''Tryout'' was an amateur press journal published from 1914 to 1946 by Charles W. Smith of

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

. It was connected to the National

Amateur Press Association An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. History The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur pr ...

. Smith (1852–1948) was a friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft; ''Tryout'' was the first outlet for the H. P. Lovecraft short stories "

The Cats of Ulthar "The Cats of Ulthar" is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the nar ...

" (November 1920), "

The Terrible Old Man "The Terrible Old Man" is a short story of fewer than 1200 words by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on January 28, 1920, and first published in the ''Tryout'', an amateur press publication, in July 1921. It is notable as the fir ...

" (July 1921), " The Tree" (October 1921), and " In the Vault" (November 1925). Smith provided the plot idea for "In the Vault". Several later stories include details used from his visits to Haverhill to meet with Smith. Most notable of these is "

The Shadow Out of Time ''The Shadow Out of Time'' is a novella by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between November 1934 and February 1935, it was first published in the June 1936 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. The story describes time and ...

", in which the protagonist is from Golden Hill in Haverhill (Smith's neighborhood) and is named Nathaniel Peaslee, a name on a headstone that Lovecraft noted in nearby Pentucket Cemetery. ''Tryout'' also published non-fiction articles and numerous poems by Lovecraft. The publication was noted for its typographical errors, which Lovecraft referred to as "tryoutisms".

References

*S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, ''An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia'' *David Goudsward, ''H.P. Lovecraft in the Merrimack Valley'' {{Authority control H. P. Lovecraft Magazines established in 1914 Magazines disestablished in 1946 Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines published in Massachusetts