Fangoria

The first issue of Fangoria was entirely designed around the original 'fantasy film' concept for the magazine, and proved to be a notable publishing failure, as were the next five issues that followed, all continuing with the same conceptual 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.

Two phenomena allowed Martin to reshape the magazine and bring it back from its low-performing state. First was the immensely positive audience response to one of the articles that appeared in the first issue of Fangoria, an article that celebrated the craft of special makeup effects artist Tom Savini, and his very wet-looking special effects for the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. Second was the response to the sense of defeat surrounding the magazine. With its demise all but certain, senior employees and the two owners of the publishing firm withdrew and allowed the untried young editor to take the lead, reshaping the book according to what he believed would work.

The seventh issue, featuring a cover story on Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining, was the first issue of any US magazine to wholly concern itself with horror films produced in the latter part of the 20th century, with no trace of daintiness about its subject matter. It also was the first issue of Fangoria to achieve a profit.

Fangoria Italy, issue 1, 1990

Subsequent issues would sharpen the focus, but by issue twelve, the formula was well-set, and remains largely unchanged to this date. Martin continued as editor up to 1986, with co-editor David Everitt added in the early 1980s, and after leaving Fangoria worked with film director Frank Henenlotter on the screenplays for Frankenhooker and Basket Case 3: The Progeny. Everitt left the magazine shortly after Martin's departure, and was replaced by Starlog editor David McDonnell, who handled both magazines for several months before turning over the reins to longtime editor Tony Timpone.

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.[4] In addition to his editorial duties at the magazine, Gingold posted the majority of the news updates on the magazine's official website.[5] It was under Gingold and Timpone's tenure that 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 branch out 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.[6] After several failed ventures, Creative Group filed for Chapter 11 on March 21, 2008.[7] In summer 2008, Fangoria and all of its related brands were purchased by The Brooklyn Company, Inc., led by longtime Fangoria president Thomas DeFeo.[8] Under DeFeo's ownership, the magazine's brand identity was radically modified in early 2009. The most notable change was a drastic overhaul to 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 additional embedded photos were removed. After consistent fan protest of the changes, the original logo returned starting 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.[9] Under his management the magazine would explore more esoteric genre content, have its cover layout altered a few times, and several new staff members were hired. 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.[10] 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.[11] Many within the horror community responded witho 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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15]

In February 2018, it was announced that Fangoria had been purchased by film producer Dallas Sonnier through his Texas-based entertainment company Cinestate. Sonnier named Phil Nobile Jr., of the Birth.Movies.Death. website as its new editor-in-chief. The company further announced that they would bring back the magazine as a quarterly, exclusively print-based publication, and offer a one-year free subscription to anyone who never received the issues to which they were entitled under the old ownership.

In addition to Gingold and Timpone returning as regular columnists, Cinestate further announced that the new writing staff would be composed of S. Craig Zahler, Grady Hendrix, Shudder curator Sam Zimmerman, Birth.Movies.Death's Meredith Borders, author and former Rue Morgue magazine writer Preston Fassel, horror historian Rebekah McKendry, and black feminist critic Ashlee Blackwell.[2] Cinestate plans on branching the franchise into producing films, podcasts and novels.[16]

On May 19, 2018, the magazine announced its first licensed novel, Preston Fassel's Our Lady of the Inferno, under their new Fangoria Presents label.[17] The book was released September 11, 2018, to generally positive reviews, ultimately being named one of the ten best horror novels of 2018 by Bloody Disgusting.[18] A week later, on September 18, Fangoria released their second licensed novel, Michael J. Seidlinger's My Pet Serial Killer.

In October 2018, Cinestate published their first issue of the magazine, stylized as "Volume 2, Issue 1," featuring a cover story on the 2018 film Halloween.[19]

In June 2020, The Daily Beast published an exposé about producer Adam Donaghey's sexual misconduct on the set of a Cinestate film.[20]

In August 2020, Fangoria was acquired by Wanderwall Entertainment CEO Tara Ansley and entrepreneur Abhi Goel, and quarterly printing continued under their ownership. The new owners plan to launch a multimedia studio and produce and distribute fiction and non-fiction content.[3][21]