Famous Monsters magazine and brand to be revived by Slipknot’s Corey Taylor

From 1958 to 1983, the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland – which was edited by the legendary Forrest J Ackerman, was a great source of information and entertainment for genre fans. A revival of the magazine was headed up by Ray Ferry – who ran into some legal issues with Ackerman – from 1993 to 2008, and then the rights to the logo and title were purchased by Philip Kim, who had “an agreement with Ackerman to use his trademarks to retain the magazine’s original look and feel”. Now Famous Monsters of Filmland is under new ownership, as Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor revealed to Rolling Stone that he has purchased the rights to the brand.

Taylor will be relaunching the magazine as a biannual or annual publication and also plans to put the Famous Monsters brand name on toys, films, and festivals. He first broke the news at the Son of Monsterpalooza convention. Taylor and his business partner Eben McGarr also now hold the rights to the Famous Monsters store Captain Company, and to the life story of Forrest J Ackerman.

Taylor told Rolling Stone, “Our job is to build a foundation to bring Famous Monsters into the modern age, while also honoring the legacy that came before. It’s the whole reason that we were fans to begin with. It was the first real place where we, as horror nerds, could feel safe and feel connected feel like we weren’t alone. The internet has made it easy for us to connect, so I want to kind of make this another viable place for them to come.“

Every back issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland is going to be digitized and made available to read online for free in the “Ack-Hives”. There will also be a Famous Monsters convention that will celebrate the magazine’s founders Ackerman and Jim Warren. “We do that by celebrating them at the conventions with special Famous Monsters setups, almost like a moving museum of sorts, trying to recreate the ‘Ackermansion’ in a weird way.“

And, of course, the magazine revival will trace horror’s evolution and celebrate the icons throughout the ages: “As a fan who has loved all of it, there’s no one corner of the genre that I subscribe to. I can watch Karloff as the Mummy, or I can f*cking root for Brendan Fraser in the remake that now seems like a classic in retrospect. There are things to celebrate, going all the way back and going all the way forward. We’ll be looking at the monsters that I grew up with, which is Jason, Michael Myers, Freddy, although as the modern-day versions of these Universal Monsters and portraying them and having people play with how they look or how they pertain to the past, as well.“

Taylor is hoping to create new horror characters to base merchandise on, much like Ackerman and Warren created Vampirella and Eerie, and wants to make his own movies under the Famous Monsters banner. “I’ve been writing my own scripts now for the last five, six years. And I’m trying to get some of my stuff into production right now,. There’s a handful that are very, very close. So anything that I put out is instantly going to get the Famous Monsters logo on it, just to build that brand recognition.“

It’s a good plan, and it’s nice to know the Famous Monsters of Filmland brand still has so much life in it. What do you think of Corey Taylor taking over Famous Monsters? Share your thoughts on this news by leaving a comment below.