Is this the end of Fangoria? **UPDATE**

Looks like Fangoria.com is back live...sorta. The site is back live but I noticed a couple of things seemed a little off:

• The last post was made on January 10th
• The site has reverted back to the old design (it had been redesigned recently)
• The forums are still not working

After my initial post yesterday, I got a few tweets from former Fangoria staff members. So here are a few updates:

• Correction from yesterday. That new blog is made up of the former MAGAZINE staff not the web writers
• From @JamesZahn (former writer for the web staff) recently quit as did others that worked on the online portion of FANGORIA
• John Z. wrote up an article as well about the potential demise of FANGORIA, its other property (STARLOG) and the Brooklyn Company. Check it out here
  
• HorrorBid also wrote up something about this as well today (possibly inspired by my post :-))
  

Thanks for all the comments. If you have a subscription, you may want to cancel (just in case).

I'm sure the new big horror sites are to blame for their demise but FANGORIA was ingrained in all our childhoods. They could have easily reinvented themselves on the web. The magazine could have been a place where they drove traffic to the site (sorta how gaming magazines do their content).

I can't believe that advertising would have been an issue as we've had a large numbers of horror movies that come out theatrically and are out on DVD. Even horrible movies like Stepfather and other crap get ads forced down the horror community's throats. Aside from movies, TV shows and video games are a potential revenue stream. As I write this right now, they are running ads for The House of the Devil DVD, Frozen and The Crazies!

Well let's see if I've created some buzz so we can get some answers. I hate to be a TMZ-ish journafan, but I'm a fan and follower and even though things look gloomy and doomy, I want Fangoria to survive. I mean I won The Tournament on DVD from them recently!

Hmm, it's going to be interesting how this plays out. J. Zahn says we should all be on the lookout.

So let's try to ignore the volcano exploding in the background and reminisce about how Fangoria affected your horror second life. What's your fondest memory of Fangoria? Is it the magazine? A Weekend of Horror convention? The forums?

What's your story?

**UPDATE**

• Deleted magazine launch point as this was year old news

Is this the end of Fangoria?

With the Bloody Disgusting Awards contest (insert shameless plug here: Vote for the jaded viewer!!!) and the Total Film disaster, what I recently noticed that some people haven't been talking about is that Fangoria.com has been down for the last few weeks. If you click on the site, it goes to a blank white page.

Just a week or so ago, they had the logo up but it wasn't clickable. Hmmm, this all leads me to believe one of the following:

A.) The site's been having server problems
B.) It's undergoing a redesign of some sort
C.) They are possibly changing domain names
D.) The staff all left, the magazine is probably bankrupt and this is the end of Fangoria as we know it

Yup I'm gonna have to with D. That's the persistent rumor that's been floating around the interwebs of late. If it is true that most of the staff of Fangoria has been laid off, this is a sad day indeed.

Fangoria has been part of my horror childhood, tweens, teens and adult size life. I remember opening up a copy of Fangoria and looking at all the gory pictures and saying: "OMG! We gott a see Hellraiser Part...whatever". Look at Pinhead! He's fuckin badass!". The articles were a gateway into the minds of the horror filmmakers, the writers and the special effects geniuses we all know and love.

Aside from the magazine, the Weekend of Horrors was a must go event back in the day. I say back in the day because its recently become a shell of its former self. Horrible guests, boring panels, lack of dealers and just outrageous prices for autographs of C level celebrities.

But back in the day, it was filled with hard to find movies, a place to get awesome Evil Dead t-shirts and toys and collectibles that were nostalgia gone wild. The world premiere movies, the panels and the auctions made this one of the best conventions to go to.

Well that's all gone now.

The web is short on information on what's going on behind the scenes with Fangoria as we speak. Here are the rumors and heresay I've collected:

• One of the moderators at Fangoria.com (@fubarinpa) was booted as a moderator
• According to some message boards, the entire staff have been fighting and the web staff walked out and started their own blog (which you can go to here: Fangoria News)
• No new Fangoria Weekend of Horrors conventions have been announced
  
• The magazine is being handled by a different distribution agency
• The magazine has slight pulse (people have gotten the most recent issue)
  
• Editor Anthony Timpone has said it will be back up soon (via Facebook)
  

Well, will this all be addressed when it does come back up? Are all the rumors true about the web staff abandoning ship causing the site to sink? Hmm, well this post will add fire to the burning wildfire surrounding the future of Fangoria.

Fangoria is not the same as it use to be. In this internet age, how can a magazine/website compete with the Horror Hounds and Rue Morgues that seem to be now better in the space they once used to dominate.

Is this the end of Fangoria? What do you think?

******************************UPDATES***********************************

Look at what I started! Got a couple of updates and a few links from the horror-verse since I posted this up:

• As of right now, the site is down again (showing an odd logo of sorts)
  
• Here is my own update the day after I posted this (2/2)
• John Z's Weimar World Service chimes in as well (2/2)
• HorrorBid's take on the whole thing (2/2)
  
• Shock til you Drop also posted their own take as well (2/3)
  
• Jeff @ Dinner with Max Jenke adds his two cents (2/4)
• J. Zahn (former employee for the webite) tells you what it was like working there a few months ago (HorrorMovies.ca posted his rant if you can't access Facebook)

More to come as I see it. If you've got anymore information, put it in the comments. Also, check out the comments, a certain editor in chief seems to have left one in.

Here's hoping Fangoria survives. Some of us want to see it continue, others don't. But without any doubt, Fangoria has left a impact in the horror universe.