jonathan Howard's Carter and Lovecraft. Emily Lovecraft is a middle-aged black woman who owns a bookshop and wants nothing to do with her crazy distant ancestor, and then a retired cop walks in who says he's the descendant of HPL's not-so-fictional character Randolph Carter, and they're off on a mind-blowing adventure....
The "Dreamlands" stories would make a good setting for a TV show, too. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath was an unpublished novel he wrote for practice, mixing the action of Edgar Rice Burroughs with the style of Lord Dunsany. He wrote some other stories in the same setting ("The Cats of Ulthar" is short and glorious), plus there's an excellent piece of HPL fan-fiction called The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by "Kij" Johnson whose hero is a Dreamlands inhabitant, a college professor from Ulthar who sets off with her cat to seek the legendary waking world, the place from whence came her old friend Randolph Carter....
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2020 [8 favorites]
This looks great! And thirded for a Bad Monkeys movie, though it was being adapted back in 2016 when Marrgot Robbie's production company bought the rights. I wonder if it is still being made or just languishing in development hell.
posted by WhyamIhereagain at 3:49 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by WhyamIhereagain at 3:49 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes! A part of me hopes they will include Bloodborne references, since that is the best thing based on the lovecraftian universe.
posted by Dumsnill at 4:12 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Dumsnill at 4:12 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Never heard of it, but my roommate sent me the trailer early this morning. Made it about 40 seconds in before deciding it looks VERY cool and didn't watch the rest, modern trailers spoil too much. Very excited!
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:45 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:45 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
I thought about making mention of Peele's role as producer here, but he seems to prefer that people focus on the actual showrunner.
Misha Green's involvement gives me hope that the show will be like the books and shift more and more focus to the women in the story as it goes on.
It also gives me hope that one of the women's story arc which could be extremely problematic if not done right will be handled the way it should be.
So looking forward to this!
posted by lord_wolf at 12:06 PM on May 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Misha Green's involvement gives me hope that the show will be like the books and shift more and more focus to the women in the story as it goes on.
It also gives me hope that one of the women's story arc which could be extremely problematic if not done right will be handled the way it should be.
So looking forward to this!
posted by lord_wolf at 12:06 PM on May 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
I am a huge fan of the book, especially the way they made the magic, er Natural Philosophy, kind of vaguely threatening but not really eldritch horror and the real threat was from white people. The subtle way it emphasized the omnipresence of whites by reversing the usual way authors mention race only when the character is non-white and instead having blackness be the norm and specifying when a character is white.
And yes, it was clearly an anthology of short stories turned into a pseudo-novel with a linking story arc. Each character gets a story that focuses on them.
One thing that interests me is that they've turned Caleb into Christina. Given that it's set in the 1950's and a lot of Caleb's hold over the family was due to his white male privilege I'll be interested to see how they work it with a white woman as the primary semi-antagonist. And will there still be a Ruby/Christina romance (with Dell sort of vaguely involved due to Natural Philosophy and her "blow to the head"?)
I've got high hopes for Peele really doing right by the book. He clearly gets horror, and he clearly gets horror as it applies to white supremacy (Get Out was so fucking good), so he's the ideal guy to run the show. Abrams I'm more concerned about.
Either way, I'll be watching at least the first few episodes.
posted by sotonohito at 8:41 AM on May 3, 2020
And yes, it was clearly an anthology of short stories turned into a pseudo-novel with a linking story arc. Each character gets a story that focuses on them.
One thing that interests me is that they've turned Caleb into Christina. Given that it's set in the 1950's and a lot of Caleb's hold over the family was due to his white male privilege I'll be interested to see how they work it with a white woman as the primary semi-antagonist. And will there still be a Ruby/Christina romance (with Dell sort of vaguely involved due to Natural Philosophy and her "blow to the head"?)
I've got high hopes for Peele really doing right by the book. He clearly gets horror, and he clearly gets horror as it applies to white supremacy (Get Out was so fucking good), so he's the ideal guy to run the show. Abrams I'm more concerned about.
Either way, I'll be watching at least the first few episodes.
posted by sotonohito at 8:41 AM on May 3, 2020
lord_wolf Yeah, the whole Ruby/Hillary bit could be really, really, really, badly done in the wrong hands. Peele's involvement makes me hope it'll be done well. And, really, so does Wunmi Mosaku as Ruby, she's a skilled actress and I think she'll be able to help keep it properly centered.
posted by sotonohito at 8:44 AM on May 3, 2020
posted by sotonohito at 8:44 AM on May 3, 2020
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS!
posted by HumanComplex at 10:19 AM on May 4, 2020
posted by HumanComplex at 10:19 AM on May 4, 2020
For those who enjoy anti-racist repudiations of / homages to Lovecraft, be sure to check out The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 1:25 PM on May 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 1:25 PM on May 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
Ooh ooh thanks for reminding me that that exists.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:01 PM on May 16, 2020
posted by aspersioncast at 9:01 PM on May 16, 2020
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