Demiurge: The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales of Michael Shea

Shea does something truly extraordinary here - he faithfully recreates the outlines and the emotional impact of Lovecraft's mythos, but sheds the blue-blood New England setting and the upper class, educated white dude protagonists. You wouldn't think that homeless people, prostitutes, drug dealers, and alcoholics would be suitable as Lovecraftian heroes, but Shea makes it seem perfectly natural.

“Copping Squid” is the clear winner of all the stories. Creepy and otherwordly, while grounded and gritty. Loved it.

“Fat Face” is pretty effective too, although the reveal is unsurprising to any savvy mythos reader.

“Nemo Me Impune Lacessit” and “Dagoniad” are campy fun. I feel like Sam Raimi should adapt “Dagoniad” for film - the super gross-out horror melded with silly slapstick is just his thing.

The other stories range from OK to awful. “Under the Shelf” in particular squanders its strong opening in a laughably stupid climax and resolution.

Worth checking out if you're a Lovecraft fan! Though I did notice that my Kindle version had lots of misprints, unfortunately.