 Famous Monsters of Filmland #14, October 1961 issue. Cover illustration by artist Basil Gogos. Famous Monsters of Filmland was a genre-specific film fan magazine started in 1958 by publisher James Warren (see Warren Publishing) and editor Forrest J Ackerman. Image File history File links FamousMonsters14. ...
Image File history File links FamousMonsters14. ...
The cover of the book Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos featuring a portrait of Lon Chaney in London After Midnight Basil Gogos is an American illustrator best known for his striking portraits of movie monsters which appeared on the covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine in the...
Even in the early days of film history, the audience appetite for new content was voracious. ...
This article is about motion pictures. ...
A fan magazine is a professionally written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fans of the subject matter which it covers. ...
Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Warren Publishing is a magazine firm founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. ...
Forrest J Ackerman (born November 24, 1916 in Los Angeles, California) is a legendary science fiction fan and collector of science fiction-related memorabilia. ...
Magazine History (1958–1983)
Famous Monsters of Filmland (which quickly became known to fans as simply FM) was originally conceived as a one-shot publication with no discernible future, published in the wake of the widespread success of the "Shock" package of old horror movies syndicated to American television in 1957. But the first issue, published in February 1958, was so successful that it required a second printing to fulfill public demand. Its future as part of American culture was immediately obvious to both men. The success prompted spinoff magazines such as Spacemen, Famous Westerns of Filmland, Screen Thrills Illustrated, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. For a definition of the word creepy, see the Wiktionary entry creepy. ...
Look up eerie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
This article is about Vampirella. ...
FM offered brief articles, well-illustrated with publicity stills and graphic artwork, on horror movies from the silent era to the current date of publication, their stars and filmmakers. By the decision of publisher Warren, Ackerman aimed his text at late pre-adolescents and young teenagers.
In the pages of FM Ackerman promoted the memory of Lon Chaney, Sr., whose silent works were mostly beyond the accessibility of fans for most of the magazine's life, but were a great influence on his own childhood; and introduced film fans to science fiction fandom through direct references, first-person experiences, and adoption of fandom terms and customs. Lon Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930), nicknamed The Man of a Thousand Faces, was an American actor during the age of silent films. ...
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. ...
FM's peak years were from its first issues through the late 1960s, when the disappearance of the older films from television and the decline of talent in the imaginative film industry left it with a dearth of subject matter acceptable to both editor and fan. During the '70s, the magazine came to rely heavily on reprints of articles from the '60s. In the early 1980s, the magazine folded after Warren became ill and unable to carry on as publisher, and Ackerman resigned as editor in the face of the increasing disorganization within the captainless Warren Publishing Company. The magazine stopped publication in 1983 after a run of 191 issues.
The magazine directly inspired the creation of many other similar publications in the ensuing years, including Castle of Frankenstein, Cinefantastique, Fangoria, The Monster Times, and Video Watchdog. In addition, hundreds, if not thousands, of FM-influenced horror, fantasy and science fiction movie related fanzines have been produced, some of which have continued to publish for decades, such as Midnight Marquee and Little Shoppe of Horrors. Castle of Frankenstein was a fantasy film magazine, distributed by Kable News and published in New Jersey from 1962 to 1975 by Calvin Thomas Becks Gothic Castle Publishing Company. ...
Cinefantastique is a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine started in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke. ...
Fangoria is a nationally-distributed US film fan magazine specializing in the genres of horror, psycho and exploitation films, in regular publication since 1979. ...
Cover of the May 10, 1972 issue (#8) of The Monster Times The Monster Times was a horror film fan magazine created in 1972, published by The Monster Times Publishing Co. ...
The cover of Video Watchdogs first issue Video Watchdog is a film magazine started in 1990 by publisher/editor Tim Lucas and his wife Donna. ...
A fanzine (also called a zine) is an amateur publication created by fans of a particular cultural phenomena (such as a literary genre or type of music) to address or correspond with others who share their interest. ...
Revival (1993–Present) The magazine was resurrected in 1993 by a New Jersey portrait photographer and monster movie fan named Ray Ferry. Ferry decided that the trademark for the title Famous Monsters of Filmland had not been "maintained" under law, and he eventually filed an "intent-to-use" with the trademark office without notifying Ackerman or the trademark's owner and creator, Jim Warren. Ferry approached Ackerman with a suggestion of his (Ferry's) resuming publishing FM on a quarterly basis with Ackerman as editor-in-chief for a fee of $2,500 per issue. Starting at issue #201, the new Famous Monsters acquired subscribers and over-the-counter buyers who believed they would be reunited with Ackerman in print. In fact, Ferry wrote many of the articles himself in the style of Ackerman, and heavily edited and even rejected contributions from Ackerman.
In an effort to help Ferry finance his full-time efforts on behalf of FM, Ackerman agreed to a reduced editor's fee of $1500 per issue. But Ferry failed to pay Ackerman for his services on four consecutive issues, continued to reject Ackerman's contributions, and Ackerman finally quit his association with Ferry and the magazine. Other than removing Ackerman's name from the masthead, Ferry did nothing to advise readers that they were no longer reading material by Ackerman or written under his aegis, and instead adopted Ackerman's style and trademarked (and well-maintained) pun-names. Ordered to desist by Ackerman, Ferry refused and a bitter feud ensued, leading to legal action by Ackerman.
Libel Lawsuit In 1997, Ackerman filed a civil lawsuit against Ferry for libel, breach of contract, and misrepresentation; Ferry had publicly claimed that Ackerman’s only connection with the new FM was as a mere hired hand and that Ferry “had to let Forry go” because he didn’t do any writing or editing for the magazine. Ferry also claimed rights to pen names and other personal properties of Ackerman. On May 11, 2000, the Los Angeles Superior Court jury decided in Ackerman's favor and awarded him $382,500 in compensatory damages and $342,000 in punitive damages. [1] [2] This verdict was appealed by Ferry, but the verdict was upheld by the Appellate Court of California, on November 12, 2002. [3] Faced with judgements in Ackerman's favor, Ferry quickly filed for bankruptcy. Massive legal bills and declining health forced Ackerman to give up most of his famed collection and beloved "Ackermansion". At 86 years old, Ackerman moved with a small portion of his collection to the "Acker-mini-mansion" in the Hollywood foothills where he continues to share genre props, art, literature and amazing stories with fans on a weekly basis. As of 2007, Ferry continues to publish issues of FM despite efforts on the part of bankruptcy trustees and Ackerman's lawyers to force the sale of the trademark. In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...
Breach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other partys performance. ...
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