Fear Vol.1 #1

Jul-Aug 1988; Cover price £2.50.
76 pages. Colour & B&W.
Newsfield Publications Ltd. / Leisure Monthly Ltd. & John Gilbert.

The World of Fantasy and Horror

Edited by John Gilbert.

Cover painting by Oliver Frey.

Contents:

.2 One person has emerged as the number one force in science fantasy. advertisement for King of the Murgos by David Eddings.

.3 Fear contents. / Indicia

.4 Dark Playground Editorial by John Gilbert; photograph by Cameron Pound. / Taste Perpetual Fear (three quaters page) subscription offer.

.6 Union Hack news feature.

.8 American Nightmares news feature.

11 Advertisement for Jade Games' The Knights of Avalon, New Order, and Shattered World.

12 Pro-Files They Live! John Carpenter interview by Kim Newman.

16 Fear Fiction The Prize text story by Shaun Hutson; illustrated by Oliver Frey.

21 How to Make a Movie, part one, Tales of the Busy Auteur text feature by John Gilbert.

23 What do the following authors & artists have in common? advertisement for Andromeda Bookshop.

24 Pro-Files The Scream: A Tale of Two Splatterpunks text feature by Philip Nutman; photograph courtesy of Craig Spector.

28 Pro-Files Censorship or Classification? Ken Penry interview by David Keep.

31 Movie Mainline reviews by Philip Nutman & John Gilbert.

36 Video Vibes reviews by John Gilbert, Steven McCormack, John Gullidge & Mark Salisbury.

39 Taste Extra Fear! book sale advertisement.

41 Off the Shelf text feature on horror books by Di Wathen. / book reviews by John Gilbert, Roger Kean, Mark Westerby & Philip Nutman.

47 Fear Invites You to... The World Fantasy Convention (one and a quarter pages).

48 Location Shots Toward Ancient Images Ramsey Campbell interview by John Gilbert.

50 Fear Fiction Eye of Child Hood text story by Ramsey Campbell.

55 Pro-Files Neil Jordan in High Spirits interview by Stan Nicholls.

58 Pro-Files When Lightning Strikes Peter Straub interview by Stanley Wiater; illustrated by Oliver Frey.

61 Fear Fiction The Dandelion Woman text story by Nicholas Royle; illustrated by Oliver Frey.

66 It's a Crime advertisement for PBM game.

67 Fear Competition Up for Grabs!

68 Location Shots Whim of Iron Stephen Gallagher interview by John Gilbert.

71 Fan-File fanzine feature (uncredited).

72 Fear Personal Classified Section (three quarters page).

73 The Fear Factor The Unblinking Eye text feature by Mike Wathen.

74 Next Issue (one quarter page).

75 Tactical Evaluation promotional feature on Games Workshop.

Fear has a solid line-up, and not just for a first issue. Oli continues to impress with another high quality illustration, and begs the question: where did he find the time? Alongside Crash, Zzap and other titles, his work was appearing everywhere in the eighties and nineties. Did he take any time off? Numerous parts of the magazine are grouped together with unifying headers, and listed as such in the contents - which isn't an accurate way to find the material thanks to changes before publication. Fear is so much more polished than a first issue ought to be.

Kim Newman's interview with John Carpenter is warm, intelligent, and informative, and makes several ever-pertinent points about the treatment of horror media. There's (also pertinent) political talk, which is hilariously accurate even today: "Truly, it will be the fellow who's craziest who runs the country." Carpenter may be the known for directing, but he's an astute political commentator. The tone of the interview is one of lamentation for the past, and the disappointments which his career has seen - Christine may have been a difficult movie to shoot, but his skill shines through in every frame.

Newman has a skill in teasing out information from his subjects, and there's a lot of ground to cover with Carpenter's career. There are omissions, and subjects tantalizingly untouched, which would have made this an essential read, but a merely great read is okay as well.

John Gilbert's opening segment of How to Make a Movie is a fascinating read, and contains a few really amusing details.

If a film's on a £1-£3 million low-budget you can forget Lawrence Olivier (well, it may be necromantic movie) for the starring role.

With the release of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the response would be "If Kerry can do it, why can't I?" Please don't answer that.

There are points Gilbert doesn't raise, which should be obvious but need reaffirming for would-be Hitchcock's reading this, such as never trusting anyone in a shiny suit. And don't show your script to your dentist's brother's best friend, who knows someone who is friends with a guy... For many people the information will be horrendously dated, as digital film-making has come on in leaps and bounds in the intervening years, making much of Hollywood's power to dictate the cultural landscape much less monolithic. For me, there's still enough juice to make the reading enjoyable.

Reading about Skipp and Spector always made solid entertainment, and Philip Nutman allows their story to unfold in a way which doesn't involve too much glossing. I really like that they aren't polished and media-friendly, and their lack of pretense really shines through - these are guys you want to hang out with.

David Keep's interview with then-Deputy Director of the BBFC Ken Penry (at a time when the organisation was going through a name change) is, for obvious reasons, an engrossing look into a world which often seems to exist behind clouded glass. Fans of horror films rarely got to know the reasoning behind some of the more dubious decisions, so a from-the-horse's-mouth account was a coup for the first issue. That so much of the focus is on the aspect of quality is rather disappointing.

There are times when a person simply wants to watch dumb characters being killed off by OTT means, such as Cannon's Psycho Girls. The "Cronenberg Concession" mentioned was always going to be an unfair advantage, and inelegantly applied - Paul Verhoeven coming off worst in several instances. It is odd how seeing a censorship petition can take one back to the early 90s so easily, and nostalgia for the days when arguing that films should be released uncut was a time-consuming activity. Kids these days have it on a platter...

Of the page-and-a-half of books offered for sale, I think I've read all but a dozen. Advertisements like these are often an indication that I should get out more, and I actually paused on realizing how many were familiar. And, of course, I've noted those which I haven't read in order to track them down. Fear even has a section of fanzines, which makes me love the issue just a teeny, tiny bit more than my already-enormous affection for the issue. There are few aspects of horror not covered, and it is here where a problem poses itself.

Do I whine that neither radio nor audio-cassette horror is covered, or do I accept that there are limitations? On the basis of enough stellar material to keep any horror fan as happy as a pig in Hannibal, I'm going to let the matter slide.

There are some problems in the first issue, of course, but they are negligible when appraising the good. A spectacular start.

Samhain #1

Nov/Dec 1986; Cover price 85p.
28 pages. B&W.
John Gullidge.

Edited by John Gullidge.

Cover (uncredited).

Contents:

.2 Heeere's Johnny! Editorial by John Gullidge.

.3 Samhain Contents. / Sam Hain UNTITLED [Misprints] w:/a: Pam Richards. / Indicia

.4 Sam's Snippets news; illustration by Pam Richards.

.5 Images of Argento text feature by John Martin; illustration by Gordon Finlayson.

.8 A Unique Vision: David Cronenberg text feature by Michael Wesley.

.9 Down the Crapper text feature by John Gullidge.

10 The Evil Dead w:/a: Richard Floyd-Walker, based on the screenplay by Sam Raimi.

12 Police 55 Anthropophagus Beast aka The Grim Reaper (1980) / Absurd aka Anthropophagus 2 (1981) reviews.

13 Mary's Monster Smash illustration by Gordon Finlayson.

15 TV Special text feature by John Gullidge.

16 Menzies' Marauders text feature by John Martin.

18 Carri on at Crystal Lake text feature by John Gullidge; illustration by Pam Richards.

19 Thank God its Friday text feature by John Martin; illustration by Gordon Finlayson.

21 It's Competition Time! (half page)

22 The Evil Dead (cont.)

24 Freddy and the Freelings Flop... text feature by Philip Godfrey. / Sam Hain UNTITLED [Grandma?] w:/a: Pam Richards.

26 What Sam Saw film reviews.

27 The Video Eye of Sam Hain reviews.

28 A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2 advertisement. / Next Issue illustrated by Pam Richards.

The Sam Hain comic strips make me smile every time I see them. For much of the nineties Samhain was the preeminent horror fanzine, able to go toe-to-toe with mainstream publications such as Fear and Shivers in content if not visibility. Having been a subscriber during the glossy era, the early issues are something of a surprise in both print quality and finesse - the paper used doesn't do the issue any favours, and some of the illustrations don't pop as much as they should, but for a fanzine this is an incredible beginning.

The Dario Argento feature is remarkably detailed, and points out that usual arguments about film are largely irrelevant when the cinematic vision is so stylized. There's a lot to cover when dealing with the films, and - likely due to space - the article feels as if it skips over too many moments which directly connect his early work to the films he was making in the 80s. It is interesting to see so much attention being given to Italian cinema regardless.

Attacking The Sun newspaper for its exploitative, shallow, biased journalism is like complaining that the night-time is dark. While sketchy and much-rushed, the adaptation of The Evil Dead is lively and has its' heart in the right place.

Remaining pertinent all these years later, the review of all the films featured in Scotland Yard's "Video Nasties" list is a reminder that police forces are the last people you want judging the merit of feature films. Both of the films covered in the initial installment are great drinking movies, and highly entertaining when watched with friends of a like mind, and unfairly persecuted by out-of-touch officers more concerned with their own appearance. The reviews don't shy away from noting the dubious acting, nor other issues with the films.

Having read through publications from every era, the constant refrain of "Hollywood is making too many sequels" continues to provide the most amusement. People keep saying this is so, yet throw their money at the films when they are released. Philip Godfrey highlights the problems with then-current releases clearly, making valid points about the limitation of both Poltergeist 2 and Freddy's Revenge.

Although missing audio reviews, book reviews, and commentary on the state of horror comics in the mid-80s, the reviews are intelligent and clever, aware of what has gone before - the launch of Samhain was a major point in the history of British horror fandom, bringing together people from all over the UK in celebration of one of the most unjustly maligned genres.