Although Gordon Van Gelder’s The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction tended to rely on too many of the same names, there were still some very fine stories by Terry Bisson, Claudia O’Keefe, Gene Wolfe, Charles Coleman Finlay, Steven Utley, Laird Barron, Gardner Dozois, Christopher Rowe, Peter S. Beagle, Geoff Ryman, Carol Emshwiller, Scott Bradfield and Susanna Clarke, amongst others. Harlan Ellison set a challenge in the September issue with a story outline about Lady Luck that was picked up by Tananarive Due, Michael Kandel and Michael Libling. The same issue also reprinted a selection of letters between the late James Tiptree Jr (Alice B. Sheldon) and Ursula K. Le Guin.
As usual, regular FSF columnists included Charles de Lint, Elizabeth Hand, Kathi Maio, Michelle West, Paul Di Filippo, Robert K. J. Killheffer, James Sallis and Lucius Shepard, while the “Curiosities” page, recommending obscure books, featured contributions from Bud Webster, F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre, Gregory J. Coster, Michael Swanwick, Dennis Lien, Bud Webster, Thomas Marcinko, Paul Di Filippo and David Langford.
Fourteen months after going “on hiatus”, Amazing Stories was finally cancelled by Paizo Publishing after it was unable to increase circulation and attract media advertising. As a result, rights in the title reverted to Wizards of the Coast.
The third issue of Allen K’s Inhuman Magazine expanded the rota of artists working on the title and included new and reprint fiction from Michael Shea, Gerard Houarner, Melanie Tern, Tina L. Jens, Edward Bryant Jr., Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Resnick and others.
James R. Beach’s Dark Discoveries featured interviews with Elizabeth Massie, Douglas Winter, J. F. Gonzalez, Stephen Mark Rainey and Brian Knight, along with fiction from Gerard Houarner, Kealan Patrick Burke and Ken Goldman, plus a tribute to J. N. Williamson.
The four issues of Jason B. Sizemore’s impressive-looking magazine Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest included fiction from Ben Bova, Robert Dunbar, Amy Grech, William F. Nolan, Michael Laimo, Tom Piccirilli and Lavie Tidhar, interviews with Neil Gaiman, Robert Rankin, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Poppy Z. Brite, Kage Baker, Michael Laimo, Tim Powers, Tom Piccirilli and Kelly Link, plus various articles and reviews.
Patrick and Honna Swenson’s Talebones: Fiction on the Dark Edge got a reprieve after the editors decided to close it down after almost eleven years due to financial difficulties and a dwindling subscriber base. Following an online plea, the magazine added 120 new subscribers, with more promised, and several extra pages of paid advertising. As a result, the title would survive for at least another year. The two issues published in 2006 contained stories and poetry by Charles Coleman Finlay, James Van Pelt, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Don D’Ammassa and Mark Rich. The editors decided to drop the interview section following Ken Rand’s talk with Louise Marley in issue #32.
Christopher M. Cevasco’s twice-yearly Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction featured fiction and poetry by Lisa Jensen, Adam Stemple, Jane Yolen, Darrell Schweitzer and Sarah Monette, amongst others.
Published bi-monthly by TTA Press, Interzone: Science Fiction & Fantasy included fiction by F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre, Richard Calder, Paul Di Filippo and Jay Lake, plus interviews with Terry Pratchett (twice!), Gerry Anderson, K. J. Bishop, Steven Erickson and Christopher Priest, along with all the regular news and review columns. Also from TTA, Crimewave Nine: Transgressions contained twelve new stories by Scott Nicholson, John Shirley and others.
Despite still advertising subscriptions, TTA Press’ previously announced horror magazine Black Static (formerly The 3rd Alternative) failed once again to appear in 2006.
Edited by Trevor Denyer, Midnight Street: Journeys Into Darkness included fiction by Paul Finch, Gary Couzens, Rhys Hughes and Peter Tennant, along with interviews with authors Deborah LeBlanc, Ralph Robert Moore and “B” movie actress Lilith Stabs. Tony Richards was the featured author in issue #6, Gary Fry in #7, and L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims were showcased in #8.
The fourth annual issue of Adam Golaski and Jeff Paris’ perfect-bound New Genre contained four stories by Jan Wildt, Paul A. Gilster, Christopher Harman and Don Tumasonis.
The December issue of Realms of Fantasy featured an exclusive interview with Laurell K. Hamilton, while the Winter issue of Joseph W. Dickerson’s Aberrant Dreams included fiction by, and an interview with, Gerald W. Page.
Dave Lindschmidt’s glossy City Slab included stories by Jack Ketchum and Sonya Taffe, interviews with Ketchum, Bill Moseley and Ray Garton, and articles about film directors Dario Argento and Takashi Miike.
Edited by Doyle Eldon Wilmoth Jr. and published by SpecFic-World, Rogue Worlds was another magazine featuring horror fiction and poetry, while the twentieth anniversary issue of Eric M. Hei-deman’s perfect-bound Tales of the Unanticipated #27 was a special “Monsters Issue”.
From Elder Sign Press, William Jones’ Dark Wisdom: The Magazine of Dark Fiction took on a more professional appearance with full colour covers and fiction and poetry from John Shirley, Paul Finch, Gerard Houarner, Bruce Boston, Jay Caselberg, Scott Nicholson, James S. Dorr, William C. Dietz, Stephen Mark Rainey, Gene O’Neill and others. Each issue also featured a graphic tale and a serial.
Issue #23 of Cthulhu Sex Magazine, described as “the magazine for connoisseurs of sensual horror”, included a portfolio of illustrators featured on the www.spookyART.com website, including co-founders Chad Savage and Alan M. Clark, Jill Bauman, Alex McVey, Jason Beam, Dan Ouellette, Robert Morris and John Schwegel.
With still no sign of their long-promised tome on Italian director Mario Bava, Tim and Donna Lucas managed to get just five issues of Video Watchdog out in 2006. Despite too much obvious “filler” material, there were still interesting articles on the making of Amityville 3-D, Edgar Wallace’s involvement in the original King Kong, and a look at the films of low budget director Del Tenney. While Joe Dante bowed out with his long-running review column, Ramsey Campbell joined the magazine with “Ramsey’s Rambles”.
Canada’s Rue Morgue magazine turned out eleven glossy issues in 2006. Along with all the usual movie, DVD, book and music coverage, issues also featured interviews with Roger Corman, Clive Barker, Wes Craven, Jean Rollin, Lina Romay, Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, Basil Gogos, David Seltzer, Richard Donner, Peter Straub, Adrienne Barbeau, Takashi Miike, Pete Walker, R. Lee Ermey, Ingrid Pitt, Ramsey Campbell, the late Billy Van, Elvira, Bob Clark and John Saxon. The 9th Anniversary Halloween Issue was a tribute to late Italian director Lucio Fulci and also included “The Connoisseur’s Guide to 50 Alternative Horror Books”.
The annual Rue Morgue Festival of Fear, held over three days in September in Toronto included special guests Alice Cooper, Guillermo del Toro, Jeffrey Combs, Linda Blair, Roddy Piper, Ben Chapman, Michael Berryman and others.
HorrorHound was a new glossy magazine out of Cincinnati, Ohio, which was devoted to movies, comic books, video games, model kits, DVDs and gore.
Charles N. Brown’s newszine Locus entered its 40th year of publication with interviews with, amongst others, Geoff Ryman, S. M. Stirling, Dave Duncan, the inevitable Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Jay Lake, Betsy Wollheim, Peter Straub, China Miéville,, and Joe Hill (who was outed by Variety in early 2006 as Joseph Hillstrom King, the son of Stephen and Tabitha King). The May issue looked at “Young Adult Fiction” with essays by Ursula K. Le Guin, Garth Nix, Graham Joyce and others, while the July issue’s “Special Horror Section” featured commentary from Edward Bryant, Ellen Datlow and bookseller Alan Beatts.