Vampy Crew

[dem]

May 24, 2021 12:09:03 GMT 𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr said:

Ooh I just noticed the Tod Slaughter reference. I will download this. Thank you!

Yeah, there was a pretty strange coincidence. Had no idea he was in there when I downloaded it that morning. For me, Lady Kruk's Mr. Murder review is the issue stand-out. Hope you enjoy it.

[weirdmonger]

Nostalgic reprise of this VAMPY CREW thread:

Dec 18, 2007 21:10:31 GMT dem said:

Tricky to get hold of now because I don't think too many people bothered with ISBN numbers at the time. The vampire small press mags and 'zines proliferated in the early to mid nineties, a moment of time captured lovingly in Mick Mercer's The Hex Files: The Goth Bible (Batsford, 1996) which includes reviews of several home made goth, pagan, fetish and vamp publications from around the globe. There were HUNDREDS and I'm sure I'll think of more the minute I've posted this, but let's go.

[Anthony Hogg]

Extract from Mark Williams, Why I Like Vampire Literature, (Onyx #4, May 1992)

Bucking a prevailing trend, this Ohio-based 'zine sacrificed quantity for quality, a typical issue running to a mere 14 sides of A4. On occasion, a short story would be serialised for anything up to four issues - a whole year's worth of Onyx! So, not a lot of it, but what there is benefits from an excellent print job, which doubtless helped lure many name contributors including Elaine Bergstom, P. N. Elrod, and Poppy Z. Brite (even if, in the latter case, it was only to rebuke Mr. Williams over a review of Lost Souls). Issue #4 while maybe too "isn't Anne Rice great?" for the faint hearted, also finds room for Jacqueline House of Zeor Lichtenberg to explain the thinking behind her supernatural - as opposed to SF - vampire outing, Those of My Blood, while the magazine's genial publisher, Mark Williams offers some thoughts on Sime/ Gen: A Different Type of Vampire Novel. Onyx #5 is more diverse, offering Margaret L. Carter on - I had hardly bring myself to type this - The Vampire as a Nice Guy, a celebration of the despicable likes of Count Saint-Germaine and Dr. Edward Weyland, i.e., whiny, sensitive, "sympathetic" namby pamby vampires who adopt little orphans and help old ladies across the road when they should be spreading plague, misery, and despair. Martin V. Riccardo enthuses over Rosemary Ellen Guiley's Vampires Among Us ("the best non-fiction book on contemporary vampirism I have ever read"). Also includes an Edward Schoun vignette, Blood Relatives - "You were exquisite and I loved every moment of it," she said. A vampire catches up with his first and last and always as she lies in the mortuary. Another for the sex with dead people files.

As it happens, I am editing a piece by Margaret L. Carter that mentions Lichtenberg's article from that issue, i.e. "Vampires with Muddy Boots." Would it at all be possible to obtain a copy of the issue or scan of the article for citation purposes? I also need a little something from its publication info section so I can cite it in a way that doesn't confuse it for the black lesbian newsletter of the same name.

Also, regarding the bibliography in VIEN, did many vampire periodicals have one?

[dem]

May 14, 2024 7:51:19 GMT andydecker said:

Great stuff. The era of Elaine Bergstrom, Tanya Huff and Suzy McKee Charnas. This takes one back. Never read the last one, but I quite liked Huff and Bergstrom. Even translated one of Bergstrom's early Ravenloft novels which was astoundingly good. (Well, in 1995 at least. Don't know what I would think today.) Hm, maybe something to post.

Issues 1-3. Margaret also published at least four annual updates to her The Vampire in Literature. The Vampyre's Crypt is particularly notable for Catherine B. Krusberg's ever-expanding Vampires in Print reviews column.

Margaret L Carter (ed.) - The Vampire's Crypt #1 (Maryland, Summer 1989)

Leonard J. Carter, IV

Margaret L Carter - Cryptic Remarks: Editorial

Fiction
Elaine Bergstrom - Ebb Tide
Dawn M. Kolometz & Toby Lancellotti - White Rose, Dark Knight
Sandra Robinson - Bathroom Guest
Margaret L. Carter - Caged

Non-fiction
Catherine B. Krusberg - Vampires in Print: Book reviews

Verse by Karen J. Smith
Illustrations: Leonard J. Carter, IV


Margaret L Carter (ed.) - The Vampire's Crypt #2 (Maryland, Summer 1990)

Dawn M. Kolometz

Margaret L Carter - Cryptic Remarks: Editorial

FIction
Anon [Margaret L Carter ?] - The Eldritch Travel Agency
Margaret L. Carter & Sandra Robinson - Midnight Visitor
Fay Dominie - One Night Stand
Tammerie - Bat in the Belfry
Dawn M. Kolometz & Toby Lancellotti - In for the Kill
Ruth M. Sacksteder - The Matter of Dr. Moraven

Non-fiction
Interview with Suzy McKee Charnas
Interview with Elaine Bergstrom
Anthology Sources for Reprints of Vampire Stories
Catherine B. Krusberg - Vampires in Print (book reviews)
John Robert Marlow - Night-Takes (movie reviews)

Verse by Jeffrey A. Barach, Roy Martin Nottestad, John Robert, Marlow, Jane Oz, and Fay Dominie
Illustrations by Dawn M. Kolometz, Donell Meadows, and Leonard J. Carter, IV

Margaret L Carter (ed.) - The Vampire's Crypt #3 (California, Spring 1991)

Donald W. Schank

Margaret L Carter - Editorial: Cryptic Remarks
Fiction

John Grey - Another Small Town Night
Carol A. Wiley - Just a Few More Pounds
Ann K. Schwader - Crossing Over
Tom Reidy - Weedkiller
Dale Hochstein - Metamorphosis
Yvonne Navarro - Rosedust
Bobby Warner - Back Home Again
Katherine X. Rylien - A Visit from Paulie
Ruth M. Sacksteder - Solstice Vigil

Non -fiction
Vampire Drama Checklist
Catherine B. Krusberg - Vampires in Print (book reviews)
John Robert Marlow - Night-Takes (movie reviews)
Interview with L. A. Freed
Tammerie - What Is the Surest Way of Killing a Vampire?

Verse by Jane Oz, John Grey, Marge Simon, Mary Shifman, and William P. Robertson
Calligraphy by Dawn M. Kolometz
Illustrations by Kevin Lindenmuth, Albert J. Manachino and Kevin D. Duncan, J. D. Raymond, Donald W. Schank, Marge Simon, and Linda L. Whitten

[dem]

L-R Roger Levasseur #87: Unattributed

Cassandra: Roger Levasseur

Roger Levasseur: Erik Rodenhiser

If the above are representative, a typical issue comprised six or seven stapled sheets. Readers letters and artwork, the occasional article - Tristram St. Simone Vampire Films You Should See, in #88, Giovanni Scognamillo, Things about Vampires in unnumbered 7th Anniversary issue (Oct. 1991) - and poetry by Count Ken Gilbert, Fay Dominie, Cassandra, Lewis Sanders (Of the Count Lucy Westernra Society of the Undead) and Jo-ann Volkman. Subscribers received a welcome pack of Count Ken Biography & Book of Creepy Verse, A4 poster and membership card. Count Ken launched his fan club in 1984. Not sure how long he kept it going, but the newsletter made it to #100 issues.

[helrunar]

Love the Count Ken biography. What a hoot! I've been up to Salem many times but have never spotted the good Count and his sinister Lady. Will have to keep a lookout and start checking more of the old cemeteries. Maybe the Count would enjoy having a dekko at my new "Peter Cushing's Curio Cabinet" Blu Ray set.

cheers, Hel.

[andydecker]

May 18, 2024 16:38:17 GMT dem said:

Count Ken launched his fan club in 1984. Not sure how long he kept it going, but the newsletter made it to #100 issues.

This is an impressive number. He sure did a lot of work.

[dem]

May 18, 2024 22:40:17 GMT helrunar said:

Love the Count Ken biography. What a hoot! I've been up to Salem many times but have never spotted the good Count and his sinister Lady. Will have to keep a lookout and start checking more of the old cemeteries.
cheers, Hel.

I hope they are still with us - and still producing newsletters. The Kenzine wasn't exactly Paperback Fanatic — it made Poison Coffin seem like Ghosts & Scholars — but I bet it inspired a few readers and contributors to try their own.

"The Count Ken Fan Club of Salem, Massachusetts, is another lighthearted organization for horror fans, started in 1984 by Ken Gilbert. Inspired to start a fan club after masquerading as Dracula at a Halloween party, he writes and edits a monthly publication featuring news items from Salem (“Local ‘Witch’ Runs for Mayor"), horror poetry and artwork, movie and video reviews, and reprints from tabloids. There are about forty members, including honorary members Peter Cushing, Forrest Ackerman, and Elvira."

— Norine Dresser, American Vampires: Fans, Victims & Practitioners (Vintage, 1990)

Ken McClelland