ShockTillYouDrop.com

Posted by: Jason on February 3, 2010 at 15:49:20

Beautiful article. Thanks for posting this. I rarely ever use Fangoria's website because it really pales in comparison to the likes of Shock, Dread, or Bloody, but I've been a long-time subscriber to the magazine. When that new issue comes in the mail, I'm like a kid again, excitedly turning each page (even though I've already heard a lot of this news weeks earlier).

The sites are incredibly formative, but with the magazine, it's a more emotional level for me. I'll be sad if they go under, but I'll understand, especially because of the "times" we're living in. Again, great article Ryan.

Posted by: Mark on February 3, 2010 at 15:53:18

Afraid i am one of the ones who stopped buying the magazine, used to love it usually for the pictures of all the new makeup / gore effects .But really since cgi took over the majority of effects, i kind of lost intrest. same goes for cinefex. lol ,not really the same kind of magic when you know its just someone in front of a monitor manipulating pixels

Posted by: Jeff Allard on February 3, 2010 at 16:24:43

I've got my fingers crossed for Fangoria to find a way through its troubles. The magazine is too much a part of the horror culture to be allowed to just vanish. I agree that the brand was overextended into too many other mediums too quickly. Fango needs to rediscover its focus if it's going to move ahead. As a proud owner of every issue since #1, I hope they can do get their affairs in order and be around for many years to come.

Posted by: BrandyWine on February 3, 2010 at 16:35:40

Great article by both you and Justin over at HorrorBid.com

I hope the get things in order but either way like so many are saying. I think print media is dead.

Posted by: FrightFilmFan on February 3, 2010 at 16:54:19

...must admit, I myself, have not purchased an issue of 'Fangoria', for years, as well (...Rue Morgue has become my primary genre magazine of choice, with hopes of also finding the hopefully soon-to-be-republished Famous Monsters, on my shelf); once a predominantly, straight-out horror magazine, Fango has since delved far too much into other genres...seemingly more fantasy than horror (...I started to tune out, when Spider-Man graced Fangoria's pages)...and has most assuredly has lost it's 'dark side', which I lovingly embraced, during the magazine's heyday, in the '80's, and early '90's. Back then, I eagerly picked up each and every issue, relishing the comprehensive coverage of the horror genre, and the films encompassing therein...tastefully eschewing every bit of tantilizing information...the behind-the-scenes dope...the exclusive eye-witness documentation of 'how they did it'. Indeed, all of this was much more lucrative and enthralling, back in the day of intricately effective make up effects, and expertly executed mechanical effects; in the advent of CGI effects, that wonderment is most absent (...in effect, cyber-cartoon animation, looking as obvious as the Ray Harryhausen animation of it's day; however, the stop motion animation of that time, always managed to keep a deft & campy tongue in cheek, and never took itself too seriously. It was never actually trying to be 'real'...though as a kid, I of course, thought otherwise...LOL!!!)

...at any rate, a most informative article, here, which at least gives what may be a partial explanation, as to why Fangoria is not investing their participation, in headlining this year's 'Weekend of Horrors'; in the light of this new information, I will most likely attend the convention, now under the Creation Convention banner. However, the headlining participation of Fangoria will be sorely missed, and I truly hope that they get in there, and still be a part of this, in some capacity...

Posted by: The Creature from Uranus on February 3, 2010 at 17:22:19

I only read as far as What happened to Fangoria because 1 I don't care and 2, I stopped buying the mag years ago. Been a Rue Morgue guy for years now as it is vastly superior and covers a hell of a lot more than just mainstream crap. TA-TA Fango.

Posted by: venvariants on February 3, 2010 at 18:12:56

Well Horror Hound and Rue Morgue are simply better magazines - and Fango only caters to blood and guts direct-to-video garb anymore, and not horror in general like other mags. They just pile up, and none of the movies they cover ever seem to amount to very much - and least not often.

Posted by: Winchester on February 3, 2010 at 18:18:47

Respectfully disagree, Venvariants.

Horror Hound seems to latch on a single title and covers the hell out of it with a ton of pop culture items, typos and inaccurate info (like getting dates wrong, do the research!).

Rue Morgue is excellent, but there's always room for more than one horror 'zine.

I think anyone that blindly slams Fangoria without recognizing what the magazine has done the last 30 years is an idiot.

Posted by: djblack1313 on February 3, 2010 at 18:51:57

Ryan, it's ironic you posted this today. i never go to FANGORIA.COM anymore and this morning i did (the 1st time in many months) and the site was LOUSY. i seriously not 1 article/story was there that interested me. i've been reading FANG for 30 years (yes, i'm old! lol) and the quality (for a $10 mag) has been on steady decline for a while. also i thought the wharehouse "fire" they had, destroying old issues and whatnot, to be suspicious. Ryan you piece is timely and it's fair because many of us have been wondering the same thing. i wish FANG the best and i hope they don't fold but i hope that they get back to being amazing again. i'd start to buy more issues.

Posted by: The Chud on February 3, 2010 at 18:58:59

As far as I'm concerned, Fangoria lost any relevance they once had the day they put New Moon on the cover. It used to be a great magazine, but right now it's a distant 3rd behind Rue Morgue and Horror Hound. True, HH may get some info wrong, but I absolutely LOVE the ongoing article looking back on the VHS boom! Let's face it though, Rue Morgue is just an absolutlely gorgeous mag!

Posted by: Marand East on February 3, 2010 at 19:17:45

"First and foremost, this is a rough time for print. The economy hasn't done the business any favors, forcing many newspapers and magazines to buckle. It's a telling sign when magazines like Premiere, Cinefantastique (or CFQ to the geek hipsters that retooled that title) and Starlog shift their focus to online where their mettle is once again tested (some brands have tried and failed)."

Truer words have never been spoken, sadly. I stopped buying Fangoria years before discovering this site and others, because of the growing cover price. It was always came down to a decision in the bookstore to either pick up Fangoria or the latest book/comics I was buying. Fangoria always lost out in the end. Then you also have to add in the factor of having horror news at the moment besides getting it monthly. Yea, Fangoria has a website, but like Ryan said, the site is in trouble content and news wise, so they are missing out on big stories that Shock and Bloody cover the moment the news hit their inboxes. I hate it too (and I am highly jealous of those old 80s copies you got Ryan!) that we might lose a horror icon in Fangoria. But there is one thing that I can see happen if this is true...

Shock and Bloody (despite me being irked by the later at times) just simply will have the torch passed on to them from the greats of the past. All I got to say is don't drop the torch, fellas... You've earned it.

Posted by: MrAmerica on February 3, 2010 at 19:29:03

Their overly censored "sensitive" message boards turned me away from their site. The good reviews on $hite movies and big nothing outdated news turned me away from the magazine.

"I think anyone that blindly slams Fangoria without recognizing what the magazine has done the last 30 years is an idiot."

I think anyone who likes a magazine currently for what it did previously is an idiot.

Posted by: djblack1313 on February 3, 2010 at 19:58:30

The Chud, it's funny you bring up the NEW MOON cover. i was wondering how many copies of that issue they sold. i'm thinking it was one of if not THE lowest sold copy yet. (and i say that as someone who doesn't hate the TWILIGHT movies).

Posted by: Corpsy on February 3, 2010 at 19:59:07

As the Publisher/Deaditor-In-Chief of Girls and Corpses Magazine, I truly hope that Fangoria survives and I think it's too early to say RIP. One thing thatmakes publishing challenging, in this economic climate, is overhead and at Girls and Corpses Magazine we keep a very small staff... of one. Also, with ad sales down for all magazines, times are tough in publishing. That said, Girls and Corpses Magazine is still going strong, selling extremely well worldwide and we hope to continue to carry the flame of print magazines as long as we can. We are also a crossover audience, since we offer guffaws with our gore, which separates us from the other horror mags. Tony Timpone has always been good to us and we wish him and Fangoria all the best.

Rot on, Fangoria!

Robert "Corpsy" Rhine

Posted by: Dark Lord Bunnykins on February 3, 2010 at 22:17:09

I too was disturbed by the lack of Fango updates recently, having checked it along with the other genre sites near daily. I loved Fango back in the '80s as a monster kid growing up, but the extensive set visit stories for dodgy films grew tiresome. And in Canada, the news stand price of the mag is upwards of $15 -- a pretty prohibitive cost so you need to impress me.
That said, I've always had a healthy respect for Tony Timpone, having met him at Montreal's FanTasia Film Festival a couple of times, and thought the friendly rivalry between Fango and Rue Morgue was healthy for horror fandom in general. (Disclosure: I am a regular contributor to Rue Morgue.)
As a new horror blogger myself *and* the editor of a struggling print magazine, I understand both sides of the situation -- online is instantaneously gratifying, but the physicality of print retains a transcendent value.
I likely won't buy Fangoria in the future (Rue Morgue, obviously, better fits my personal aesthetic), but I'd hate to see it fail and will continue to visit its site should they manage to survive.

Posted by: Jovanka Vuckovic on February 3, 2010 at 22:18:18

With cover prices consistently going up, ads dwindling and writer's rates staying fixed, it appears it's not a good time to own a print magazine. Fango's clearly not the only publication that's struggling, but I'd hate to see it go after all these years. The internet is really changing the way people read magazines - if they're reading them at all.

Personally, I prefer having a magazine in my hands to reading stories on the internet and that's the way I'll always feel. But a significant portion of the population disagrees with me. I don't think print is dead yet, but it's definitely taking a severe beating. Here's hoping it survives the blows.

That said, I wish Tony and Mike all the best. They're great people who work very hard and have the utmost respect for the genre. I agree with Winchester, there is room for plenty of horror magazines... but will the new digital world be able to sustain them?

Posted by: BoomingEchoes on February 3, 2010 at 23:43:42

Amazing article, Rotten. Even though you had your doubts about writing it I think its something that needed to be said so that maybe conversation could find a way to work it out or at least make each other cope better.

That said, its painful to see where Fangoria is heading. I mean the magazine used to be the undisputed master of the genre. It just sucks that, the times being what they are, it might be showing the glimmer of death.

Thing is, and I hate to say it, I'm finding myself enjoying Rue Morgue a lot more right now. I don't know what it is exactly but the last time I picked up both magazines (last month) I sat down and read Rue Morgue front to back, no real issue at all. It just felt easy. When I picked up Fangoria and it just felt like a mess to read. I know I wasn't overloaded on my horror intake (its an impossible limit to reach) but theres just something in the tone of Fangoria right now, from the page layouts to the writing, that makes it feels almost trashy compared to other magazines..

Man that killed me to say.. I feel queasy even thinking it.

I blame Fangoria's musical focus on the girth of the metal genre and since most of those guys fit the horror mold it's just easy to write about them. Given the fact that the majority of the genre is still underground those guys have no problem taking any press they can get, they're hungry for it. This gives Fangoria A TON to write about from people who actually want to be interviewed rather then being told no for the 100th time by a studio who doesn't want their movie to be leaked in any form or fashion.. Do I blame Fangoria? no. Do I really blame the record companies or the metal artists? not really. All parties are trying to eek out a living int he economical mess we're in, they just aren't doing it in the best way.

I don't really know what to think of print media right now. I say that because I just spent a lengthy amount of time (days actually) sitting in Barnes and Noble's magazine section killing time and print doesn't look like its in that much trouble when your sitting amongst literally HUNDREDS of publications.. But it is despite this fact and that's a terrible thing.

I think what Rotten said about magazines is true, they do have their own voice and because of that they still hold much more weight then I think the internet will ever achieve in the next 10 years.

Not to discredit anyone who makes their living writing for the internet, but the web is literally flooded with entertainment news, or really any news, so much so that for most writers to find their voice there they have to find a way to solidify not only peoples trust in their writing but also cement favoritism to ensure return numbers. Some would say its the start of the magazine era all over again but when, right from the start, there's literally THOUSANDS of people doing the same thing at the same time its in a much different league from the days when we were lucky enough to have maybe 2 magazines about our beloved genre.

When you think about print however it makes you think "By God, this person got HIRED to write this stuff!" Since publishing your own personal paper/magazine is something that never took off, and distribution being hell if you did, that alone adds a tremendous weight to the print medium.. Any one can write a blog but so few will be PAYED to write, even on the internet, and even fewer from there can say they've been truly published. But I guess we're coming to a time where none of that matters.

I think an internet presence is important but the magazine should come first. The magazine should be the reason people go to the website and not really the other way around. I think the firs thing is to think about better layouts. Definetly shift away from the music heavy side of things and maybe keep it limited to a page or two. Keep the Conventions though, cause I believe thats part of what keeps the fans, I mean them not doing conventions would be like SHOCK! not doing their movie nights. Probably drop the radio shtick all together, another medium makes it feel like their confused/trying to flood the market..

I dont really know how they'd achieve all that though or if they can achieve any of it. It may even come to a point where the magazine might need to fade for the imprint to survive at all, maybe moving to the internet permanently in order to compete with Shock and Bloody disgusting. But the last thing I want to see is it die completely. I hope things get better for them and not worse.

Posted by: chris on February 4, 2010 at 00:00:10

Hope they don't go under.I just renewed my subscription!

Posted by: Andrew on February 4, 2010 at 01:44:04

I used to love Fangoria but I noticed trouble. I mean, last year I renewed my subscription... received 4 issues and then nothing. And their subscriptions are pricey. I'm still a little irritated

Posted by: Crosby on February 4, 2010 at 09:47:18

The problem with Fangoria? Tom Desimone bought it and has run it into the ground. Everything that's gone wrong with the magazine has happened after he purchased it. His "leadership" is pathetic. However, if you read the magazine or the articles on the web and you'll find it's still solid and still covers a lot of interesting films (both new and old).

Someone needs to buy that magazine away from Desimone. Someone who cares, someone who gives a damn and someone who's competent at running a business (all of Desimone's other business ventures, such as his production company, Creative Group, have all gone belly up). Leave Tony and Mike in charge of the content and don't overreach, thinking you can do comics, music, TV, ect. It's still a great magazine and well worth saving, but save it from Desimone first and foremost.

Posted by: .44 Winchester on February 4, 2010 at 11:27:58

What Fangoria has done in the past doesn't matter, what they do in the present, does.

Yes, Fangoria is a significant part of horror print history, but they have been resting on the laurels of that brand name recognition for far too long without the substance or quality any longer to actually back it up. Yes, they used to be great, but let's be honest, they haven't been for many, many years now, and their slow slide into oblivion is completely self inflicted by their own mismanagement, complacency and lack of focus and direction.

Honestly, Fangoria simply isn't worth the time or money these days, and until it is again, they sure won't be getting any of my money, as frankly, these days they haven't earnt it, and don't deserve the support.

I'd love to see the magazine turn around, and come back into it's own, but in the meantime, I won't pay for the kind of bland mediocrity that Fangoria dishes up these days.

Posted by: Winchester on February 4, 2010 at 11:36:40

So wait, we're supposed to dismiss the good Fangoria has done in the past because of what they're doing in the present? By that logic, does that mean I'm supposed to dismiss the works of a filmmaker like George Romero because of the crap he's putting out today?

Posted by: Shawn on February 4, 2010 at 15:10:50

I think their Fangoria VEGAS convention has something to do with this. They must have invested thousands on it, and it sunk like a rock.

Not sure who is calling the shots over there but they are dropping the ball big time. To do a show in vegas, on Halloween and to announce it only about one month before the show, is just plain stupid. When I talked to Tony about it, he even said he was against doing the show on such short notice.

They should have done the show in a proven market like the Los Angeles area, and they should have waited a year and advertised it properly. Baby steps.

Instead they shot their wad prematurely, pissed off dealers, fans, and put us all in the hole.

Unfortunately I was one of the dealers that went against my better judgment and did the show, the fango staff basically lied to dealers, telling us they expected up to 8 thousand fans through the door based on advance ticket sales. I doubt there were 300 people through the door the entire 3 days. A disaster.

As a result I'm still trying to recover financially 4 months out so Fango must be hurting big time.

Posted by: .44 Winchester on February 4, 2010 at 22:24:53

No, you brain dead name stealing idiot, it means just because something was good in the past, that doesn't mean you continue to support them if they are producing nothing but mediocre **** now. Because you're not buying the past, you are buying what they put out now, and if what they put out now isn't worth supporting and isn't worth the asking price then you shouldn't support it just because of what they once were. And if you do, you're clearly an idiot.

Posted by: MrAmerica on February 5, 2010 at 21:33:00

.44 Winchester, apparently logic has no place in this discussion. Let their "nostalgia" for the past pay their future subscriptions.