Lovecraft Country explores the racism of the United States in the 1950s through the lens of pulp fiction and literature. The central theme of the book is that the horrors described in the books Atticus loves to read are comparable to the treatment of African Americans at the time. For all of the Lovecraftian monsters and the terrifying magic Atticus and his friends face, their lives are threatened just as much by a routine traffic stop or entering the wrong bar. The seamless way in which African Americans adapt to a world of murderous ghosts and blood magic illustrates how their lives are already a complicated attempt to navigate an impossibly dangerous world. Day-to-day life has provided the characters with practice in how to deal with true horror. The horrors of racism are just as threatening as the magical horrors in the book, though they are much more banal, much more insidious, and much more real.

Part of the horrific nature of racism in Lovecraft Country is the banality of the prejudice. Even minor actions can attract violence. Atticus eats a banana and is openly mocked in public. Later, he tries to eat in the wrong restaurant with his fellow African Americans and they are chased out of town by men with guns.