RUE-MINATING AT THE MORGUE (PART 2)

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID ALEXANDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE (CONTINUED)

MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD: Do you have an office where editing and production is conducted or do you all work remotely?

DAVE ALEXANDER: Jody and Ankixa work out of home, the RM Radio crew come in to work on segments in the office radio room – or, in Shannon's case, work remotely because she's across the country. Our freelancers are always dropping in and out of the office, as is Dave Daniloff. The rest of us are here in the House of Horror, in west Toronto, which makes for eight of us regularly in the office. That's not counting the re-animated werewolves in the basement, the giant spider in the roof or that gelatinous blob growing in the back of the lunch room fridge...

MMW: Whose idea was it to publish a monster magazine that covered the full spectrum of the genre?

DA: It's Rodrigo's brainchild. He started it in 1997out of his apartment and gave away the first two black and white issues for free. The theme: "Horror in Culture & Entertainment."

MMW: Jason or Michael Myers?

DA: Myers, because he's my first slasher.

MMW: I particularly like the idea that you cover music. I also see that you’ve just completed your first music compilation. Tell me a little about how that came to be and how listeners can hear it.

DA: Well, Rodrigo has always made music a huge part of Rue Morgue, of course, and we hashed out the idea a while ago, but it really didn't take off until Trevor arrived in January and put the necessary time and effort into it. (He also dubbed it Hymns From the House of Horror). Tomb and Liisa and I worked with him to come up with a list, contact our fave bands and then do some write ups. It was a lot of work and a huge source of pride to be able to give the fans something cool, while also getting some of our favourite bands more exposure. You can download it from rue-morgue.com or ruemorgueradio.com and it's absolutely free, but for a limited time, so don't wait around. Justin gave it the final touch with some amazing artwork (also downloadable, so you can print it off, or even screen a graphic onto the disc if you've got a CD printer.

MMW: I’ve noticed that the cover price of RM has been creeping up and the paper, especially the cover stock, is getting a little flimsier. Comic books and other publications are going that way, too. Will you comment and can paper get any thinner without bleeding through?

DA: That's not really my department, but we work with our printer to get the biggest bang for our buck so we can keep the cover price reasonable, and save for those special issues, such as the glossy, thick cover of #100, without having to raise the price. In general, the state of the magazine industry, coupled with the recession, means that everyone is trying to find ways to maximize their budgets. It can be a real struggle and publications are disappearing weekly. We've had to tighten our bootstraps like everyone else.

TO BE CONTINUED  . . .