SFF

Lovecraft Country

by Matt Ruff
Harper. Jan. 2016. 384p. ISBN 9780062292063. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062292087. HORROR
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African American Korean War veteran Atticus Turner's car breaks down at the start of this novel set in the 1950s, leading to a series of degrading encounters with local bigots. It won't be the last time a character narrowly avoids a lynching in Ruff's novel of linked stories, which follows Atticus, his family, and friends as they tangle with a secret society. The title story involves Atticus, his Uncle George, and his friend Leticia as they travel to the New England town of Ardham (a tip of the hat to H.P. Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham). When they arrive, they find that they were lured there by members of the Order of the Ancient Dawn who need Atticus for a bizarre summoning ritual.
VERDICT These stories are at times genuinely spooky, with cursed dolls, portals to other worlds, and tentacled monsters that reach out of the dark. But the real horror is the reality of life for African Americans in the Jim Crow era of prejudice and injustice. Ruff (Bad Monkeys; The Mirage) has written a horror novel that sparks the imagination while also igniting the reader's empathy.
Reviewed by Megan M. McArdle , Dec 01, 2015
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