It's easy to call Misha Greene the "black J.J. Abrams" or the "female Jordan Peele." But HBO's new "shit-decker show," Lovecraft Country (produced, directed, written, and executive produced by Green), proves that she breaks the mold, with Matt Ruff's 2016 book of the same name about Jim Crow America in the 1950s and the supernatural phenomena lurking beneath the surface. Inspired by the show, it elevates the horror genre in surprising ways, drawing poignant conclusions about the power of perception and flipping the script on H.P. Lovecraft's prolific and racially charged book. Here, Greene talks about creating a real-life monster scarier than any science fiction creature and redefining the center of the universe.

Marie Claire: Where did your love of science fiction and horror begin?

Misha Green: Misha Green: I saw the first "Alien" as a kid. It felt intense, emotional, cool things happened. How can we surpass that one?

MC: Were you a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's work before this project was brought to you? [MG: I was familiar with H.P. I'm not strictly a fan of the horror subgenre, but I can understand why people like it so much. The idea that his brain had created a monstrous, horror-like monster was brilliant. [But for me, I kind of hated it because of his racist past. This is not a piece for me. It was not written for me.

MC: The original book is from the 1950s, but I think it's still relevant in 2020. Did you feel that way?

MG: Matt's (Ruff) book is beautiful. The idea is to reclaim the genre for people that the genre hasn't typically targeted: you watch sci-fi movies and they're set in the future, but there are no people of color in them. All you see are white people oppressed by robots. And I thought, is this really a story about white people being oppressed? Whenever I adapt something, I need a beautiful first jumping off point to a new place. When you make art, you have to make art of its time. Because history repeats itself.

MC: Lately, especially because of (co-executive producer) Jordan Peele, many horror films have become allegories for racism and social issues. Why do you think science fiction and horror have become such popular vehicles for telling such stories? [MG: I think the genre is at its best when it's putting metaphors on top of real, universal things. It happens to women all the time. It happens to people of color all the time. It's experiencing it in a safe space where you feel that the protagonist can win in the end.

MC: The scariest thing about the plot of this show is not the monsters, but the racism. Was that always your intention?

MG: One of the things we wanted to draw into the series (from the book) is that in the first episode, it's a relief when the actual monsters show up. Like the idea of the "town at nightfall," which I first learned about in the book, the monsters are people. And those people and their history are real.

MC: Tell us about the creation of the soundtrack and the spoken word elements.

MG: I feel like people want period music to be sacred. They say it has to be the music of that very period. That's boring. How can we take it to another level? Then I compared Beyoncé's "Lemonade" and "I Am Not Your Negro". Both used narration, which I thought was something that TV shows have yet to do. I like to take big swings in all my projects, both audio and visual, in different categories. Will this work?

MC: It absolutely does. Like the scene in Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow."

MG: "Oh my god. She says bloody shoes in this song. It was made for this moment. Or maybe it was this moment because I've been listening to Cardi B's music all summer. ......

MC: There are many literary influences on this show. Are there any writers who have had a major influence on you as a writer?

MG: My favorite book is "It" by Stephen King. That book has influenced my entire thought process.

MC: You wore all hats on this show. Did you feel any pressure to control the creative process?

MG: Being given all the creative control took the pressure off. In my mind, it was great and all I had to do was communicate it to everyone. I tell the writers' room, I tell the production crew, "If you do it the way I envisioned it, it's going to be the dopest production ever. But if everyone's minds are united, we can make it even better. ... Let's go to the moon and come back." Knowing that someone else won't stomp all over it afterwards gives people the power to make their own voices heard there.

MC: That's a great way to think about it.

MG: I can do it wildly because my imagination is wild, and I can go to HBO and say, "I want to make a big show, I want to make a big show. And they said, "We want to make a big fucking show." And halfway through, I said, "This is a big fucking show. ..." We're going to make The Goonies. We're going to make Indiana Jones adventure episodes. We're going to make a world.

MC: Speaking of "Go Big or Go Home," you directed J.J. Abrams. Were you a fan of "Lost" (which Abrams co-produced)?

MG: I remember reading all the Lost scripts when I was just starting out as a screenwriter, and I think 'Lost' has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately." You know how they say, "If the ending is bad, that's all anyone remembers. But "Lost" changed television; before "Lost" came along, they didn't do flashbacks. I still clearly remember when John Locke came out in his wheelchair. So I feel like that definitely had a big impact [on me]. And even if it didn't work out in the end, you still remember the emotion of that moment.

MC: When you got into the industry, did you want to tell stories that mattered to black people and people of color?

MG: I'm in a place that a lot of white men probably fall into: I just want to tell stories that interest me, about people who look like me. I don't particularly want to "tell stories about people of color." But I'm also thinking, "Why don't I use people of color in the stories I'm writing?"

MC: It just comes naturally.

MG: Yes. In all of the contexts in which we are placed, we are talking from the standpoint that the center of the universe is white people. And I think the only reason the center of the universe is white is because we allow that to be our story. I don't think that is the story of the world at all. I think the story of the world is diverse and includes many voices, including the voices of white men. I just don't think Hollywood is allowing that."

A version of this article appears in the Fall 2020 issue of Marie Claire, on sale September 15.

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