What do you think?
Rate this book
McHumans
After Cthulhu awakens and destroys civilization as we know it, humans are used as slaves and food by their new slimy, submerged masters. One such young man, Ricky, works at an undersea fast food joint where he's forced to kill and cook other humans for the Deep Ones to eat. But he has a plan. His restaurant caters to the Big Man himself, and if Ricky's plan works, he could pull off the unthinkable:
He could actually Kill Cthulhu.
He could actually Kill Cthulhu.
72 pages, Paperback
First published June 13, 2013
6 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Strange
41 books188 followersKevin Strange is a two time nominee of the Wonderland Book Award for excellence in bizarro fiction, recipient of the 2014 editor's choice award in the Lewis and Clark college literary magazine The Peppermint Rooster Review and his short story THE TWINS was listed on TangentOnline.com's 2015 year end recommended reading list.
He is the author of 18 books, and the writer/director of 7 films. He loves schlocky B-movies, cult fiction and Iron Maiden records.
He is the author of 18 books, and the writer/director of 7 films. He loves schlocky B-movies, cult fiction and Iron Maiden records.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 14, 2025
I...um...uh...yeah...this was...something else. I never liked the Aquaman movies, but if they were more like this, I may have gotten on board. It was just absolute insanity. Like The Little Mermaid met Pacific Rim met Aquaman. Tons of really unique creatures, a ragtag group of human slaves rising up against these aquatic beasts that took over the world, and just tons of vulgarity, gore, and hilarity throughout. And that's what really makes Kevin Strange so enjoyable. He works with what he's got, not aspiring to be anything else, and that's his strong suit. The end result of his books are ideas that don't take themselves too seriously, all while finding a perfect balance of humor, horror, and adventure. And I'm a big fan. My only minor critique here was that I felt the ending was a bit too quick and I really wanted to see how things unfolded with the plug and seeing humanity regain control of the earth. But what we got was still a solid finale. This was tons of fun and a perfect way to balance oneself out before going back to work after the holiday weekend.
December 28, 2015
Welcome to McHumans may I interest you in a side of your best friend's open sandwiched face? Yeah...that's right, Kevin Strange serves up another short but incredibly sweet dish. In McHumans, the world has been taken over by The Deep Ones aka many other names for the creatures that have flooded the world and turned it into their own sunken city of despair. Here people are served up as food for the gods at a restaurant that our main character Ricky works at. Ricky and his restaurant coworkers must work together against all odds (and less face it Cthulhu is the biggest mother f***ing odd out there)to defy their Boss Crab, (just one of the many freaky ass awesome characters)deceive the Sniffers, and destroy Cthulhu to end his destruction and slavery of the human race! This is def. not a simple task as Strange takes us through an adventure through warped perspectives that are wonderfully written and described in such a way that the reader or at least me anyway, actually saw in my head a very M.C. Escher-esque surrounding. Where the stairs do not take you up or even down but around, and the ceiling is the floor and the walls are the ceiling, and so on. I love how this author is able to describe things in such detail that I can picture myself there. AND you would think that having to deal with this warped perception would be hard enough but it wouldn't be a Kevin Strange book without the introduction of something as F***ed up as the Corpse Puppets! Damn near exactly how they sound and they are incredibly disturbing, but hey they are needed to keep the flesh portals in line! Cause one can not just open doors from one dimension to another, oh no, a flesh portal that lies within the chests and bodies of female humans is really the only way to make an entrance if you're another worldy creature of horribleness coming to dinner.
What I loved the most about this story more than anything is how much I loved the characters. This is only a 65 page book, and in my experience with short stories of this length is that it is very hard to give any substance to one character let alone the cast Mr. Strange employs. I loved the character known as Fishbowl and it doesn't even speak! I truly felt sad for the character of Ty, ESPECIALLY his demise which made me cringe, squeal, and put the book down to shake it off....yeahh...seriously this book has it all from amazing creatures, wonderful characters, to cringe worthy scenes of human disgust, and even a dash of romance and love!! A story about absolute survival against surmountable odds, McHumans should probably not be read right after a meal....
Again, I don't know how it's possible to put some much into such a quick read but all I know is if Mr. Kevin Strange puts another McHumans on the Strangehouse menu, I'm def. going to keep ordering it.I have to know what happens to Ricky and what's left of the human race!
What I loved the most about this story more than anything is how much I loved the characters. This is only a 65 page book, and in my experience with short stories of this length is that it is very hard to give any substance to one character let alone the cast Mr. Strange employs. I loved the character known as Fishbowl and it doesn't even speak! I truly felt sad for the character of Ty, ESPECIALLY his demise which made me cringe, squeal, and put the book down to shake it off....yeahh...seriously this book has it all from amazing creatures, wonderful characters, to cringe worthy scenes of human disgust, and even a dash of romance and love!! A story about absolute survival against surmountable odds, McHumans should probably not be read right after a meal....
Again, I don't know how it's possible to put some much into such a quick read but all I know is if Mr. Kevin Strange puts another McHumans on the Strangehouse menu, I'm def. going to keep ordering it.I have to know what happens to Ricky and what's left of the human race!
June 18, 2013
It's the end of the world,
and the monsters have taken over.
Living underwater, no green grass
or four leaf clovers.
We are their slaves,
stuck on cook duty.
Humans are on the menu.
Would you like a slice of booty?
Maybe you're a breast man.
They're full of fatty tissue.
At McHumans eating flesh,
is really not an issue.
by Nikki
Ty's...predicament was pretty awesome. Great description. Loved the line of Captain Save a Ho. Brought back memories.
A fun story. Just was I was looking for. Easily recommended~
and the monsters have taken over.
Living underwater, no green grass
or four leaf clovers.
We are their slaves,
stuck on cook duty.
Humans are on the menu.
Would you like a slice of booty?
Maybe you're a breast man.
They're full of fatty tissue.
At McHumans eating flesh,
is really not an issue.
by Nikki
Ty's...predicament was pretty awesome. Great description. Loved the line of Captain Save a Ho. Brought back memories.
A fun story. Just was I was looking for. Easily recommended~
November 10, 2015
As I had expected, this was twisted, humorous, and entertaining. The struggle between the humans and the disgusting alien sea creatures was very vivid for a short story.
September 6, 2013
Heroes can come in all shapes and sizes, but they rarely emerge from somewhere as unlikely as the fast food industry. But just such a hero is featured in Kevin Strange’s novella entitled “McHumans,” which utilizes the Bizarro genre of fiction in order to make the whole burger-flipper-turned-hero scenario remotely credible.
Don’t worry though, because this is not a story meant to sympathize or coddle these dregs of society’s cheap eateries (who recently had the audacity to walk off their jobs and demand $15 an hour - really, like, what's up with that?!).
"McHumans" starts out as you might expect, squarely within a poorly-managed restaurant where management promotes back-stabbing amongst its quota-fulfilling staff, consisting of a crippled female, a racist black, a cross-dressing manic depressive, and Ricky. Ricky is the hero of the story, even though he recently screwed over his best friend at the restaurant.
Anyway, when heroic Ricky, and the remainder of the night crew, are later ordered by their boss to cater a special affair, a reluctant Ricky encourages his coworkers to poison all the party guests, whom Ricky sees as a bunch of repressive Fascists who are forcing him to remain at his low class menial job. He convinces his cohorts to help him with his murderous plan by deviously capitalizing upon their weaknesses, specifically by showing a feigned sexual interest in the crippled girl, inciting the prejudices of the black guy and defending the transvestite’s right to wear his daughter’s clothes.
Most of the book involves the group’s efforts to get around security at the banquet hall and to serve the tainted food before the main guest of honor arrives.
Oh, yeah, did I fail to mention that the guest of honor is none other than the Great Cthulhu?
"McHumans" is in fact an extended version of a short story that Kevin Strange contributed to the StrangeHouse Books anthology entitled "Strange Versus Lovecraft." So, if you like the Lovecraftian mythos of this bizarro novella, be sure to check out the similarly-themed stories included in the awesome anthology!
Don’t worry though, because this is not a story meant to sympathize or coddle these dregs of society’s cheap eateries (who recently had the audacity to walk off their jobs and demand $15 an hour - really, like, what's up with that?!).
"McHumans" starts out as you might expect, squarely within a poorly-managed restaurant where management promotes back-stabbing amongst its quota-fulfilling staff, consisting of a crippled female, a racist black, a cross-dressing manic depressive, and Ricky. Ricky is the hero of the story, even though he recently screwed over his best friend at the restaurant.
Anyway, when heroic Ricky, and the remainder of the night crew, are later ordered by their boss to cater a special affair, a reluctant Ricky encourages his coworkers to poison all the party guests, whom Ricky sees as a bunch of repressive Fascists who are forcing him to remain at his low class menial job. He convinces his cohorts to help him with his murderous plan by deviously capitalizing upon their weaknesses, specifically by showing a feigned sexual interest in the crippled girl, inciting the prejudices of the black guy and defending the transvestite’s right to wear his daughter’s clothes.
Most of the book involves the group’s efforts to get around security at the banquet hall and to serve the tainted food before the main guest of honor arrives.
Oh, yeah, did I fail to mention that the guest of honor is none other than the Great Cthulhu?
"McHumans" is in fact an extended version of a short story that Kevin Strange contributed to the StrangeHouse Books anthology entitled "Strange Versus Lovecraft." So, if you like the Lovecraftian mythos of this bizarro novella, be sure to check out the similarly-themed stories included in the awesome anthology!
July 29, 2013
I've been looking forward to reading McHumans since May 10th when the artwork was revealed on the Strangehouse Books website. The cover was created by new artist Carrion House and it is pretty awesome I think.
(If you consider yourself a fan of bizarro go to strangehousebooks.com RIGHT NOW and sign up for their newsletter which gives great insight into future releases and author interviews from this indie publisher)
McHumans is a Lovecraftian bizarro tale of a small group of fast food workers being held captive by evil sea monsters and forced to serve up human food fare to their customers in a bizarre undersea horror world.
This long short story (or short novella) could have been easily expanded into a full length feature. Kevin Strange seems to have just touched the surface. Good thing he has already revealed that this is not the last we will hear from this cast of characters.
Really enjoyed the idea of meat portals and Fishbowl. Good job.
(If you consider yourself a fan of bizarro go to strangehousebooks.com RIGHT NOW and sign up for their newsletter which gives great insight into future releases and author interviews from this indie publisher)
McHumans is a Lovecraftian bizarro tale of a small group of fast food workers being held captive by evil sea monsters and forced to serve up human food fare to their customers in a bizarre undersea horror world.
This long short story (or short novella) could have been easily expanded into a full length feature. Kevin Strange seems to have just touched the surface. Good thing he has already revealed that this is not the last we will hear from this cast of characters.
Really enjoyed the idea of meat portals and Fishbowl. Good job.
August 22, 2013
You think you hate YOUR job? You should talk to Ricky, the protagonist of McHUMANS. You know how a lot of the Cthulhu Mythos stories are written in kind of an archaic, stuffy way? Kevin Strange breaks the mold by telling the tale of a group of humans who work in a fast food restaurant under the sea, feeding fellow humans to the Great Old Ones. Except Ricky is sick and tired of this. He has a plan to kill Cthulhu himself. Talk about audacious! Not only is this book a lot of fun, but it's also a mind-trip. Check out Ricky's trek through the Escher-ish R'lyeh!
October 7, 2014
"McHumans" is a Cthulhu Mythos-infused adventure, where a group of humans that survived the uprising of the Old Ones and are forced to work in a fast food joint that serves human flesh try to find the plug to drain the Earth from all the water.
Hateful characters, constant backstabbing, ultraviolence, non-Euclidean geometry, this book is short but entertaining, and delivers what it promissed: A fun entry to the Cthulhu Mythos, leaning toward the Bizarro side (or roof, or floor) of things.
Hateful characters, constant backstabbing, ultraviolence, non-Euclidean geometry, this book is short but entertaining, and delivers what it promissed: A fun entry to the Cthulhu Mythos, leaning toward the Bizarro side (or roof, or floor) of things.
August 15, 2013
This was the first book by Kevin Strange that I read. It started out with an interesting enough premise and enough grossout to keep me sated, but by the finale, I was virtually glued to the page. I loved every minute of it, and I was in ecstacy at the epic final quarter of the book. More like this, Strangehouse!
April 24, 2016
Human burger?
A very funny tale that floats along at quite a pace. It is gory at times, but as an integral part of the plot. I also enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of the numerous aquatic creatures.
A very funny tale that floats along at quite a pace. It is gory at times, but as an integral part of the plot. I also enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of the numerous aquatic creatures.
December 15, 2013
A tale of courage and dignity against the degrading mega corporation of Big Tentacle, "McHumans," is not the story of one man, but a rag tag, and completely insane team to literally pull the plug on the other worldly invasion. But Ricky does feature heavily, and the narration itself is largely reliant on his account. But you can't deny the role of Chef, Ty, and the others. "McHumans," is more a novella than novel, but you get an extra bang for your $2.99 with a bonus short story from the "Strange Versus Lovecraft" anthology, 'Nyogtha of the Northern Line' by Adam Millard. More on that later. "McHumans," is a 'director's cut' of a work that appeared in "Strange Vs. Lovecraft," which I haven't read, so I can't say whether its an improved version or not.
Strange claims not to obey the bounds of "factual accuracy, or plausibility," but this might be meant in terms of real world physics. The story itself follows.. well, not a logical progression, rather a series of completely plausible in the given scenario events. Really, only the architecture is when Strange plays fast and loose with facts and plausibility, and he does so in a manner that, while fantastical, remains more believable than a Bay flick. I guess it says more about myself than I care to admit that corpse portals are totally plausible in my mind.
Its a fun ride and a race against the clock to accomplish the impossible. Its everything the summary promises, with a side order of twisted love.
Strange claims not to obey the bounds of "factual accuracy, or plausibility," but this might be meant in terms of real world physics. The story itself follows.. well, not a logical progression, rather a series of completely plausible in the given scenario events. Really, only the architecture is when Strange plays fast and loose with facts and plausibility, and he does so in a manner that, while fantastical, remains more believable than a Bay flick. I guess it says more about myself than I care to admit that corpse portals are totally plausible in my mind.
Its a fun ride and a race against the clock to accomplish the impossible. Its everything the summary promises, with a side order of twisted love.
August 6, 2016
PROOF THAT FASTFOOD WILL KILL YOU... OR MAYBE THAT'S THE ELDER GODS.
Ricky and his (sometimes) friends work at an underwater fast food joint that they refer to as “McHumans.” A place that deals in real human “happy meals.” The customers they serve there are from the pantheon of sanity sucking Gods and their minions that H.P. Lovecraft himself wrote and warned of almost a century earlier. These unspeakable abominations rule upon the Earth, or more so below it, now that the world has been flooded and what humans survive, are only there to serve, suffer, and die.
This was an interesting and entertaining take on the Lovecraft Mythos; not dark, and serious, but seriously messed up. The characters are fun, sad, and annoying, all at the same time (And I mean this as positive traits. -How would you act when faced with a world where there is more horror than the mind can fathom?-) When the “employees” venture out of their work place, things only get more insane. To say things on the outside of that door really bugged them, would be an understatement.
This story by Kevin Strange appeared in a somewhat shorter form, in StrangeHouse Books anthology entitled: Strange Versus Lovecraft. If you enjoy this offering (as I did), it's a safe bet that you will enjoy the anthology as well.
So stick your toe in the water with this one and check it out, and if you are feeling crazy afterward, jump right in and drowned in the fun insanity of the full anthology.
Ricky and his (sometimes) friends work at an underwater fast food joint that they refer to as “McHumans.” A place that deals in real human “happy meals.” The customers they serve there are from the pantheon of sanity sucking Gods and their minions that H.P. Lovecraft himself wrote and warned of almost a century earlier. These unspeakable abominations rule upon the Earth, or more so below it, now that the world has been flooded and what humans survive, are only there to serve, suffer, and die.
This was an interesting and entertaining take on the Lovecraft Mythos; not dark, and serious, but seriously messed up. The characters are fun, sad, and annoying, all at the same time (And I mean this as positive traits. -How would you act when faced with a world where there is more horror than the mind can fathom?-) When the “employees” venture out of their work place, things only get more insane. To say things on the outside of that door really bugged them, would be an understatement.
This story by Kevin Strange appeared in a somewhat shorter form, in StrangeHouse Books anthology entitled: Strange Versus Lovecraft. If you enjoy this offering (as I did), it's a safe bet that you will enjoy the anthology as well.
So stick your toe in the water with this one and check it out, and if you are feeling crazy afterward, jump right in and drowned in the fun insanity of the full anthology.
July 5, 2018
Strange may just be the most divisive man in Bizarro fiction, but despite what his detractors say, the dude can write. But we're here to judge the art, but the artist.
I have been a fan of Strange since I picked up "Murder Stories for Your Brain Piece", and after taking a break to work thru some offerings by other authors I decided to pick up his work again. The guy never ceases to impress me. If a book about a fast food restaurant that serves humans to sea monsters is your thing you should check this out.
I have been a fan of Strange since I picked up "Murder Stories for Your Brain Piece", and after taking a break to work thru some offerings by other authors I decided to pick up his work again. The guy never ceases to impress me. If a book about a fast food restaurant that serves humans to sea monsters is your thing you should check this out.
December 21, 2014
This is still my favorite of Strange's work.
It takes place in the caverns of the fabled R'lyeh. Ricky, an employee of the underwater fast food joint, teams up with crossdresser Ty, the affable Chef and the physically disabled Karen, who, in a way, proves to be the strongest of them all in this ragged band of misfits. When something goes wrong on the butcher's slab, they are forced to fight their way through the ranks of Cthulhu's evil legions with no less than corpse puppets, giant scorpions with human baby heads, giant crabs and Fishbowl, a giant minion of Boss Crab who dons a helmet with aquatic vermin swimming through the muck at all times.
While the journey is a relatively short one, it's a pretty thrilling ride to the conclusion where Ricky and his fellow survivor(s?) make it to the banquet of Cthulhu's great coronation.
Having met the author in person, I can vouch that he's good people and nothing if not a humble and reassuring presence. Now that he is free of the business end of Strangehouse Books, I expect to see even more images from the Stygian depths of his imagination as his talents are fully unleashed on the Bizarro genre.
It takes place in the caverns of the fabled R'lyeh. Ricky, an employee of the underwater fast food joint, teams up with crossdresser Ty, the affable Chef and the physically disabled Karen, who, in a way, proves to be the strongest of them all in this ragged band of misfits. When something goes wrong on the butcher's slab, they are forced to fight their way through the ranks of Cthulhu's evil legions with no less than corpse puppets, giant scorpions with human baby heads, giant crabs and Fishbowl, a giant minion of Boss Crab who dons a helmet with aquatic vermin swimming through the muck at all times.
While the journey is a relatively short one, it's a pretty thrilling ride to the conclusion where Ricky and his fellow survivor(s?) make it to the banquet of Cthulhu's great coronation.
Having met the author in person, I can vouch that he's good people and nothing if not a humble and reassuring presence. Now that he is free of the business end of Strangehouse Books, I expect to see even more images from the Stygian depths of his imagination as his talents are fully unleashed on the Bizarro genre.
December 27, 2013
If you were to boil this book down to key ingredients, it'd have the following recipe:
1 Spongebob Squarepants
10 hits of acid
1 Encyclopedia of Lovecraft Lore
A handful of interesting characters
Lots of gore
Mix it all up in a blender, and it makes a great, quick entree.
The book starts out with your average disgruntled fast food employee, except the slaughterhouse is in the break room, and Mr. Krabs on crack-infused steroids runs the joint. The story builds up to a climax of gore, with an interesting twist that you get glimpses of earlier in the book, glimpses being the operative word. Strange doesn't spoil it.
An added bonus is that the book is pretty well polished. Nothing glaring to distract you from the story that is being told. This is one fans of bizarro should check out fo sho.
1 Spongebob Squarepants
10 hits of acid
1 Encyclopedia of Lovecraft Lore
A handful of interesting characters
Lots of gore
Mix it all up in a blender, and it makes a great, quick entree.
The book starts out with your average disgruntled fast food employee, except the slaughterhouse is in the break room, and Mr. Krabs on crack-infused steroids runs the joint. The story builds up to a climax of gore, with an interesting twist that you get glimpses of earlier in the book, glimpses being the operative word. Strange doesn't spoil it.
An added bonus is that the book is pretty well polished. Nothing glaring to distract you from the story that is being told. This is one fans of bizarro should check out fo sho.
January 13, 2014
I've got a soft spot for anything Lovecraftian, so I knew I was going to have fun with this. I've also read Strange's work before and knew that it's always a good read. True to what I expected, this was fun. It's definitely not like a lot of the Lovecraftian fiction I've seen, but I haven't seen a lot of bizarro Lovecraftian fiction before. It stretched a genre I knew and was fun to read. It was worth reading for that alone.
November 12, 2014
McHumans was great. I would like to have given it five stars, but there were a (very) few grammatical/punctuation errors. I would give it 4 1/2 if that was an option. The story line was wonderful, unique, and engaging. Kevin Strange has created yet another world that has dragged me in kicking and screaming. It refused to let me go, even after I finished the last page and closed the book. The transformation of the story line and characters from beginning to end was unexpected.
December 8, 2013
I found this highly entertaining. Simple as that.
I've been enjoying quite a few of Kevins' books as of late and have no plans to stop reading anything from Strangehouse anytime soon.
Imagination, a sense of humor and some sickness weave in an out of the story and kept me reading page after page
Really Enjoyable !!!!!!!!
I've been enjoying quite a few of Kevins' books as of late and have no plans to stop reading anything from Strangehouse anytime soon.
Imagination, a sense of humor and some sickness weave in an out of the story and kept me reading page after page
Really Enjoyable !!!!!!!!
December 26, 2013
Bizarro fiction, is not my usual genre, but it all depends on what the story is about, and McHumans intrigued me. Who would have ever thought that after Cthulhu stepped on through he would crave fast food? Well, if that was us humans, then maybe I would agree, and that is the world Kevin Strange envisioned in his novella. Great story, plenty of gore, laughs and lovecraftian merriment.
December 17, 2013
Creative, creative, creative! Great twisted ending that I never saw coming. Killar book that I completely recommend. As soon as I was done reading I went out and scarfed down a couple filet-o-fish from McD's to celebrate that I am human and we still rule the planet! Fuckin' fish can kiss my ass!
July 15, 2013
Good, fast, fun, weird and at times gross! Not too bad for a days work at McHumans!
December 23, 2018
Starting out as a fun romp in a post-cthulhucalyptic world where human slaves work in a restaurant where other humans are prepared as food, the narrative quickly leaves the eponymous locale to provide the catering at THE event (the stars being right) at R'Lyeh. Much too quickly it descends into a pulpy "us against them", ultimately arriving at a very ridiculous (and somewhat open) ending. Of course, bizarro literature can (and should) forego reality and logic for the sake of the bizarre, but if the whole ending is more deus ex than anything else, and turns an "against the odds" into an "well, we can kill you easy", it becomes a pointless tale.
Not recommended.
Not recommended.
March 26, 2018
One of Kevin Strange’s weaker efforts that I’ve read so far, but still shows glimpses of the brilliance I’ve come to expect from him. This is an extended version of an earlier short, and from what I can gather from the introduction of the book, all my favorite part were later additions to the story.
The book also contains the short story Whale Farts. A somber little thing that felt quite different from Kevin’s usual style, but not in a bad way, I liked this story a lot. The only thing connecting it to the main story of the book was the aquatic theme.
The book also contains the short story Whale Farts. A somber little thing that felt quite different from Kevin’s usual style, but not in a bad way, I liked this story a lot. The only thing connecting it to the main story of the book was the aquatic theme.
December 24, 2013
The writing style is very simple but you can tell there is a strong imagination behind it. And no, I don't mean the writing is bad just because I referred to it as simple. I just mean that it was common and wouldn't particularly stand out had it not had such an interesting story to back it up. It was mostly the main character's dialogue that kept it from being four stars, though. He sounded like some crude juggalo that had no business trying to save the world. I felt like it didn't mesh well with the rest of his 'inner monologue' or story.
July 26, 2016
This book was gross but well written. I can't necessarily say I'd recommend it but it was a quick and weird read.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews