Dan Rafter is a freelance writer and editor. He's also the author of GEARZ, a new comicbook mini-series to be published in early 2008 by BlueWater Comics.
It looks like 2007 just isn't Fangoria's year.
The venerable horror publisher has to hope 2008 turns out better. Earlier this year, the publisher discontinued its series of horror comics. That's not so unusual. Comics companies come and go. But Fangoria only gave its comics division a few months before dumping it.
Then earlier this week, the publisher suffered more bad news: A fire roared through an Oregon, Ill., warehouse destroying loads of Fangoria back issues in the process. The issues were used to fulfill mail and online orders. The flames, according to www.fangoria.com, also destroyed back issues of Starlog, Star Trek and all of the company's movie tie-in titles. This means that Fangoria will no longer be able to provide back-issue orders for any of the company's past titles. If you need that Fangoria issue from December of 2005, then, I suppose you're out of luck.
The fire, by the way, was no small blaze. The blaze erupted after a forklift driver punctured a gas line located close to a space heater. According to Fangoria, more than 100 firefighters from 20 departments arrived to help douse the flames. Fortunately, none of the 20 Fangoria employees in the building were hurt.
So, if you think you had a bad 2007, take heart: It probably wasn't as miserable as the year Fangoria has been having. (And there's still a few weeks left before the calendar turns!)