Lovecraft Country

proper noun

The fictionalized universe populated by the supernatural beings of H.P. Lovecraft's horror fiction and that of other authors inspired by Lovecraft's works, especially the fictionalized version of New England.

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Lovecraft country

  1. horror fictionThe fictionalized universe populated by the supernatural beings of H.P. Lovecraft's horror fiction and that of other authors inspired by Lovecraft's works, especially the fictionalized version of New England.

    2009, Keith Herber, Miskatonic River Press, "New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley", →ISBN An anthology of six scenarios designed for use with the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Set in Lovecraft Country, a fictional area of New England created by horror author H.P. Lovecraft.

    5 more examples

    Ramsay Campbell, who created a version of Lovecraft country in and around Liverpool, and Southern Gothic writer Fred Chappell.

    2013, Charles L. Crow, A Companion to American Gothic, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN

    It also established Miskatonic University and Arkham as key locations in Lovecraft Country

    2014, Paul Roland, The Curious Case of H.P. Lovecraft, Plexus Publishing, →ISBN

    Very early, he started to create Lovecraft country; a geography of terror that came to include “witch-haunted Arkham” and “shadowed Innsmouth," places he describes in such minute detail that ingénues in Lovecraft lore, for almost a century now, have often assumed these places could be located on maps of Massachuesetts and set out in search of them.

    2016, W. Scott Poole, In the Mountains of Madness

    Lovecraft's writing has inspired games as well: a popular role-playing game, The Call of Cthulhu, is set within Lovecraft country, the blend of fictional and real locales, mostly in New England, in which he set his tales.

    2018, H.P. Lovecraft, Leverett Butts, H.P. Lovecraft, page 1

    Horror in Lovecraft Country: 2 Hours of Music for Lovecraftian Gaming

    2019, Graham Plowman, "Horror in Lovecraft Country", ASIN B07X5VPYC6
nounLovecraft Country (uncountable)

alternative Lovecraft country

  1. informaluncountableEerie small town and countryside settings resembling the locales found in H.P. Lovecraft's fictional universe.

    And especially my wife Patricia, who spent weeks tramping with me through Lovecraft country

    1998, Scott Aniolowski, editor, Return to Lovecraft Country, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    When Resnais was on a lecture tour of America in 1972, he was enchanted to find himself deep in Lovecraft country, in gloomy Massachusetts.

    1975 Autumn, Frederick Busi, “Alain Resnais' Stavisky: The Beginning of the End”, in The Massachusetts Review, volume 16, number 4

    Mahnke lives with his family in the historic North Shore area of Boston, the very heart of Lovecraft Country and the epicenter of the Salem witch trials.

    2018, A Mahnke, The World of Lore, Volume 3: Dreadful Places

Origin

From Lovecraft + country. Coined by Keith Herber, later used and popularized by the role-playing games publisher Chaosium.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Lovecraft Country. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lovecraft%20Country

MLA

“Lovecraft Country.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lovecraft%20Country. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lovecraft Country,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lovecraft%20Country.

Source: Lovecraft Country on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.