In an alternative 1948
Los Angeles,
magic and
mythological creatures are common. The protagonist, Phil Lovecraft, a
detective, refuses its use. He does still accept wealthy widower Amos Hackshaw's job offer: Locate the powerful
grimoire known as the
Necronomicon, which Hackshaw had stolen and which had been stolen from him in turn. Lovecraft meets Hackshaw's cosseted teenage daughter Olivia, whose hobby is hunting
unicorns (according to mystical lore, unicorns can only be approached by female virgins.) Hackshaw has chosen Lovecraft for the job because Phil is notorious in Los Angeles for his adamant refusal to use magic in any form. Following a clue, Lovecraft goes to the
Dunwich Nightclub and finds an old girlfriend named Connie Stone performing there as a singer. Here he also meets Harry Bordon, his corrupt former LAPD detective partner, now a cruel mobster who also covets the grimoire. Bordon has already had Mickey Locksteader, who had sold the Necronomicon to Bordon, murdered before he and his girlfriend can leave town; however, both parties had double-crossed each other: Bordon had paid Locksteader with an envelope full of blank paper before having him killed, and Bordon learns (unfortunately too late to stop Locksteader's murder) that Locksteader had given Bordon a counterfeit book full of blank pages. The next morning, Lovecraft is having breakfast with Olivia Hackshaw at a diner when he is attacked by a magically summoned
demon, but escapes. After being questioned and released by the police, he locates Lilly, alias Larry Willis, Locksteader's
transgender ex-lover and former Hackshaw chauffeur who had stolen the Necronimicon from Hackshaw, who now has the grimoire. An animated
gargoyle bursts in and kills Willis/Lilly, but Lovecraft and Connie (who had followed him) escape with the
Necronomicon, only for Connie to betray Lovecraft to Bordon. Bordon, Connie and Hackshaw (who it turns out had made a deal with Bordon) have plans to use the grimoire to summon one of the
Old Ones in order to gain awesome power. The ritual requires the offering-up of a virgin: in this case, Olivia Hackshaw, whose father had gone to great lengths to preserve her virginity. In an unexpected double-cross, Connie shoots and kills Bordon before the ritual begins, but has her gun hand crushed by Hackshaw's zombie bodyguard. Hackshaw summons the Old One and it appears, but unexpectedly rejects Olivia and devours Hackshaw before vanishing back into the Earth. The ritual had failed because Olivia had lost her virginity a few days before to the police detective assigned to guard her. Connie and Lovecraft share a kiss before she is arrested for murdering Bordon. He leaves with the
Necronomicon, confident that the book is safe with him because not only will everyone assume that the book had been either destroyed or repossessed by the Old Ones, but also because everyone knows that he does not and will not use magic. == Cast ==