Newly released concept art for Lovecraft Country features an alternate design for the shoggoth monsters that appeared in the series premiere. HBO's sci-fi/horror anthology series is produced by Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff. The series follows in the footsteps of Peele's horror films, featuring Black characters who come up against social and supernatural horrors.
Lovecraft Country follows the journey of Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), and friend Leticia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) as they search for Atticus's missing father (Michael K. Williams) on a road trip through the Deep South in the 1950s. While being forced to contend with Jim Crow laws and pervasive racial violence, the trio also finds themselves being hunted by otherworldly monsters from the Lovecraftian mythos. The series reckons with H.P. Lovecraft's own outspoken racism by drawing a symbolic parallel between the unspeakable horrors he invented and the everyday horrors of a society shaped by racism.
Concept artist Jerad S. Marantz shared images of a slightly different shoggoth from the one we saw in the series. The fleshy, multi-eyed, razor-toothed monster is depicted here with an agonized human face partially visible on its own. In the series premiere, Atticus and party are targeted by the sheriff of a sundown county - somewhere where African-Americans were not permitted outside after dark. When the sun sets, the sheriff is attacked by a shoggoth, and is painfully transformed into one of them in a manner akin to a zombie or vampire. Marantz thought it would have been cool to "see remnants of the original person in there." Though the sheriff-shoggoth in the episode simply looked like its brethren, this version would have distinguished it from the others and borne a reminder of the excruciating transformation in the horrified half-face.
The shoggoth was the first Lovecraftian horror to be depicted in the series. Writing about them in At the Mountains of Madness, Lovecraft described the creatures as amoeba-esque and colossal, though these elements were dropped in Lovecraft Country. Nevertheless, Marantz previously shared concept art showing us a closer look at the shoggoth's final design, and they certainly evoke the uniquely disturbing imaginativeness of Lovecraft's works. By giving the shoggoths of Lovecraft Country a zombie-like infectious ability, the creators cleverly fold in social commentary. In transforming the sheriff, whose gang intends to lynch the heroes, into a literal monster himself, Lovecraft Country equates the mortal threat posed by the two.
The level of creativity and symbolism evident in the shoggoths bodes well for the depictions of Lovecraftian horrors yet to come. With a budget comparable to Game of Thrones, Lovecraft Country will continue to breathe new life into the monsters by bringing form to the unspeakable and adding a new layer of social commentary to their already rich mythos. With the likes of Marantz behind the scenes, fans are sure to be terrified, especially by the heavy-hitters who have been teased.
Source: Jerad S. Marantz/Instagram