'Lovecraft Country' Trailer Goes Full Cthulhu

The final Lovecraft Country trailer is here, and it goes full Cthulhu. Adapted from the novel by Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country blends Lovecraftian horror with 1950s Jim Crow America. Previously trailers for the upcoming HBO series have somewhat downplayed the fact that there are full-blown otherworldly creatures in the show, but this final look does not hold back.

From executive producers Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, and Jordan Peele, here comes Lovecraft Country, a new HBO series that looks like an absolute must-see. The ten-episode series 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."

H.P. Lovecraft is known for his tales of cosmic, unexplainable terror. He's a wildly influential author, with practically every major modern horror writer citing him as an inspiration. But Lovecraft was also extremely racist, even by the standards of the era he lived in. And that's a tough legacy to grapple with. The idea of applying Lovecraft's horrors with the racial horrors of Jim Crow America is a brilliant idea, and every bit of footage released for this show so far has been fantastic.

The ensemble cast includes Jonathan Majors (Da 5 Bloods) as Atticus Black, Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Birds of Prey) as Letitia Dandridge, Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story) as George Black, Wunmi Mosaku (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Ruby Dandridge, Aunjanue Ellis (If Beale Street Could Talk) as Hippolyta Black, Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire) as Montrose Freeman, Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Christina Braithwhite, and Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) as Samuel Braithwhite. Also starring Jamie Harris (Rise of the Planets of Apes) as Eustace Hunt, Jamie Chung (The Gifted) as Ji-Ah, Jordan Patrick Smith as William, Jamie Neumann as Hillary, Erica Tazel as Dora Freeman, and Mac Brandt as Lancaster.

Lovecraft Country comes to HBO August 16.