Streaming columnist NICK OVERALL can’t wait to get into one of the biggest new shows this year – “Lovecraft Country”.

FOXTEL Binge, one of the newest streaming services in Australia, is set to stir up August’s competition with one of the biggest new shows this year: “Lovecraft Country”. 

There’s a good chance the name “Lovecraft” rings a bell, even if you might not be exactly sure why. 

Howard Phillips (HP) Lovecraft, wrote strange and terrifying tales for American pulp science-fiction magazines of the 1920s and ’30s, and was responsible for the wide popularisation of a sub-genre known as “cosmic horror”. 

Unlike the more famous horror tales of the 19th century, which would go on to see names such as Edgar Allen Poe still widely known today, Lovecraft shifted from the psychological and gothic, to the existential and unknown.

He found terror in the idea of humanity’s insignificance when placed in comparison to the universe around us. His stories focused on parallel dimensions, dream worlds, strange cults, alien civilisations and, most notably, god-like creatures from beneath the ocean. 

Most famous of his stories is “The Call of Cthulhu” (try pronouncing that one), which created one of the most influential monsters of all time. Cthulhu is a gigantic, cosmic entity that sleeps at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, that waits to awaken and end the world. Mind you, nice and close to Australia, which is actually one of the major settings of the story. Looks like we’re first on the chopping block. Thanks, Howard.

They are fascinatingly weird and riveting tales. What’s amazing about Lovecraft’s work though is how much of it has slithered into modern popular culture. 

Countless authors and directors have been captivated by his works. Stephen King cites the author as being one of his most prominent influences. King’s widely popular stories like “It” are doused in Lovecraftian inspiration.

Now HBO has produced a new show capitalising on this resurgence of fascination with the author. Here we enter “Lovecraft Country”, based on a 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff.

Rather than adopting the setting of New England, the backdrop of most of Lovecraft’s stories, this new show moves the plot into the deep south of America in the 1950s, aiming to put a modern twist on the source material.

Despite his creativity, the young Lovecraft was viciously racist, with a very open fear of foreigners. Though I personally don’t think this takes away from what the writer has offered fiction and literature, the way his works are examined has changed with a modern perspective.

“Lovecraft Country” looks to be a show that wants to tackle such an examination head on, by weaving together a story of the monsters that lurk within the pages of Lovecraft’s tales, as well as illuminate the terrible racism endured by people living in the era of racial segregation.

The story follows Atticus Black, an African American war veteran and sci-fi enthusiast who must travel across America in search of his missing father. This bold combination of ideas has the potential to offer a unique turn and astute perspective of Lovecraftian horror. The previews have seen it awash with critical praise.

This is personally one of my most anticipated series of the year as a long-time mega fan of Lovecraft’s work who is also confronted by the extremism of some of his attitudes. I think its the most famous of his quotes that illuminates both the psychology of Lovecraft, and what’s found in his writing better than anything else: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

“Lovecraft Country” on Foxtel Group’s Binge.