The first story Lovecraft published in Weird Tales was “Dagon.” Lovecraft wrote the story in July 1917, but its first publication was earlier, in the amateur journal The Vagrant in November 1919.
Weird Tales published “Dagon” in its October 1923 issue, making it Lovecraft’s first appearance in the influential pulp magazine. The story follows a deeply traumatized narrator who recounts encountering a colossal, fishlike being after emerging onto a strange ocean floor exposed by a naval catastrophe.
The story’s title likely refers to Dagon, an ancient Near Eastern deity associated in later traditions with grain and fish. Lovecraft’s version is not a historically accurate depiction of the deity; it is part of his developing practice of linking invented cosmic horrors with fragments of real mythology.
A common mix-up is “The Tomb,” which Lovecraft also wrote in 1917. Although it was an early adult story, it was not his first Weird Tales publication. “Dagon” helped establish themes that would recur throughout his later fiction, including forbidden discovery, nonhuman antiquity, and humanity’s helplessness before vast forces.