Fangoria #300 - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Red

Chris Alexander, editor of horror magazine Fangoria, posted the cover of issue #300 on Facebook a few days ago, and it's already the talk of the internet (if, by "the internet," you mean the dozen or so people who have commented on the page). Even former editor "Uncle Bob" Martin weighs in.

What has people talkin' and squawkin' is the return of the logo used in the mag's earliest years, beginning with issue #2. Hey, they even threw in the "Monsters, Aliens, Bizarre Creatures" tagline that adorned the first couple dozen issues or so of the magazine until Martin was able to give it the old heave-ho.

Frankly, I always liked this version of the logo; I thought it stood out on newsstands and it was clean yet had depth. I particularly did not like the logo that replaced it and which lasted for decades until a recent redesign which, oddly, made it look great. I don't know if this is a permanent change or just a 300th-issue homage. I also don't know if the tagline will remain. It's all up to the mag's publisher, editor, and designers. And newsstand feedback, no doubt.

But, as I hinted when I noted the inaugural issue by editor Alexander seven months ago, I think it's great that he's confident enough to make changes to the magazine. The mag is arguably more interesting than it has been in many years, and I find myself reading far more of each issue these days than I did when there was an overload of teen-torture films previewed inside. The magazine's smart, quirky, unpredictable, energetic, and sorta gross – exactly as Fango should be.

Fangoria #300 goes on sale in January.