Lovecraft Country is one of this year’s must-see TV shows, and if you’re still on the fence, or if you have yet to subscribe to HBO, here’s something that might interest you: a free episode. Specifically, the first episode of the series, which can now be watched for free on HBO, HBO Max, and YouTube – right now. So stop whatever you’re doing and check it out. It’s worth it, trust me on this.

Lovecraft Country Episode 1

I’ve seen the first five episodes of Lovecraft Country and can attest to how friggin’ awesome this show is. Adapted from the book by Matt Ruff, this is one of those rare cases where the adaptation is better than the source material, and I don’t think I can hype this series up enough. HBO has decided to be nice and give everyone access to the first episode for free right now – you can watch it above, or on HBO and HBO Max. I’m assuming the thinking is that once you watch this episode you’ll be hooked and immediately want to watch more – and that’s correct.

Created by Misha Green, Lovecraft Country “follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.”

As I wrote in my review:

Loaded with fantastic, genuinely creepy creature effects, and a shocking amount of gore, Lovecraft Country is a horror-lover’s dream come true. And, like the best works of horror, it has something on its mind. It’s never preachy about its content because it doesn’t need to be. Green and her team have crafted a lived-in world that feels real, even as unreal creatures come flying out of the darkness. Part of that realness comes from the fact that the racial hardships the characters are constantly butting up against are, sadly, still fresh. The Lovecraftian monsters of Lovecraft Country may not be real, but the very human monsters, so Lovecraft-like in their racist beliefs, still haunt this country.

The rest of the season will air Sundays on HBO.

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