Looks like Fangoria.com is back live...sorta. The site is back live but I noticed a couple of things seemed a little off:- The last post was made on January 10th
- The site has reverted back to the old design (it had been redesigned recently)
- The forums are still not working
- Correction from yesterday. That new blog is made up of the former MAGAZINE staff not the web writers
- From @JamesZahn (former writer for the web staff) recently quit as did others that worked on the online portion of FANGORIA
- John Z. wrote up an article as well about the potential demise of FANGORIA, its other property (STARLOG) and the Brooklyn Company. Check it out here
- HorrorBid also wrote up something about this as well today (possibly inspired by my post :-))
I'm sure the new big horror sites are to blame for their demise but FANGORIA was ingrained in all our childhoods. They could have easily reinvented themselves on the web. The magazine could have been a place where they drove traffic to the site (sorta how gaming magazines do their content).
I can't believe that advertising would have been an issue as we've had a large numbers of horror movies that come out theatrically and are out on DVD. Even horrible movies like Stepfather and other crap get ads forced down the horror community's throats. Aside from movies, TV shows and video games are a potential revenue stream. As I write this right now, they are running ads for The House of the Devil DVD, Frozen and The Crazies!
Well let's see if I've created some buzz so we can get some answers. I hate to be a TMZ-ish journafan, but I'm a fan and follower and even though things look gloomy and doomy, I want Fangoria to survive. I mean I won The Tournament on DVD from them recently!
Hmm, it's going to be interesting how this plays out. J. Zahn says we should all be on the lookout.
So let's try to ignore the volcano exploding in the background and reminisce about how Fangoria affected your horror second life. What's your fondest memory of Fangoria? Is it the magazine? A Weekend of Horror convention? The forums?
What's your story?
**UPDATE**
- Deleted magazine launch point as this was year old news
I for one appreciate the updates. I need another horror con trip!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing an internship for them at the moment. It would really suck if they go under right now. From what I know, things seem to be running as smoothly as possible - at least on the surface. I think the magazine may go away but the website will probably still be around if anything. They get 75,000 readers a month for the mag but the same amount for the website in a single week. Maybe they're just upgrading? I don't know. But I need my internship! lol
ReplyDeleteI still have a subscription to Fango, it is still one of my favorite magazines so I hope it does survive.
ReplyDeleteIt's scary that big magazines like this are having trouble surviving. What does that say for the need for the horror blog community?
ReplyDeleteFortunately, most of us don't do it for the money, more for just the interest in the topic and the feeling that we need to write. But it would be sad to see a magazine that was such an integral part of a lot of horror fans' lives go under.
"The House of the Devil" on DVD? *drool*
ReplyDeleteWell Ill be damned, I thought they were gone for sure? Hopefully they will use this as a restart and make the adjustments necessary to survive in 2010, not 1985
ReplyDeleteI hope everybody who enjoyed the first five years of Fango will come and friend me up on Facebook -- UncleBob Martin.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of the web staff (not just Zahn) may have caused Fango management to realize that changes were in order. Rue Morgue contributor Chris Alexander -- a Facebook friend -- is the new editor.
I heard they also fired Kyle Sember (fubarinpittsburg) from moderating the forum. That is probably because trolls had taken over the foums and he had no ability to manage the forums with any sort of authority.
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