Are Reports of FANGORIA’s Demise (Greatly) Exaggerated?
[Featured Image courtesy Fangoria Facebook page @Fangoria]
Just like Peter Parker, I have a superpower. Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s way cool “Spidey Sense” alerts him to danger; my “magazine sense” tells me “hey, it’s about time for a new issue of National Geographic History to show up in the mailbox.”
Mag-Sense even works for newsstand titles like HorrorHound – or until recently, Fangoria. Since late 2016, however, the print edition of Fango has been noticeable by its absence. After months of silence, information has begun to emerge regarding Fangoria‘s status and future. But it may not be what many horror fans want to hear.
On February 11, 2017, the last (?) Fangoria Editor-in-Chief, Ken Hanley, sent out a series of tweets that cleared up a bit of the Mystery of the Missing Magazine. The gist of the thread – Hanley was no longer involved with Fangoria and included the following bombshell:
For those wondering: there will likely never be another issue of FANGORIA, especially in print, unless there’s new ownership.
After two days of speculation and memorials for Fangoria, an official statement was released on Fangoria.com on February 13. After acknowledging “the transition of media to a mostly digital phase,” and the resulting decline in advertising revenue for the print edition, President/Owner Tom DeFeo stated that the magazine would be working to “make good on any funds owed for magazines and/or articles written.” DeFeo then addressed, in rather general terms, Fangoria‘s future:
“We’ll continue trying to conquer the uphill battle to restore our print issues that our fans urgently long for. Despite the current standstill of our print issues, our website and social media will function as normal.”
Writing at BloodyDisgusting.com after Ken Hanley’s comments surfaced on Twitter, John Squires makes a good point about the difficult path for print media in the digital age. “When you can get horror news the instant it breaks … there’s just not that much incentive to drop nearly $10 on a magazine.” And Squires is right to note that “in-depth analysis” is also available online.
As a reader, I find that the amount of choice available online results in a case of “choice overload.” If you’ve read Future Shock by Alvin Toffler you know the feeling. With are so many options available, it’s almost easier choosing not to decide. As a horror fan following a crowded and ever-changing genre, spending my money on print publications like Horror Hound or Fangoria saves me time (and money spent on subpar books, movies, and television).
Magazines also don’t care if you drop them, spill soda all over them, or drop them on the floor (my NOOK doesn’t take that last one very well). For that reason along, I join my uncoordinated klutzy brethren hoping Fangoria returns to newsstands.
