Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff is a collection of interrelated stories centered around Chicago in the mid 50s. I honestly had no idea of what to expect with Lovecraft Country. It was at least obvious to me that it would have something to do with H.P. Lovecraft and that in turn would suggest a novel of strangeness and eeriness coupled likely along with weird dreamlike hallucinations with a strong dose of some form of prejudice suffered by the protagonists. Well, I wasn’t too far off! I remember watching the first episode of Lovecraft Country a while back, but the episode failed to hold my short attention span to continue through. With the novel, I decided to give it another try. I’m glad to say that it was well worth it.

The initial story with Atticus Turner returning from the war to reunite with his father serves as a introduction to the racism that was happening during the Jim Crow years, especially in the south. Atticus father’s disappearance serves as the backdrop for the rest of the stories to come. A host of characters, all related in some way to Atticus, will each have their own story to tell for their role played in the overall story. While reading the novel, I got the feeling that Lovecraft Country felt more like a horror novel from Stephen King than anything else. The only thing I didn’t really like was the ending set piece. It just felt too easy and a bit cheesy for our cast of protagonists. I expected them to be met with much greater resistance. Regardless of that, Lovecraft Country was a fun and quirky novel to read. Everything from haunted houses, demonic rituals, talking ghosts, dreamlike hallucinations, human transformations and dimension travel is all there. Just what I expected!