Fangoria

Ok lovers of horror let me walk you through this must have magazine. You have your "postal zone" where horror fans can complain to the masses about remakes and sequels.

Your "Monster Invasion": for up to the minute newsbreaks and other horrible happenings.

The Dvd chopping list with literally every horror movie coming out on dvd in the months to come with a tiny synopsis to get the gist, wash that down with the fear film forecast, basically every horror movie coming to the theater in the next year or so.

Creep and crawl along to the Video eyes of Dr. Cyclops where he rates new dvd titles on a scale of 0-4 eyeballs, and gives his video of the month.

Then we have the "guts" of the magazine filled to the point of internal combustion with an in depth look at new features, on set interviews with cast and crew, and behind the scenes information. If it looks killer it gets the FANGO SEAL OF APPROVAL, my experience is if it gets that generally there flicks possibly to die for.

Now let's crawl to the DVD Dungeon where we get even more dvd reviews of notable upcoming horror releases, also with a dvd of the month selection.

Then a little bit of fango "comic screams" some horror comics Fangoria style.

The Horrorcade for you ghouls when watching carnage isn't enough and you feel you have to partake this section will help you pick out the newest and best Xbox360, Playstation 2 or 3 games etc.

Let's pay some homage to our demons of the past with the Forgotten Horror section reviewing some of our older nightmares.

What about books you ask? Well let's go to the Nightmare Library where horror books are reviewed and they also give there book of the month.

Also jumping out at you throughout are colorful, disgusting, grotesque pictures that'll have your friends and family giving you odd looks, from movie photos, and horror ads for dvds, also ads for special fx make up programs and movie making schools.

We arrive at the end of our tour through Fangoria magazine and your saying to yourself "Don't Look Now" this review was the opposite of "Misery, "May" I please "Slither", no wait I'll be on "The Fly to order this magazine. I mean if i don't I'm a "Psycho" there's only a handful of months left before It's "Halloween", so i think I'll "Mimic" Mike and I won't procrastinate and wait "28 Days Later" to order this magazine like my fellow "Freaks" it's Blood Simple" and once you do they'll need the "Jaws" of life to pry it out of your hands.

One of my greatest childhood memories involving horror movies concerns Fangoria magazine. You would think the recollection would have something to do with watching "Friday the 13th" or "Halloween" for the first time, and I do have those memories to keep me warm at night, but my first vivid impression of the shocking power of horror films hit me at the tender age of ten or eleven when I stumbled into the local drugstore and picked up a copy of this magazine. I don't remember what the cover looked like--surely it was one of the grotesque images Fangoria routinely plasters on the front cover that initially caught my eye--but I do recall thumbing through the magazine rather quickly in case the nosy cashier decided a youth of my tender years shouldn't look through such a gruesome publication. Immediately before I sat the magazine back on the rack, my eyes settled on a nauseating color photograph of one of those "axe in the head" effects so common in slasher films of the era. I suspect this still came from footage eventually excised from the theatrical cut, however, because it was far worse than what we usually see. I almost lost my lunch on the spot. Even today, I wish I knew which movie that scene came from.

This walk down memory lane aside, I'm ashamed to admit I never owned a copy of Fangoria until I received the latest issue as a Christmas gift. Issue 239 contains several articles of great interest to the horror fan. An interesting one-page story introduces the reader to Tartan films, a Scottish distribution firm planning on releasing a plethora of recent Asian horror films into the U.S. market. Another article interviews director David S. Goyer, the man behind the third installment of the "Blade" franchise. Following this up is another multi-page account of the latest Michael Keaton vehicle, "White Noise," due in theaters in early January. Lots of articles in this thing called Fangoria. "Alien" creator Dan O'Bannon receives a four-page treatment, primarily providing a short retrospective of his career and an announcement that he's returning to Hollywood. The eagerly awaited French slasher picture "Haute Tension" and the remake of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" receive in-depth treatment, as does the latest Godzilla flick and the two low budget films made about the Bell Witch incident in Tennessee. There's even a story about how audiences will likely never see the new reincarnation of "Dark Shadows." All of these articles contain numerous photographs.

Shorter sections of the magazine relate information just as important to the hardcore horror fan as the longer articles. Several discuss recently released and upcoming DVDs, with a feature called "The Video Eye" giving four of these films lengthier reviews. The pick of the month is "Hole," a movie I myself am looking forward to seeing. Their review of another film on my must see list, "Frankenfish," is hilariously sarcastic. Other reviews, such as those found in the "DVD Dungeon," are much shorter. Included here is information on the Indonesian schlockfest "Dangerous Seductress" and Blue Underground's latest release "Mark of the Devil," to cite just two. That the Dungeon named "The Bride of Frank" their pick of the month amused me to no end. If you plan on picking up this shot on video monstrosity, take it from someone who has seen it: don't pop it into the player with family and friends around. Anyone who rates this sludge as a pick of the month is probably someone I'd like to know personally. Anyway, Fangoria does an excellent job of listing most major studio and shot on video DVD releases. They aren't as thorough as the numerous sites on the Internet, though, which is where my critique of the magazine comes in.

I sat down with Fangoria expecting great things and came away with mixed feelings. My biggest problem is with the articles. All of them are well written, carefully structured pieces with much information worth reading about, so that isn't what I'm going to complain about. What I didn't like is how they resemble studio press releases and the stuff you hear on the late night talk shows. Do I really need to pick up this magazine so I can hear the people involved with a film gush about their fellow co-workers? Or constantly state how big a fan of the genre they are? Of course they are going to say these things; they want the movie to do well in the theater by appealing to the fan base. I'd rather see some write ups about special effects work--we all know these guys are the real heroes of horror movies--than listen to some actor go on and on about how dead people might really be trying to contact us through our television sets. One thing I am glad about: I learned the Carpenter remake is a piece of left-wing propaganda I won't be shelling out money to see in the theater. In the fashion of true ideologues, the folks behind the new "Assault" decided to make corrupt cops the enemy storming the police station instead of gang members. Geez, I'm surprised they didn't have the vice-president and president laying down a challenge by throwing a pot of oil on the doorstep.

Fangoria, if this issue is any indication, might be facing serious trouble down the road. I can get all of this information and more from wonderful sites like bloodydisgusting, gorezone, and upcoming horror movies, and I can get it weeks before Fangoria hits the stands. I can even get lots of neat information from Fangoria's website, like their recent series of articles on the AFM event. The magazine is definitely a prime example of the old media we hear so much about lately. The times, they are a changin', as the saying goes. Hopefully, Fangoria will survive.

Buy Fangoria Now

Fangoria, to me, is the best magazine i ever picked up. The best magazine for the horror fans as it brings you big budget movie previews, low budget independent movie previews, interviews, reviews of the latest independent flicks, a film forecast of upcoming horror flicks, reviews for horror games and books, plus much more.

Fango has it all for the horror fan, and once you pick up a copy, you wont be able to put it down.

Read Best Reviews of Fangoria Here

My husband loves this magazine....It took awhile to finally recieve it, but that was only because it only comes out, I believe quarterly...but for the true horror fan...well worth the wait....

Want Fangoria Discount?

I received the first 2 issues in this subscription. Nothing since then except renewal notices. Notified Fangoria and Amazon. Fangoria said they would send me the issues I missed. That was 2 months ago. I have yet to receive anything. Amazon apologized and gave me a $10.00 gift card that when I went to use it wasn't valid.

It can't be the mail because I get my other magazines that I subscribe to. But this is the only one that I have subscribed to through Amazon.com

So basically the subscription for this magazine is only for 2 issues and a bunch of renewal notices.

Definitely will not get another subscription to this magazine or subscribe through Amazon for any magazine.