I spent the weekend at Texas Frightmare Weekend, an annual horror convention. As always, lots of things caught my eye, but one thing in particular really jumped out at me: a new magazine called "Mad Monster." The cover is a take-off of the unused Frank Frazetta art for the Rankin-Bass stop-motion classic "Mad Monster Party?" featuring a vast array of horror icons, and the front and back have been yellowed to make it look aged. I walked by the table ten times (and noticed the cover every time) before one of the guys working there accosted me. And I'm glad he did. Quite a promotional gimmick in the grand tradition of William Castle, they were offering a seemingly-free copy of the 'zine... if you sold them your soul. They had a contract that was drafted by a lawyer and everything! Once I saw how cool the content was, I opted to support them and shell out the $6.66 for the book instead (besides, I already sold my soul years ago for an unreleased soundtrack).
The magazine is printed on high grade, thick, stiff, glossy paper. Between the covers are the types of articles one would expect to see in a horror 'zine -- essays on films and people -- along with a lot of stuff I've NEVER seen in a horror 'zine.... There's a coloring page, a crossword puzzle, a Lon Chaney puppet, outfits for paper dolls (about the only complaint that I have is they didn't put the dolls in the book, you've gotta get 'em from the website -- but they didn't bother to mention that in the 'zine), a cut-out-and-assemble model of the "Psycho" house (called "That Old House on the Hill" for legal reasons, I'm sure), the corners of the pages feature flip-book photos, there's speculation on what a few movies might've been like if The Man of 1000 Faces were cast, plus more!
I'm also extremely impressed by the range of eras of movies/people covered. I can't recall ever seeing Lon Chaney Sr. and David Cronenberg featured in the same publication. Other things featured in the premiere issue include "Battle Beyond the Stars," "Christine," "The Devil's Rain," the classic TV-movie "Satan's Triangle," the 1896 short "House of the Devil" (often regarded as the first horror movie), the 1974 Turkish "Exorcist" rip-off "Seytan," William Castle's "Bug," and much more!
On one hand, with its cut-outs, games and groovy retro ads, the magazine feels like a throwback to the '50s and '60s, when horror movies were primarily targeted at children. On the other hand, stuff like "Videodrome" was never targeted at kids. It's a very unusual juxtaposition. All in all, this is a really cool, unique publication that I wholeheartedly endorse and hope to see gain popularity and be around for a long time. So head on over to the website to learn more and order a copy of your own!
The magazine is printed on high grade, thick, stiff, glossy paper. Between the covers are the types of articles one would expect to see in a horror 'zine -- essays on films and people -- along with a lot of stuff I've NEVER seen in a horror 'zine.... There's a coloring page, a crossword puzzle, a Lon Chaney puppet, outfits for paper dolls (about the only complaint that I have is they didn't put the dolls in the book, you've gotta get 'em from the website -- but they didn't bother to mention that in the 'zine), a cut-out-and-assemble model of the "Psycho" house (called "That Old House on the Hill" for legal reasons, I'm sure), the corners of the pages feature flip-book photos, there's speculation on what a few movies might've been like if The Man of 1000 Faces were cast, plus more!
I'm also extremely impressed by the range of eras of movies/people covered. I can't recall ever seeing Lon Chaney Sr. and David Cronenberg featured in the same publication. Other things featured in the premiere issue include "Battle Beyond the Stars," "Christine," "The Devil's Rain," the classic TV-movie "Satan's Triangle," the 1896 short "House of the Devil" (often regarded as the first horror movie), the 1974 Turkish "Exorcist" rip-off "Seytan," William Castle's "Bug," and much more!
On one hand, with its cut-outs, games and groovy retro ads, the magazine feels like a throwback to the '50s and '60s, when horror movies were primarily targeted at children. On the other hand, stuff like "Videodrome" was never targeted at kids. It's a very unusual juxtaposition. All in all, this is a really cool, unique publication that I wholeheartedly endorse and hope to see gain popularity and be around for a long time. So head on over to the website to learn more and order a copy of your own!
