I have finished the lost ground-breaking classic Mrs Caliban by Laura Ingalls, in which a depressed 80s housewife finds comfort in the arms of a green river creature. Short, elusive, not so much melding genres as evading them. Friends rave, I think... ⭐⭐⭐"not a waste of your time"
The issue as to whether del Toro ripped off The Shape of Water from it. The common themes largely come from the Creature in the Black Lagoon, which both authors cite as a key influence. Del Toro says the idea the beauty and the beast would get together came to him aged six.
I’d say more influence than copycat
We don't know if del Toro has read the book. We do know del Toro's fave films as a kid were Shape of Water and Frankenstein. The people who said I ripped off American scifi for Our Child of the Stars could never agree which American scifi it was.
Tis the season of weird SF takes this week
weird takes past, weird takes present, and weird takes still to come
Or just the same one coming back like a Mary Shelley tribute act ;)