I just read Michael Chabon's short story "The God of Dark Laughter". It's a nicely balanced concoction of Lovecraftian cosmic horror and evil clown trope, joined with a touch of theater of the absurd. It's good; you should read it. If you hunt a little, you can probably find it online.
I read Robert Silverberg's short story "The Pope of Chimps" yesterday. I found it very excellent scifi—strongly speculative near future hard scifi that talks about humanity. A remarkable story, and Silverberg makes it look easy.