Call Ripley! Call Guinness! Heck, drink some Guinness, too -- original Monster Kid Gary Svehla has been publishing his monster movie magazine, MIDNIGHT MARQUEE for a half a century! Plus, you can even save a few bucks by pre-ordering his monstrously monumental achievement on his MIDMAR website.
The special 50th anniversary issue is whole #79 and is advertised as being a whopping 250 pages! The cover is by longtime portrait and monster fan artist, Bill Nelson and depicts a tearful Boris Karloff as his "old friend". By a strange coincidence the pose is practically the same one that Daniel Horne did for Jim Clatterbaugh's 30th issue of MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT. And, I can't for the life of me figure out if he's weeping -- maybe because he's overwhelmed by the milestone or if this is the final issue? I guess we'll all find out soon. So get going and support one of the stalwarts in the monster magazine industry by buying a copy. I guarantee you'll be glad you did.
Here is the meat of the issue that is promoted on the MIDMAR website:
“Is Anybody There?”—An Iconic Doomsday Moment
By Arthur Joseph Lundquist
Science fiction’s end-of-the-world cinema generally features an iconic sequence with a lone survivor holding a microphone, looking out into the abyss and asking, “Is anybody there?” This article explores those apocalyptic moments.
David Robinson: An Artist’s Portfolio of Classic Screen Horror
One of the great artists of horror film fandom returns with an all-new portfolio, conceived in a technologically innovative fashion, documenting the growth of classic horror cinema over its history.
Déjà vu Boo!
By Steven Thornton
Proving that “Everything old is new again,” Steven Thornton focuses on trends in modern horror cinema and traces such trends back to their earlier classic horror roots.
Diamond of Frankenstein: Boris Karloff’s Field of Dark Dreams
By Don Mankowski
In 1940 a charity baseball game was played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, featuring many of Hollywood’s greatest celebrities, including a surprise appearance by Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein Monster, once again donning Jack Pierce make-up. Mankowski documents exactly what happened.
Forum/Against ’Em—The 13 Most Influential Horror Movies: Part Three
By Anthony Ambrogio, Gary J. Svehla, Mark Clark, Brian Smith, Jonathan Lampley, Steven Thornton, etc.
A bevy of MidMar writers attempt to forward the position that Gary Svehla’s list of the 13 most influential horror films is flawed and each author offers deletions and additions that make for the definitive list. Now if only everyone could agree!!! This Round Robin discussion gets out of hand rapidly.
Horror Fandom’s Outstanding Moments
By Gary J. Svehla
Gary Svehla remembers those pivotal moments from horror film fandom that helped shape him during 50 years of publishing Gore Creatures/Midnight Marquee
Horror Fanzine Publishing: The Evolution of Technology
By Gary J. Svehla
Gary Svehla recounts the different methods of designing, layout and publishing that occurred over five decades of publishing his magazine. The technology of publishing has radically changed since 1963 and Gary Svehla shows us the evolution step-by-step.
Horror’s Top-50 Movies of the Sound Era [1931-1999]: An Analytical List
By Gary J. Svehla
Every horror movie fan worth his or her salt has a personal list of all-time favorite films. To honor 50 years of publication, Gary Svehla shares his top-50 favorites and in 50 succinct paragraphs explains why.
How the Cult Culture of Horror Fandom Changed
By Gary J. Svehla
Today’s classic horror movie fan that frequents The Classic Horror Film Board may not realize how horror film fandom evolved during the past 50 years. This article attempts to get to the heart and soul of this cultural phenomenon.
It Came From Everywhere—Monster-Mania in the 1950s and 1960s
By Ed Bansak
Ed Bansak returns to our pages to document the birth of the Monster Kid Generation by focusing upon the evolution of the horror film magazine and how such publications created an everlasting sub-culture.
Lost Innocence—A Retrospective of Blood Demon and Christopher Lee
By Stephen Mosley
British author/actor Stephen Mosley fondly remembers one of the more neglected Euro-Horror chillers of the 1960s, Blood Demon, and explains why this generally forgotten chiller deserves rediscovery.
Seduced by Subversive Small-Town America, 1950s-Style
By Gary J. Svehla
The so-called Suburban Gothics, those movies produced during the 1950s occurring in small-town America, continue to terrify and thrill. See why movies such as Return of Dracula, The Vampire, Invaders from Mars, Blood of Dracula, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and others are linked by a perversion of small-town values.
Subterranean Chills—The Cave’s History and Evolution
By Barry Atkinson
Whether we are diving into the inner recesses of our subconscious mind or exploring the inky black world populated with unspeakable horrors below, the cave has become a horror movie icon. Barry Atkinson explains the cave’s history and evolution in the horror and fantasy film genre.
The Other Lionel Atwill: Still Sinister, Vengeful and Perverse
By Neil Pettigrew
Considered to be a horror film icon by the time he starred in Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum in the early 1930s, Lionel Atwill also had a distinguished career on the stage and played prestigious roles in non-horror movies. Using original research and interviews with relatives, Pettigrew has composed the perfect companion piece to Gregory Mank’s chapter on Atwill in Hollywood’s Maddest Doctors.
Thriller’s Classic Chillers—Season One
By Gary J. Svehla
Although surviving only two seasons, NBC’s classic television series Thriller, along with intermittent dark crime episodes, managed to produce episodes of startling classic horror. In this installment, we analyze the finest classic horror episodes to be found in the debuting season.
Tower of London—Pomp, Pageantry and the Macabre
By Gregory Mank
Though not technically a horror movie, this 1939 Universal historical drama, featuring a celebrity cast, contains grim aspects of Gothic horror. Historian Greg Mank explores the film’s horror aspects and details its troubled history from script and casting, to the actual filming, through the editing state, promotional tours and wide release.
Plus MUCH More (including fandom reflections by Richard Klemensen of Little Shoppe of Horrors; contributions by renowned artist Allen Koszowski; genre reviews of books and DVDs)
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