The finest quality fanzine I ever saw was Tom Reamy's TRUMPET, whose film coverage laid down the template followed by CINEFANTASTIQUE in its heyday. It was a wonderfully professional looking publication, photo offset inside and color offset covers, with Selectric typography. It was a fanzine only in the nature of its circulation, as it had no newsstand exposure.

As a kid, I once sent away for the GODZILLA issue of THE JAPANESE FANTASY FILM JOURNAL and, quite a few months later, received an issue devoted to the second half of their FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD coverage. I felt ripped off and never reordered, but I read that issue until the pages separated from their staples. I've since acquired some other, later issues of TJFFJ and find its production qualities and content admirable.

PHOTON was also my favorite of the horror-themed fanzines. I haven't referred to my copies in awhile, but I'm sure the articles continue to hold up well. I'll never forget a hilarious, sly humor piece tucked into one issue that parodied mainstream thumbnail reviews of horror movies but inverted the critical remarks about them in ways that only real fans would notice and find funny.

LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS, of course, is extraordinary and a treasure trove of information goes into each and every issue. I saw my first copy, number 4, in a bookstore in Toronto and snapped it up. I've read and referred to it I don't know how many times. I have never in my life seen a copy of GORE CREATURES.

The last two issues of BIZARRE, published by Sam Irwin, also deserve special mention. He went all out with those issues -- including trips to England to interview various actors and key crew people -- and they're up there with LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, quality-wise. The first two issues, which I've tracked down, show ambition but their reach is beyond their ability.

I wish there was some means of perusing and properly studying the history of such fan publications. I also wish that some enterprising person, preferably with a sense of humor (Weaver, you listening?), would write a proper history of them while there are still some pioneers in this area around to interview on the subject.