I freely admit I had some reservations when Fango announced its return. Naturally I was happy for the magazine and its fans, but I was worried that it would be short lived if it did the same old thing that led to its closing. But I was wrong. So, so very wrong. It didn't knock on my door asking gently if it could come back into my life, it kicked that door down and put its foot on my neck demanding I give it another chance. And I will, and I'll be better for it. Fangoria is dead. Long live Fangoria.
Fangoria is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr.
The magazine was originally released in an age when horror fandom was still a burgeoning subculture; in the late 1970s, most horror publications were concerned with classic cinema, while those that focused on contemporary horror were largely fanzines. Fangoria rose to prominence by running exclusive interviews with horror filmmakers and offering behind-the-scenes photos and stories that were otherwise unavailable to fans in the era before the Internet. The magazine would eventually rise to become a force itself in the horror world, hosting its own awards show, sponsoring and hosting numerous horror conventions, producing films, and printing its own line of comics.
In February 2018, Dallas-based entertainment company Cinestate bought Fangoria and, under new editor-in-chief Phil Nobile Jr., relaunched the magazine as a print-based quarterly publication.[2] In October 2018, Cinestate released the first new Fangoria magazine under their ownership, stylized as "Volume 2, Issue 1."
Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs first conceived of Fangoria in 1978 by under the name Fantastica as a companion to their science fiction media magazine Starlog. Just as Starlog covered science fiction films for a primarily teenaged audience, Fantastica was intended to cover fantasy films for a similar audience. O'Quinn, who had previously published soap opera fan magazines, anticipated a groundswell of interest in the fantasy genre due to Hollywood's plan to bring Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian to the screen, although that movie would not appear for another four years.[4]
The first issue was assembled under the editorship of "Joe Bonham", a pseudonym taken from the quadriplegic hero of Dalton Trumbo's pacifist novel Johnny Got His Gun. This was a cover for Rolling Stone contributor and screenwriter Ed Naha and writer Ric Meyers.[citation needed] Shortly after the publishing trade press announced the coming launch of Fantastica, the launch was delayed by several months when the publishers of a Starlog competitor, Fantastic Films magazine, threatened a lawsuit because of the similarity in titles.[5] This was eventually decided in favor of the plaintiff in court.[6]
The first issue of Fangoria was designed around the original "fantasy film" concept for the magazine and proved to be a notable publishing failure, as were the next five issues, all of which continued with the same approach. By the time issue four was released and issue six was in preparation, the publisher confided to Martin that the magazine was losing approximately US$20,000 per issue, an amount the small publisher could not sustain for long.[citation needed]
As described in one history of horror magazines, "The first issue of Fangoria, published in 1979, was an abysmal failure, and subsequent issues did not fare much better. Apparently there was little or no interest in another magazine that did not deviate much from the already established Starlog/Cinefantastique structure."[4] But because of great reader interest in "a lavishly illustrated article on Tom Savini's gruesome make-up effects for the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead," the magazine began focusing on "readers' macabre interest in gory images of monsters and carnage."[4] With the seventh issue, "with a bold shift to fright flicks by featuring a still from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining on the cover", the magazine had become profitable.[7] Then "the 1980s gave rise to an endless offering of gory slasher films that Fangoria was more than happy to highlight, turning Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees into unlikely lucrative newsstand idols."[7]
Martin continued as editor into the mid-1980s,[citation needed] with co-editor David Everitt from 1981 to 1985.[8] After Everitt left, he was replaced by Starlog editor David McDonnell, who handled both magazines, with Tony Timpone under him as managing editor on Fangoria.[9] In 1986, Timpone became editor-in-chief:
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fangoria tested numerous international horror markets, releasing issues of the magazine modified for various foreign languages. These foreign editions (released in Italy, Japan, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere) lasted only a handful of editions before being discontinued. Additionally, in May 1988, a sister publication titled Gorezone was first published. A second sister publication, titled Toxic Horror followed in 1989. Gorezone was cancelled after twenty-seven issues and one special Tales from the Crypt-themed issue. Toxic Horror was cancelled after five issues.
In 1990, Timpone brought in managing editor Michael Gingold, having been previously introduced to his horror-themed fanzine, Scareaphenalia.[10] In addition to his editorial duties at the magazine, Gingold posted the majority of the news updates on the magazine's official website.[11] Under Gingold and Timpone's tenure, Fangoria rose to its greatest level of prominence, enjoying widespread recognition and influence in the horror community.
Creative Group purchased Fangoria (and its parent publication Starlog) in the early 2000s, hoping to expand the brand identity of the magazine to radio, television, and comics. On December 5, 2007, a warehouse operated by Kable News, in Oregon, Illinois, which contained all back issues of Fangoria and Starlog magazines, was destroyed by fire. As back issues of Fangoria are not re-printed, the only remaining back issues are now housed in private collections or those available on the secondary market.[12] After several failed ventures, Creative Group filed for Chapter 11 on March 21, 2008.[13] In summer 2008, The Brooklyn Company, Inc., led by longtime Fangoria president Thomas DeFeo, bought Fangoria and all its related brands.[14] Under DeFeo's ownership, the magazine overhauled the magazine's cover format, including the transformation of the company's long-standing logo. Starting with issue #281, the original Fangoria logo was re-designed, and the trademark "film strip", tagline, and embedded photos were removed. After consistent fan protest of the changes, the original logo returned with issue #305. The "film strip" photos returned briefly beginning with issue #309.
In February 2010, Chris Alexander, a Toronto-based filmmaker and former writer for Rue Morgue, succeeded Tony Timpone as Fangoria's new editor.[15] Under his management, the magazine explored more esoteric genre content, had its cover layout altered a few times, and hired several new staff members. Alexander also brought back the original Fangoria logo. In 2011, Gorezone was revived with a special The Bloody Best of Gorezone issue before resuming regular publication with issue #28 in 2013. In 2012, Fangoria also began publishing a line of limited edition specials titled Fangoria Legends.
In late September 2015, Alexander stepped down as editor-in-chief and left the Fangoria staff. By October, Gingold, who was then serving as managing editor, was hired as the publication's new editor-in-chief.[16] Eight months later, Gingold was fired after twenty-eight years with the magazine and the former managing editor, Ken Hanley, was named the new editor-in-chief.[17] Many within the horror community responded with shock at Gingold's termination and took it as a sign that the magazine had both lost touch with its fanbase and passed its glory days; Guillermo del Toro took to social media to voice his disappointment with the decision.[18]
On February 11, 2017, Hanley announced that he too was no longer involved with the magazine and that he had been on hiatus from the company since mid-December 2016. He also stated that he felt that if the magazine remained under its current ownership, there would likely never be another new issue, especially as a print edition.[19]
The last print edition of the magazine, issue #344, was released October 2015. After that issue, four additional issues were published exclusively in a digital format, leaving subscribers of the hard copy editions, as well as Gorezone subscribers, without the issues they paid for. Additionally, contributors such as Josh Hadley have stated that they remain unpaid for published articles and artwork.[20] Fangoria responded to the statements made by Hanley and Hadley on February 13, in which president and owner Tom DeFeo thanked readers and subscribers for their patience and noted his intention to make amends with writers, artists, and subscribers that had been inconvenienced. The statement also noted that lack of sufficient ad revenue had been the reason for the disappearance of print editions but that DeFeo and his staff would continue their attempts to bring print editions back.[21]
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