THRILLER: THE VAMPIRE WAS A SUCKER!

All I've got to say is, despite the economy being in the shitter there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with the collector's market. A visit to any auction website will prove my point, with the tens of thousands (and often millions) of dollars for sales of anything from art, to trading cards, to comics and musical instruments (think Mark Knophler's recent haul). A quick perusal on eBay will also show you that so-called "vintage" magazines carry high and often ridiculous price tags, as well.

Now, I don't know exactly how much of this merchandise actually sells, but I suppose that if someone wants something bad enough, they'll spring for it.

I found this unpublished post from 2014 that I never got around to uploading for some reason, so I thought I'd finally let it see the light of day.

The subject is Myron Fass' horror fiction magazine, THRILLER, published by Tempest Publications. I don't have any notes on the asking price at the time or if it was sold at all, but I included here part of the description by the seller:

"Up For Auction: Thriller Magazine, February, 1962, #1. This is Volume #1, and the First Issue of this magazine. A rather scarce magazine to come by. The man on the cover with the noose around his neck is actually Myron Fass, the publisher (looks like he was really involved with his publication). This appears to be a rather trashy magazine devoted to vampires, the occult, monsters, and other strange things. If you have been looking for this rather scarce magazine, this one deserves a second look. It is really nice, not without defects, but nothing glaring to take away from the really nice representation it has."

And then there's this:

"Publisher Myron Fass sat at the top of a pulp magazine publishing empire in the seventies that sometimes published as many as fifty titles a month! Fass favoured one shots, but this title (published in 1962, prior to the prolific publishing run of the ‘70s) lasted for three issues! It suffered from inferior production values (black & white pages on cheap newsprint) making them difficult to find in nice condition, a little crude, a little gaudy, and a lot of fun! Despite the almost total lack of horror film related content, this horror fiction magazine is, nevertheless, sought after by many monster magazine collectors. A few film stills were used as illustration for it's stories, but most of the photos (cover and interiors) were staged scenes of horror, possibly using members of the magazine's staff. The one being offered here (Thriller #2) is complete, but in well worn/read/heavily creased/fragile covers shape, but because of it’s historical significance, I cannot and will not toss it into the dumpster! Please enjoy the scans of some of the internal pages as they perhaps are your first glimpse into the interior of this issue. Here is a golden opportunity to obtain this magazine at a fraction of the price one in better shape (if you could find one at all) would undoubtedly command."

After doing a quick look-up on eBay, as of this writing I found two copies of THRILLER #1 for sale, one for $200 and one for $300. There were no issues of #2 or #3 listed, which gives me the impression they might be even harder to find than the first issue.

Don't mess with Myron!

Read another post about Myron Fass' THRILLER HERE.