"Time to cancel my subscription": HBO Max cancels Lovecraft Country after just one season, and fans are livid

The Lovecraft Country poster (Image via HBO/Warner Bros)

"Lovecraft Country," the Golden Globes nominated popular horror drama, will not be renewed by HBO for a second season. The show was taken from the 2016 novel of the same name by author Matt Ruff.

The news of the show being canceled is unexpected, considering Lovecraft Country's critical reception. The first season of the hit show has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%.

As per to The Hollywood Reporter, the series premiered on August 16th, 2020, and was watched by over 760,000 viewers. Viewership rose to 1.4 million from streaming and replays.

Furthermore, Variety reported that the Season 1 finale of Lovecraft Country had more than 881,000 viewers, which rose to 1.5 million with streaming. The show also had well-known producers like Jordan Peele (director and writer of "Get Out") and J.J. Abrams (director of "Star Trek," 2009).

Misha Green, the creator of the the hit series, confirmed on Twitter that the show was getting axed by HBO. She shared a sweet message thanking fans and sharing a snippet of what could have been Season 2 of the series.

While no specific details are known about the reasons for the cancelation, speculation has been made that the show's budget could have been a factor.

The exact budget is unknown, but series creator Misha Green, during HBO's virtual Lovecraft Country panel at the CTAM (and Television Critics Association) Press Tour, said:

"I think one episode of this show was (as expensive as) maybe five of Underground."

She added:

"The playground you can play in is incredible. Our production designer said we had 162 sets. The VFX houses we've been working with, the makeup special effects places we've been working with — they're some of the biggest. They make 'Star Wars' movies. There are no limits other than my imagination, which is fantastic."

Lovecraft Country dealt with the journey of Atticus Freeman (played by Jonathan Majors). Freeman was accompanied by his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George to go on a road trip through 1950s America searching for his missing father.

The group had to deal with terrifying monsters and racism throughout their journey.

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Fans are not happy with news of Lovecraft Country being canceled

Several dejected fans tweeted their disapproval at HBO for canceling the show. Some fans even threatened to boycott the network.

The racially charged series won several accolades, including "TV Program of the Year" at the AFI Awards, "Best Horror Series" at the Critics Choice Awards 2021, and more. Furthermore, the series also received a "Golden Globes" nomination for best drama (2021).