Anyone who's read past posts or knows my reading habits knows that I'm a Lovecraft junkie. I like a good mythos tale, whether penned by the man from Providence himself, or by one of his many worthy successors. A good portion of my personal library of comics, books and movies is dedicated to adaptations of Lovecraft's work or works set in and around the universe he created.
Unfortunately, really good Lovecraftian fiction on the net seems to be hard to find. Not that there's not plenty out there, but when stacked up against mainstream writers like King, Lumley and Alan Moore, the quality's just not there. That's why, when I find a source of mythos fiction that's worthwhile, I cherish it for the enjoyment I know it will bring me.
One of the few of these, probably the most active one at the moment, is Innsmouth Free Press. Aside from an interesting (if somewhat too TV oriented) blog that sometimes presents itself as if it were actually reporting events in an around Arkham (a neat literary device), the owners of this site also publish a magazine of mythos fiction that's professional in both the quality of the publication itself as well as in terms of the fiction it contains. Although the magazine itself is free, IFP is actually a paying market for writers, meaning that they are getting work that is well above the average pastiche.
Their latest issue has just been made available for free download, and along with it, they are doing their first fundraiser. Their goal is to raise $1500 in June to pay for production costs of their website and magazine. I've just made a small donation, and I'd like to suggest to any readers who might be interested in quality Lovecraftian fiction or just quality fiction in general to check out their magazine and, if possible, hit up their Donate button and throw a couple of dollars their way. It's up to us to make sure that good markets like this not only do not disappear, but continue to grow and improve. Click the banner below to visit their site and see what they're all about.