This is an odd topic but we feel compelled to address in some capacity. If you're a horror movie fan even in the most minuscule sense, you know the name Fangoria. The magazine has become part of pop culture from its appearances in various genre films to having their name plastered on the side of movie boxes...

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Not only is the horror community familiar with the popular magazine but you're general every day Joe is also aware of the magazine's existence and in this day in age that is a huge feat in and of itself.

From bursting onto the scene in 1979 Fangoria magazine focused on a genre that, although popular at the box office, was often overlooked by mainstream audiences. Fangoria catered to us hardcore horror fans that wanted to know what went on behind the scenes and because the horror genre is so FX laden, Fango was able to take us onto the set and show us exactly how the monsters were created and precisely how many buckets of blood were used for one single shot.

From editorials on the great slasher films that were booming back in the late 70’s/early 80’s (Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street) to the independent scene that were strictly straight to VHS titles. Fango touched all areas and made fellow horror nerds feel like they belonged to a community. One that was living and breathing, one that was exciting and one that didn’t have to be such a taboo subject matter. You could come out of the shadows….if you wanted to.

Another huge part of Fangoria’s success was not only being one of the only boys on the block with a dedicated magazine to the horror genre but they were also highly collectible. Fangoria magazines became like baseball trading cards. Rare covers featuring the likes of Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger were often very sought after and still hold their value today. Finding rare mint condition magazines in great shape led people not just into the collecting realm but created legions of new horror fans as well.

At this point in history we hit what can only be described as the internet nuclear explosion. Things changed. People changed. Information became available at our finger tips. Print media slowly started to feel the barrage of brand new after brand new web start up. Anyone with any computer knowledge at all could start a website and before you knew it millions and millions of news sites were popping up providing information to the masses like never before. The local newspaper was no longer your sole source of what was going on in the world. Sports could be followed by the minute, not by the day. Movie and television shows had dedicated message boards and chat areas to discuss the things you loved and hated. The Yellowpages, THE YELLOWPAGES for the love of gawd, something we all grew up with has all but become obsolete. So goes many printed magazines, newspapers and newsletters.

Yes, this is the digital age and when Fangoria took to the internet a few years back it was no surprise. They had a successful print medium but they needed to stay in touch with the digital geeks that demand up to the minute information. They went live and thus Fangoria.com was born. Through many face lifts and changes, Fango.com just never felt like it could find its niche. After all, it revolutionized itself in print which is like capturing lighting in a bottle. The online model was something that was new to them and something foreign to a crew that was use to deadlines and editorials not up to date news and daily reviews.

That brings us to the present day. About two weeks ago or so Fangoria.com went offline and vanished. A logo is all that remained. No explanation, no comeback at this date, no warning at all. It was as if a there was a fully functional office full of people one day and an empty room the next. A week later the page is blank and we are no closer to an answer today then we were then.

Speculation is running wild. We’ve heard that the site has been having server problems or that it's undergoing some sort of redesign. Rumors of a domain change are also prevalent although again we all would expect some sort of message, something telling fans to at least check back. Another rumor, and one that we hope is not true is that the company has filed bankruptcy. Being in this business for the short time we have we hope that a magazine that we grew up with and frankly helped pave the way for sites like ours is not out of business.

Here are a few things we do know. The magazine is still in circulation, at least the latest issue that is. No word on the new cover has been released which usually comes our way this early in the following month. We also do know that at this time, no new Fangoria Weekend of Horrors conventions have been announced which again is quite surprising. In another, more odd instance is a freelance blog site has spurred off into existence called Fangoria News (http://fangorianews.blogspot.com/) yet seems to have no real affiliation with the Fangoria itself except a few former forum moderators behind the helm. With all these ominous signs it would appear something is clearly wrong. How wrong and to what level, we simply do not know.

Fangoria isn’t the same as it use to be, that can safely be said. But neither is the Simpson’s and we still watch it weekly. Is Fangoria dead? If we had to put money on it we doubt it. But with all the crazy speculation and rumors running around this was a topic we at least wanted to bring up and clearly something odd is going on. The horror world would not be the same without Fango included in it somewhere, that much we do know.

Is this the end of Fangoria? What do you think ‘Bidites?

UPDATE: Around an hour after this article was posted Fangoria.com came back online after there few week hiatus. It appears to be older content but the site does appear to working in some capacity and that certainly gives us hope that everything is on the up and up. Stay tuned for more details as we get them.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: It's been 24 hours since this story was ran and now the Fangoria.com site is currently down again with an error message. That usually is a bad sign meaning the site has officially been closed. If this indeed is the case then this is truly a sad day for the entire horror community.

UPDATE 2/4/10: You can now read James Zahn's (former Director of New Media Development for Fangoria magazine, as well as a Freelance Writer and Independent Contractor) message concerning this issue here.