Cthulhu's Minions

Book excerpt: Cthulhu's Minions, in this story, are Pilot Demons. They originally came into being in my novel "The Alchemist's Notebook" based on my screenplay for "The Cry of Cthulhu." They are creepy little things that became such great supporting characters (in a terrible sort of way) that I thought that they deserved their own separate story. "Cthulhu's Minions" takes place in an alternate universe somewhat like the 1930's when H.P. Lovecraft was writing his Cthulhu Mythos and writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler were creating the hardboiled mystery drama. Indeed, it is as if we are being treated to a Dashiell Hammett meets H.P. Lovecraft collaboration. The protagonist of the tale is the Detective with No Name. He is a case-hardened police officer that does not believe in things that go bump in the night, until...