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FM did it for me--it was the first horror genre magazine I ever laid my eyes on. The first time was sometime in 1962, when I was 9. An older friend of my sister's had a copy of it, which I could only view by the cover (can't remember the illustration, though!). In September 1965, I actually bought my first issue of FM, #35, with that great Bela cover! Read it front to back, again and again, and I was hooked like a flounder.

The second genre mag I tapped into was Monster World, with #6, sporting a "Santa Frankenstein" cover. I didn't branch out until May of 1966 with Modern Monsters #2, again featuring a Bela cover. I liked that even better than FM, because it contained a color "poster" from Horror of Dracula! So, at that point, I was reading and collecting FM, MW, and MM. Then, in August of 1966, I was given Castle of Frankenstein #9 (The Joker cover), and that became part of my reading list. This was followed quickly by Monster Mania, Creepy, and Eerie!

1965-1967 was monster heaven for me! Not only was I actively collecting the Aurora kits (and 66 was the high point, with classics like The Munsters, the Addams Family Haunted House, Man From Uncle, Batman, etc.), I had all those great monster mags to keep me literally punch drunk! Alas, after 67, the mags dropped off dramatically. First, Modern Monsters bit the dust after #4 (in October 66, I believe). Followed by Monster Mania in April of 67, and then Castle began playing games with their release dates--with a year or more between issues. That was just ridiculous to me, a kid hooked on monsters.

So, I stuck with FM. It may have been repetitive, it might even have been a tad juvenile, but the magazine was basically on time. I could count on it, and that meant something in my young life, when so many things let me down. Once FM began covering my favorite TV show (Dark Shadows), I realized that Uncle Forry was truly one of "us." Beck might've been an intellectual, but Forry knew what it was like to be a kid. I could relate to him on every level. He liked Vincent Price, I liked Vincent Price. He whet my appetite for the Universal classics and told me about Lon Chaney, Sr. Where else would I have found that information, at that point in my young life?

While I loved Castle of Frankenstein for its unique point of view and the thought-provoking articles, I will always have a place in my heart for my dear ol' uncle. He got there first, dug in his claws, and has never let go.

Rod