New Magazines

I'm a sucker for magazines. I love the real world-ness of them ... a sense of permanence that the good old world of PDFs and Websites can't replicate. This is why I still have stacks of old and loved magazines ... copies of House of Hammer, Monster Mag, Fangoria, The Monster Times and many more ... And now there's more to add!

I'd seen mention of this new magazine called Zombie! online but hadn't heard a thing about it ... but when I saw a copy in the local Smith's I had to grab it. For a start it has a glow in the dark cover!  When I was a kid I loved glow in the dark things ... from the Aurora Monster Model Kits to silly plastic skeletons you could get in Christmas crackers, I loved all things which glowed. I even tried to find some glow in the dark paint to paint some stuff with but failed! I don't think they made it at the time!

Anyway, Zombie!  has a cracking cover courtesy of Oliver Frey who used to do all the covers for the old Fear magazine - I told you I loved the mags - and his gory, stylised work is perfect for this magazine which, as the title suggests, is about all things Zombie.  So we get a Zombie Survival Guide, a Cultural History of Zombies, 21 Zombie Movies to watch before you die, reviews of zombie related stuff, feature on The Walking Dead, interview with Oliver Frey, games reviews, zombie tattoos, zombie comics, and finally a short piece with author Darren Shan about his Zom-B series of novels ... all in all it's a packed read, and has a snappy, modern, jumpy layout with lots of boxouts of information and imagery ... Really well designed and fascinating to flip through.

I have no idea whether it will last, whether there is enough zombie news, reviews and features to fill a monthly (at least I think it's monthly - I can't find any information!) magazine.  But I wish them well! From the first issue, it's a very promising start.

To grab a copy, head to:
http://www.get-zombie.today/

The other magazine offering is far more sedate. From its perfect and stylish black and white cover, The Mummy is a mag all about that creature, but more specifically about the 1932 Universal film. This is one of a series of publications from the amazing Nige Burton and team, and is a top quality printed work, with beautifully reproduced photographs. The care that has gone into it is evident, and it shows. They kindly sent me a copy for review.

Each edition focusses on one film, and here we have the Boris Karloff version of the Mummy ...so we have background details on the film, biogs of all the main players from both in front of and behind the camera, Mummy merchandise is covered, as are the sequels of declining quality, everything illustrated with stills and posters and lobby cards ... a beautiful appreciation of the film.

For more information about Nige's series of magazines and special publications, please head to:
https://www.facebook.com/classicmonstersofthemovies
http://www.classic-monsters.com/shop/