Title: Innsmouth Free Press
Issue: #5
Date: October 20
Editor: Paula R. Stiles
Website: www.innsmouthfreepress.com

I hadn’t read an issue of Innsmouth Free Press‘s fiction magazine before #5, so I can’t comment on how it compares to previous installments. But as an introduction to their work, the analogy that sprung to mind was Portland’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival: a gathering of Lovecraft inspired work by people passionate about the topic. Not everything would be to your taste, but taken together it was a wonderful experience. There are some real gems to be found in this magazine, but also some pieces that were fun but otherwise baffled me.

What does stand out through all the stories is the love of prose. With very little exception, each tale contained magnificent poetic language, a tapestry of evocative words that created a depth of experience in the stories.

This issue opens with Kenneth Yu’s “The Concierto of Señor Lorenzo,” a beautiful piece that plays on the similar ideas (and even references) Lovecrafts “The Music of Erich Zann.” Instead of the well-trod streets of Arkham or Innsmouth, this tale takes place in Manila during some period before the arrival of automobiles. Yu’s imagery is wonderful and really set the tone for the story right off the bat.

After this comes a flash piece entitled “The Night We Burned Our Hearts Out” by Paul Jessup. Though his prose was wonderful and many amazing ideas are hinted at in the text, it felt more like a scene taken from a larger piece than a self-contained story. I would love to read such a larger piece, but the sample left me feeling disappointed when I reached the end.

“The Changeling” by Tom Hamilton suffered from a similar challenge, though it came in a longer format than the flash fiction. Hamilton’s narrator was a fascinating point of view, his visuals were striking and he wove lots of great elements into the story. It felt as though he had two great story elements that never meet up and form a plot. If David Lynch were to make Lovecraft films, I could see it resembling this story.

The next piece, “Beneath the Cold Black Sea” by Martin Hayes, proved to be my favorite from the collection. His prose and narrative structure is tight as a drum and his characters sprang out of the page. He draws straight from the Lovecraft mythology and it’s clear where he’s going from the first page of the story. But he still managed to throw me for a loop with a small plot twist towards the end.

“Borgan’s Deli” by Jarrid Deaton, on the other hand, outright confused me. Another piece of flash fiction, I had no idea where the author intended to go with the story. I reread the piece several times, certain I’d missed some key piece that tied it all together. There are hints at something going on in the story, but not enough for me to latch onto.

Following this came “The Green World” by Julio Toro San Martin. The tone of Martin’s prose reminded me of Poe’s “Annabel Lee,” lending both a surreal and melancholy tone to the piece. He avoids drawing on the familiar cast of Lovecraftian beasties in order to create a truly unique mythos of his own.

“The Song of Tussagaroth” by James Lecky proved to be an unexpected piece to find in the magazine. This lovely piece of dark fantasy was more closely related to Howard’s Hyborian Age or Lovecraft’s Dreamlands than the usual nods to Lovecraft’s work. As best I can tell it is the author’s own setting as well, as is the old god Tussagaroth that lends the story its name. It was a fun piece to read and an interesting break from the other stories.

Cheryl McCreary brought the issue to a close with her story, “Nibbling.” A close second to “Beneath the Cold Black Sea” in terms of my favorite, this piece also creeped me out more than the rest of the magazine. McCreary uses the everyday imagery of caterpillar infestations to create something ominous and frightening. With the fear already in place, she cranks up the tension with just a few touches and nudges to feed my overactive imagination.

There are some excellent pieces to be found in this issue and strong prose to be found throughout the magazine. It also represents very little time commitment for the reader. The entire magazine took me maybe a day to read cover to cover, and for the occasional casual sampling it would be less of a commitment. For those who enjoy Lovecraft, or at least the style of fiction he helped spawn, this is definitely worth a look.

The stories are available both as pages on the Innsmouth Free Press Web site as well as collected into a full color PDF. The PDF prints out nicely into 48 8.5″x11″ pages and is devoid of any sort of advertisements.