R & R in Lovecraft Country Ruth and Rachel

With HBO's new series Lovecraft Country starting on 8/16, Rachel's got a few questions for Ruth:


Who is this guy?
What's his deal?
...and more

We get into our hopes for what we'll see in this first season, just how unspoiled we remain, and a digression on why Ruth can't do zombies but loves ghouls with every fiber of her being.

Read the episode transcript.

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.

... that would be silly.

What would happen if a stranger told you to claim your birthright? In its action and story-packed first episode, Lovecraft Country sets the tone: "this ain't your racist uncle's Lovecraft." We dive into our reactions to the mystery of Atticus's mother, the daylight monster of white supremacy, the fight/chase/terror scene that left us holding our breath, and more.

Things we forgot to mention (vs. things that got cut out when we tried to make our episode a manageable length):


our rating: truly an unknoweable number of tentacles.
the captions are truly wonderful, [gibbering] and [chittering] and [ominous music]

Ruth: Rather than do ads, we're sharing the work of a Black RPG/Horror writer whose work listeners might want to check out. Chris Spivey is the founder of Darker Hue Studios. His best-known project, the award-winning Harlem Unbound has two editions. The first sold-out in print and available as PDF supports the Call of Cthulhu and Trail of Cthulhu systems. The second available now in PDF and for pre-order supports Call of Cthulhu 7th edition and includes 4 new scenarios. You can check out an August 2020 actual-play of "Harlem Hellfighters Never Die"

Read the episode transcript.

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.

Wow, the musical captioning on Episode 2 was a journey. Distressed music? Hard same. Eerie music? Seriously. Tender music? I don't trust this. Ominous music... yeah, told ya.

In this episode of the podcast, we ask "what is up with this village?" "who IS this racist dog lady anyway?" "why did your fantasy film ride into my horror?" and "who is this birthright from anyway?" Why is the spoken-word poem "Whitey's on the Moon" a good choice for a ritual taking place 15 years earlier?

We digress on the weird takes Christianity has on Gensis and whether powerful white men can even imagine the untamed fertility of Eden (strict hierarchies and orderings? everything in its place really?). Pour one out for George, who knows that real power is a thorough knowledge of the bylaws.

Rachel: This week, I need you to know about The Black Guy Who Tips podcast. Rod and Karen are a couple from Charlotte, North Carolina, who host this free comedy podcast with the motto "nothings wrong if it's funny". They are funny, incisive, topical, and all around great people. and they produce a LOT of content, including the best recaps in the game. You can hear their Lovecraft Country recaps on episodes 2162 and 2167. Check the archives for recaps of Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, and subscribe to Premium for even more content, including shows like This Too Much where Rod and bestselling author Bassey Ikpi discuss shows like This Is Us, Atlanta, Insecure; The Nerd Off where a panel of black nerds discuss movies, video games, anime, comic books and more, Spoiled Movie Reviews, reviews where they spoil the movies (and you can check out the old episodes of spoiled movie reviews for free as well!)

You can find The Black Guy Who Tips wherever you listen to podcasts. Go there, hit subscribe, I can’t recommend them enough.

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.

A content note: We discuss the ways the violence represented in these first 3 episodes has not gone away, from sundown towns to rough rides. While viewers will have seen these, not everyone is aware that Emmett Till is represented in the ouiji scene. After talking about the ways the episode identifies him, the next 2-3 minutes touch on the ways in which the level of white supremacy that led two white men to murder him and get away with it persists today. While it is not graphic, some listeners may want to skip forward 3 minutes (to around minute 28:50).

We follow Leti's emotional journey as she tries to bounce back from the trauma of death and resurrection. How can she make a difference in the world? Healing some ghosts is a good start, but it's so much more badass than it sounds.

Links to things referenced in the episode:


Thanks to blackwomeninopera for identifying the wonderful Marian Anderson recording of Schubert's Lieder.
Hawaiian community resists the 30 meter telescope on Mauna Kea. An open letter started by graduate students at institutions affiliated with the telescope, opposing criminalization of protestors and questioning the methods used to build it.


However, we ask whether expedience must come through violation of consent and leverage of apparatuses of state-sanctioned violence. We ask the community to consider whether the future of our field is worth the damage to our relationship with Kānaka Maoli by continuing to criminalize Maunakea protectors on their ancestral land.



Click the orrery symbol at the top of this page to see virtual orrery representing everything's position in the current moment. ... it requires Flash.

Ruth: If you are enjoying this podcast, you probably like horror by black authors. And if you like horror by black authors, you will enjoy Nightlight, a horror fiction podcast. Creepy stories, written by black writers and performed by black actors. Not only can you subscribe to it anywhere you listen to podcasts, you can support it on Patreon, where your money goes to pay the writers and actors and you get bonus interviews with lots of the authors. So don’t just listen, join me in the Nightlight Legion. Learn more at nightlightpod.com or Patreon.com/nightlightpod.

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.

This week's got it all: trust issues, trauma, timed levels, and Tree's Big Adventure. Jurnee Smollett gets yet another acting challenge, just add water. Ruth speculates on the nature of Christina and William's relationship. We shout out shushing kid.

What's going to happen to Ruby next week? Hippolyta is making some choices we support, but we're still worried. And will Tic ever learn to trust Leti? She's already died the once.

Don't miss the post-music stinger, for some thoughts on a classic videogame.

Ruth: This week, I've got a reading recommendation for horror fans looking for another dose of Weird. Victor LaValle's novella, "The Ballad of Black Tom" retells Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" from the perspective of Tommy Tester, an...entertainer… ok, scammer, swindler, con...who gets in over his head on the night of Robert Suydam's infamous party. Your library might have it, or, pick up a copy at some not-Amazon source. The excellent audiobook version is on libro.fm, an Audible alternative which allows you to support your local bookstore while enjoying audiobooks. Listen to LaValle talk about the book and his take on Lovecraftian horror.

(This isn't an ad, but if you do sign up for Libro.fm, see if your favorite local bookstore's site has a referral link. Or find one on a Black-owned bookstore's site, like Loyalty Bookstore, my own bookstore of choice).

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.

A note on content: Episode 5, "Strange Case," contains a graphic sexual assault. We decided to discuss it in the most abstract terms, not to linger over it, and instead to explore some of the themes we saw throughout the character plots in this episode.

This one's tough. We explore themes of embodiedment, monstrosity, control, and the legacy of last week's "History of Violence." Is Ruby hooked to using this as a tool? Is William real at all, or is he 100% Christina's tool now? (also, Ruth was right!) Can Montrose actually find a path toward healing, or is he just too broken?

Ruth: I've previously shared Nightlight, a horror fiction podcast, in our media break. Creepy and unsettling tales from black authors, performed by black actors. Since then, they've dropped another story, "Last Stop on Route Nine" by one of the greats, Tananarive Due. Family memories, unfortunate encounters, and endless fog trouble the characters as they return home for their grandmother's funeral lunch. Not only can you subscribe to the podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts, you can support it on Patreon, where your money goes to pay the writers and actors and you get bonus interviews with lots of the authors. So don't just listen, join me in the Nightlight Legion. Learn more at nightlightpod.com or Patreon.com/nightlightpod.

Intro music from "The Ninth Crewman" by Patrick de Arteaga. Outro music "In the Pines" performed by Micah Tillman.