Was Emmett Till Featured in ‘Lovecraft Country’ Episode 3?

HBO’s Lovecraft Country is a show about horror. Not just the creepy monsters of fiction, but the true evil in our culture, racism. We’ve seen the terror of sundown towns and white supremacist cults, but Lovecraft Country Episode 3 “Holy Ghost” ups the ante on the tragedy by featuring a heartbreaking nod to the life and death of Emmett Till. Yep, you might have easily missed it, but one of Dee’s friends is meant to be Emmett Till. Except rather than focus on Till’s outrageous murder, Lovecraft Countryshows him as a sweet child playing with a ouija board with friends. 

Lovecraft Country Episode 3 “Holy Ghost” follows heroine Leti Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) as she attempts “pioneering.” That is, buying a house in an all-white neighborhood. Immediately she is threatened by heckling yard signs and car horns blaring at all hours. While Leti eventually manages to exorcise the ghost of the house’s previous owner — Hiram Epstein, a follower of the Sons of Adam who conducted vile experiments on Black subjects — one horror can’t be avoided. The real life lynching of Emmett Till.

In August 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy from the South Side of Chicago, traveled to Mississippi to visit relatives. On Sunday, August 24, 1955 he and his friends skipped church to buy candy at Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market. The store was owned by a white couple, Roy and Carolyn Bryant. To this day, we don’t know exactly what took place between Emmett and Carolyn in the store. It is suggested that Emmett whistled at Carolyn as a joke or whistled by accident while trying to form his words. Carolyn, however, took offense.

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till was lynched. The boy was taken from his bed in the middle of the night, tied up, harshly beaten, and eventually shot and thrown in a river. His mutilated remains would be found two days later. His death became a national tragedy, sparking an FBI investigation into the case and galvanizing Civil Rights activists.

So what’s Emmett Till doing in Lovecraft Country??

Lovecraft Country Episode 3 “Holy Ghost” features a scene where Diana “Dee” Freeman (Jada Harris) is playing with a ouija board with friends. One of these friends is a boy named Bobo (Rhyan Hill). He asks the board if he is going to have a good time on his trip, to which the board gives an ominous “NO.”

“Bobo” was Emmett Till’s real-life nickname, but that’s not the only hint we have that this sweet child is meant to be Till. Lovecraft Country takes place in 1955 Chicago. The characters partying at Leti’s big bash are all from the South Side, the neighborhood that Emmett Till grew up in. The episode also takes place in the height of summer, meaning this Bobo’s upcoming trip would likely be happening in August 1955.

What this scene quietly does is remind us of Emmett Till’s humanity. To this day, even his name is synonymous with pain, sorrow, and injustice. The Bobo we meet is still a hopeful boy, excited for adventure, and totally unaware of what’s about to befall him.

Lovecraft Country might be a love letter to pulp fiction, but its bigger mission is shining a spotlight on the horror of racism. Last night’s nod to Emmett Till is doing just that. To call it an Easter egg would be a disservice. It’s a resurrection. A chance to see Till enjoying his life before it was horrifically cut short.

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