Lovecraft Country

If you’ve caught any of HBO’s newest Sunday night series, Lovecraft Country, please let me know — because I have a lot of questions!

In all seriousness though, I actually stumbled on the crew setting the scene in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in the summer of 2018. Driving on Ashland a collection of cars from the ‘50s parked along 18th street caught my eye. I pulled over for a closer look and learned the set was part of a Pilot for HBO produced in part by Jordan Peele. It was exciting eye candy and I couldn’t help but snaps a few photos on my iPhone.

The architecture along 18th Street is dense, varied, vibrant and packed with colorful embellishments, ornate cornices, projecting bays, and impressive brickwork! Many of the buildings are inspired by Baroque architecture, a style carried over from Europe by Bohemian immigrants. Scattered around the neighborhood are many structures built between the 1870s and 1910. It’s no surprise to see Pilsen play backdrop in Lovecraft Country, which is set in "Chicago, 1954” according to the novel by Matt Ruff.

While the HBO show takes place on a road trip across the country basically, Lovecraft Country was actually only filmed in two states — Illinois and Georgia. It’s been fun watching and trying to identify our city’s unqiue locations, like the L&L Tavern (3207 N. Clark St) in Lakeview, the L track at Clark & Roscoe, and W Jackson Boulevard Historic District. …Come to think of it, maybe my fixation on identifying the where is why I’ve had a hard time following the story? You tell me!

I actually ran into the cast and crew a second time months later in the fall, on West Jackson Street, while out on a walk with Sully.

And, again, no surprise there. This rare remaining block of West Jackson Blvd date back to the 1870s. The area was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1976, basically to help save it from demolition, and thank god because it’s so special! The little historic touches, like the Victorian street lights and limestone carriage stones displayed out front of several row homes, make the biggest impact as you walk by. In 1978 the Jackson Blvd Landmark District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.