H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror: One Last Gasp?

The tragically dead "H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror" is offering its fifth and final issue as a free .PDF download over at weirdtales.net, the official website of "Weird Tales" magazine. The Wildside Press publication (also the creators of "Weird Tales") always followed an irregular publication schedule, but met with a final decision to close down earlier this year--possibly as a result of the melting economy. As a bittersweet memorial, check out their free finale. It's a handsome magazine featuring plenty of fiction from some well established writers in the niche of supernatural literature.

The website also includes mention that the 'zine may resume in some sort of online format. This may be a good move for Wildside, minimizing costs and maximizing exposure--depending upon if they wish to offer it for free or not, like this issue. Personally, I believe an online offering could provide certain experimental ground that would not be suitable for "Weird Tales" itself, in its attempt to be both weird and enterprising. It seems that part of the problem with "H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror" all along is that it had difficulty distinguishing itself from "Weird Tales." The first few issues included blatantly Lovecraftian content, but this became less as the identity of the publication itself ambiguously shifted in its last couple appearances.

As I have alluded to before, there is a definite gap in the realm of weird fiction that is utterly outre and also risky. From the internet or the presses, there doesn't today seem to be anything like a "Tekeli-Li" or "Dagon" or "Crypt of Cthulhu." These were considered "small press" outlets in their own era (1980s-1990s), however, they pioneered some of the most wonderful scholarship and tested the boundaries of weird literature itself by publishing authors like Ramsay Campbell, Thomas Ligotti, and D.F. Lewis, to name a few. Essays on H.P. Lovecraft frequently graced the pages of these magazines, as well as pieces on lesser known writers like Stefan Grabinski and Robert Aickman. Now, an online version of a something along these lines could work quite well. It would not be as intensely pressured to turn a profit--but still might through advertising alone--and could serve as a catalog of truly bizarre fiction and scholarship on all manner of weird writers. One need only look at an online community like Thomas Ligotti Online to see that there is a small, but devoted sect of readers who would follow this type of project. So, Wildside (or anyone else, for that matter), if you're listening, know that there is an interest in high weird horror--or "New Weird," as some have termed it--that will flock to any 'zine exhibiting the offbeat delights of philosophical and experimental horror.

-Grim Blogger