Shotguns v Cthulhu: One Small, Valuable Thing

Chad Fifer’s “One Small, Valuable Thing”

With the Stone Skin Press Kickstarter in its climactic days, we’ll be highlighting the contributors and stories behind Shotguns v. Cthulhu, our anthology of action-packed Lovecraftiana.

Desperate alcoholics in love and living the greasy life in Davenport, Iowa target a strange old man for a robbery in Chad Fifer’s “One Small, Valuable Thing.” If only they understood that they were operating under a Lovecraftian ethos, they’d have a sense of the slam-banging catastrophe they’re about to unleash.

Chad Fifer wraps his take on the Mythos under a seamless layer of contemporary hardboiled crime story. His action sequences arrive with the force our anthology concept demands. The story plays with our awareness of its inspiration without having to underline it with a usual litany of direct references. And it finds a straight-faced modern analog to the Lovecraftian fainting spell.

Chad Fifer is one of the minds behind The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (hppodcraft.com). Each week on the show, he and co-host Chris Lackey take a critical and irreverent look at one of Lovecraft’s stories, using atmospheric music and talented guest readers to breathe unnatural life into the work. Chad is also the author of the coming-of-age novel Children in Heat and was the resident humor columnist at criticism magazine The Simon for eight years. He co-wrote animated feature film The Chosen One with Lackey and is currently writing TV scripts for Australian animated comedy God Squad. He lives in L.A.