The Greedy Grave: Tales of Inigo Hull

by Cody Goodfellow

Inigo Hull is a bounty hunter in these five grimly powerful tales that meld weird fiction with the western into a distinctive amalgam. The Old West was a place where Americans, Spaniards, and native cultures all mingled, while they battled cosmic forces beyond their comprehension.



The longest of these tales, the novella "The Invisible Empire," provides background on Hull, who served in the Union army during the Civil War but then ventured west to seek his fortune. This story, taking place in Oklahoma, draws upon H. P. Lovecraft's imperishable account of the underground civilization of Tsath, as depicted in "The Mound."



In all these narratives, Inigo Hull uses both his implacable courage and his knowledge of the occult to do battle with the nameless entities that seek to overthrow human civilization in the New World.



Cody Goodfellow is the author of nine novels, including Radiant Dawn (2000) and Scum of the Earth (2019), as well as five short story collections, one of which, Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales (2016), was published by Hippocampus Press.

182 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2025

About the author

CODY GOODFELLOW has written nine novels and five collections, and has won three Wonderland Book Awards for Bizarro Fiction. He wrote, co-produced and scored the short Lovecraftian hygiene films Stay At Home Dad and Baby Got Bass, which have become viral sensations on YouTube. He has appeared in numerous short films, TV shows, music videos and commercials as research for his previous novel, Sleazeland. He also edits the hyperpulp zine Forbidden Futures. He “lives” in San Diego. Find out more at codygoodfellow.com.

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, maybe only the second book I'm the first reviewer for. (Other one was a travel book by a 1920s sportswriter, which was a footnote to a footnote to a footnote from my book. Possibly even another "footnote to a..." should be in there, honestly.) So, this is an atmospheric and tightly plotted set of weird-Western tales with our, uh, half-breed (surely that can't be a term people use; we would not read a current novel with a hero described as "mulatto") hero, with inventive setups--evil monastery, the titular grave (and how it got that way), corrupt land deal featuring undying varmint, and a long, multipart closing story featuring invisible natives in thrall to Tsathoggua.

Also bought from the man himself, and even autographed.

The first few suffer from too-quick endings and not-great last lines, though I enjoyed the setup, the execution, and the ways Goodfellow ties these stories into history and to a larger sense of social and racial justice--they're actually linked to a decent sense of the racial and social politics of expansion and hegemony. Voice is fun and appropriately smartmouthed as well. The long closing novelette(?) starts and ends better, finishing off the plot with an authentic cosmic-horror notion of race and identity that intelligently rewires Western historical narratives. The problem with this part is the standard-issue HPL linguistic hoohaw (cyclopean, dread, formless, blasted, etc.) has just lost its savor after all these years--every time this piece careens into that register, it feels counterproductive, somebody waving a big BOO! sign in your direction and hoping you'll jump. (The evil-friars story, in contrast, doles out its darkness much more efficaciously.) On the whole, still, a pretty fun and atmospheric mashup. Which, you know, more people should read.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cody Goodfellow couldn't write a shitty book if he tried. He is a writer's writer, and a reader's paradise. This is a Lovecraftian weird western, Native American-revenge kind of linked short-story collection - but it doesn't beat you over the head with cultists or anything. These linked stories feature a sherpa half-First people character (Inigo Hull) who always has the savoir-faire the White Man lacks towards the mysteries of the land - above and below.