Fangoria was a very popular horror publication during the ’80s and ’90s, featuring content on contemporary horror movies and directors, plus pinup posters of the scary villains like Freddy. The publication switched to website-based content, but now it’s coming back to print.
In 1979 Fangoria began as a fantasy film magazine known as Fantastica. But the fantasy publication was unsuccessful and needed revamping to continue. In the first issue an article about special makeup artist Tom Savini and his work on Dawn of the Dead was a favored piece. Based on that feedback, editor Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin reshaped the magazine as Fangoria (nicknamed Fango by readers) to provide news on horror cinema, mainly current projects.
As the 1980s cranked out successful horror franchises and virtually un-killable villains, Fango had an endless supply of material. Building on that success, Fangoria started hosting horror cons, created awards and a hall of fame, a website was developed, and some “best of” special editions and licensed tie-in magazines for individual films were printed. The magazine company has also produced some movies and distributed foreign and indie films. In more recent times the magazine covers both current projects and horror history.
The return to print will be a quarterly publication with the first issue publishing at Halloween time. This news came after Cinestate finished a deal to acquire all assets and trademarks for Fangoria from the Brooklyn Company. Cinestate CEO Dallas Sonnier hired writer-producer Phil Nobile Jr. to serve as editor in chief and creative director.
“There needs to be a Fangoria,” said Nobile. “The magazine was a constant presence in the genre since 1979 – and then one day it was gone. That felt, to us, tragically incorrect. Fango was, for multiple generations, a privileged window into the world of horror. It gave us access to filmmakers’ processes and secrets, opened our eyes to movies we might have otherwise missed, and nurtured a wave of talent that’s out there driving the genre today. I’m proud and excited to be part of the team that’s bringing this institution back.”
Cinestate now controls all material from the over 300 issues of Fangoria, the material of which is now moving to their offices. Cinestate will also develop Fangoria further with movie, podcast, and horror novel projects.