Set in world established by The Cunning Man, six stories follow Hiram Woolley in the intermountain west of the 1930s as he uses Grandma Hettie's traditional magical lore to battle demons. He discovers an ancient horror that explains an oddity of Utah geography, helps a deceased Shoshone war leader, finds an unappreciated consequence of the Mountain Meadows Massacre battles an ancient sorcerer in a secret mountaintop lookout, and more.

Other stories explore dark and somber themes, including two tales set in the Cthulhu Mythos; the weaving together of ancient Egypt, 1930s Massachussetts, and a future spaceship across time and space; a traveler in the Old West comes to an elaborately bad end. Eight more stories and three essays round out this collection.