About 2 years ago I came across a most magnificent little tome on the shelves of my local bookstore. HORRORHOUND magazine (full color, approx. 64 pages) made my eyes light up the same way FANGORIA forever changed my gore-soaked eyes back in 1989. While I will always be most loyal to the mag which formed, guided and wickedly enhanced my tastes for horror forever, HORRORHOUND has quickly become my naughty little mistress.
The key to HorrorHound's niche is that it appeals directly to my generation the same way Scarlett Street retrospected all of my parents fright flicks for modern times. At the same time, it's information and photo packed pages drag you right back to all the graphically orgasmic horror mags of the mid-late 80s, and still manages to draw the attention of today's jaded teens and their internet damped eyes. Cover stories and extremely detailed retros on such original fan-favorites as Friday the 13th, Halloween, Salem's Lot, Pumpkinhead, Child's Play, The Exorcist and even Michael Jackson's Thriller are promoted with the same respect as though the films are just now being released.
To further grab your attention are "Fun Facts" and "Did you know?" bits of fandom Q&A lining the bottom of every single page... seemingly useless details to the untrained eye, but knowledge being absorbed like UV rays by any true fan of freakishness. While there's also fresh interviews and news on upcoming theatrical releases for "new" product (i.e. lame remakes), there are much more gruesomely delicious bits on horror comix, model kits, video games, toys, conventions, and DVD releases of our fave films of yesteryear. Even the ads filling quarter pages jump out and beat you over your bludgeoned noggin. I have to say, however, there are two specific regular pieces I automatically flip to...
First up is "The Video Invasion," a typically 3-4 page breakdown of the vaults of long-forgotten and defunct VHS distributors such as Wizard, Camp, Vestron, Gorgon, et al. Each page is gore-iously designed with the company's complete collection of VHS box art, and whether or not the title came in the traditional (i.e. more common) VHS sleeve or the giant clam shell (most often remembered as the size of 80s porn VHS box covers). Additional promotional materials (such as the light-up posters of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 & 4 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 released by Media Home Entertainment) are also displayed with a loving touch. Imagine the hunt these collectors must dedicate themselves to in order to hunt down the eBay bound items.
Second, and probably because it gives me the same soothing sensation and excitement as those People magazine "Where are they now?" stories, I savor "Horror's Hallowed Grounds." Pictures taken directly from the film are matched up to pictures taken today by a devoted fan hungry enough to hunt down original filming locations in random towns across the nation! Anyone willing to put forth that kind of effort (squinting their eyes til they bleed at the TV screen to try and pick up addresses on homes and rusted street signs to identify possible landmarks) wins my vote for "most devoted." There's simply something so fascinating - at least to me - about how people and places have aged over the years.
What I love most about HorrorHound magazine, though, is just how much fun its staff seems to have in creating it. The writing is enjoyable, easy to consume and typically to the point. The layouts are playful and filled with photos of varying sizes meant to squeeze in as many as possible. It's clear from front to back that this mag is made entirely by fans for fans, bringing long-lost and forgotten titles of my youth back to life. Thank you, HorrorHound, for bringing me back to my childhood and making me a fan again, remembering why this genre consumed me in the first place.
