Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine To Return
Written By Dana R. Davidson
As some of you may have heard, read, or were otherwise misinformed in issue #20 of Horrorhound that FamousMonsters.com was ready to launch Famous Monsters Magazine in 2009 with Robert Aragon as Editor in Chief. The correct information is that FM had hoped to launch the magazine in 2009, however after deciding that it wasn’t up to their standards the company made the painful decision to pull the plug until all creative issues were as up to par. The official press release did not mention who will be the Editor in Chief of FM but FM public relations were adamant that it will NOT be Robert Aragon but someone totally different in every way. See press release below for more information.
As some of you may know Famous Monsters Magazine was started in 1958 by the now late Forrest J Ackerman. Both he and his publications and dearest friends have spearheaded and been the muse of many notable writers and filmmakers of the horror and sci-fi genre. Forest himself was a writer, producer, actor, and played many roles both in front of and behind the scenes of the horror/sci-fi world. His love of the genre was so adamant that he collected books and memorabilia and used to open his house to those who were interested in seeing his collection. At his memorial service at the Egyptian Theater many stood up to speak in front of a packed house including Ray Bradbury, Guillermo Del Toro, and many other notable figures, about how this man touched their lives in such positive ways. There was almost not a dry eye in the packed Egyptian Theater in Hollywood’s house.
If the magazine feels it needs more time to do an amazing job for all of the original FM fans as well as Forest supporters, I whole heartedly understand and respect those who have taken over his trust and who are choosing to put their best efforts forward and not sell out.
For more on the legacy of Forest J. Ackerman you should find out for yourself all that he has contributed to. You can get lost for hours learning all that this man has done for the genre you love so much.
The official press release is below.
Since the very first day that famousmonsters.com went online, the question we’ve been asked most often is “when is the magazine relaunching?” Not if, mind you, but when. There seems to have been no doubt whatsoever that a new version of the print magazine would be shortly following in the heels of the web version. Admittedly, we helped to stoke this fire by announcing the “2009 Edition” last spring. Well…things change. When it began to look as though the “2009 Edition” wasn’t going to be everything that either we or you hoped for, we decided to throttle back a bit and regroup.
Inevitably, though, in the absence of regular updates over an extended period, some other information will always find its way to the public, accurate or otherwise. Case in point, some of you have read an interview with Robert Aragon in Horrorhound #20 (on stands this week) that contains quite a few details about the upcoming print version of Famous Monsters of Filmland. Unfortunately, this interview was conducted several months ago, and, well…things change.
As it so happens, we’re only a matter of days away from making an official announcement. What we can tell you today is that Robert Aragon, while a valuable contributor to the current incarnation of FM, will not be the editor-in-chief, nor will we be producing the previously discussed “2009 Edition”.
We do appreciate our friends and colleagues at Horrorhound firing up the legions of FM fandom, but trust us, if there is something to be said, we’ll be saying it here before we say it anywhere else (our Director of Operations hates it when we take our in-house news to other venues first).
As to the identity of FM’s new editor-in-chief, the only clue we’ll give you for now is on the other side of the ellipsis…
For more info, visit www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com!
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