I wanted to like this book more but sadly I just didn't. I was hoping from the premise the book would be smarter than it was. But at best it fell in to entertaining yarn category, not great insightful novel. I also didn't care for the serial short story format.

What I was hoping for was a transcendent mashup of historical Jim Crow racism and the eldritch horrors of Lovecraft fiction. Specifically dwelling on the basic theme of The Other, and fear of the unknown, and dread. With Lovecraft horror monsters as a metaphor for racism. And maybe delving some of Lovecraft's own racism.

What I got instead was a series of connected pulp horror stories. A couple of them are fairly good, I particularly liked Hippolyta Disturbs the Universe. A couple of them are not so good; Dreams of the Which House being particularly thin. As pulp horror goes they're fun enough, a bit retro.

And then the extra twist of the novel, the overlay of Jim Crow racism. I was originally brought in by the concept that one of the protagonists was the author of The Negro Motorist Green Book. Great idea! But the actual characterization of racism was awfully simplistic. Like every county seems to have a crooked sheriff just looking to murder some colored folks. After the third time that plot device it gets a bit thin. It didn't feel right to me, more of a caricature of both racism and of African American culture.

So entertaining enough, but not delivering on what I hoped it would be.