The first issue of 'Innsmouth Magazine" was released in May 2009 has five very good Lovecraftian tales beginning with the beautifully told "And Then, and Then, and Then..." by Nick Mamatas. The tale is cleverly constructed with deliberately short sentences to simulate the thoughts, feeling and voice of the young man who is the centre of the story. The story itself has a simple and straightforward plot about the young man's induction into the secretive Oddfellows Club of Innsmouth. It is in its atmospheric and hauntingly descriptive telling that the story soars, with the final paragraph in particular, where the young man swims "down towards the watery sun", being a thing of strangely evocative beauty. The first issue of a new magazine couldn't have started with a better story. Next up is "Azathoth Is Here" by Pamela K. Kinney which is a monster tale with some chilling moments but a rather conventional and obvious "twist" ending. "The Cthulhu Whisperer" by Robert Borski is an amusing take on the horse and ghost whisperer idea, with a student from Miskatonic University taking it upon himself to row out into the ocean to whisper to "the great cuttlefish from outer space". It's a slightly silly concept but it has a few enjoyably funny moments. "By the Sea, By the Sea" by Caroline Totten is a superb and atmospheric tale about a girl whose family lives by the shore side at Innsmouth. Soon after the girl discovers three weird and smooth "pebbles" her mother gives birth to a strange, fish-like daughter. Totten’s writing is excellent, giving the story a haunted, moon-tinged feel and the ghostly glimmer of lost things and mysteries unknown. This story was a joy to read and one to be savoured again and again. The last two tales, "A Bedtime Story" by Kirk Barrett (a tale of religious iconography and sacrifice) and "Swimming Lessons off the Northern Shore" by Paula R. Stiles (a seaweed-inflected tale of a boy and a horse from the sea) are both decent stories although nothing overly special. Overall the first issue of Innsmouth Magazine is very good indeed. In "And Then, and Then, and Then..." and "By the Sea, By the Sea" it has two excellent, first class Lovecraft-styled tales and although the rest of the stories aren't quite of the same quality, they are still fine, enjoyable yarns. I read this issue as part of the "Innsmouth Magazine, Collected Issues: 1 – 4" which was released in 2012 and published by Innsmouth Free Press. ( )