May 2016 marks the 28th anniversary of GOREZONE, the bi-monthly ‘sister’ publication of FANGORIA Magazine which made its debut in 1988. At the time, GOREZONE was intended to act as a sort of companion piece to its more well-known counterpart, covering the bloodier/weirder/more obscure stuff that Fango didn’t. Can you imagine? So many noteworthy horror films were being released, multiple magazines were necessary to cover them all. What a time to be alive!
GZ ran for a brief but bloody 27 issues, ending its run in 1994. Despite a short magazine stand life, it was a hardcore horror fan favorite. It was nastier, slimier, and darker than Fango, and it wasn’t afraid to showcase the splattery stuff, oftentimes as close-up and vividly as possible. Thanks to the powers of nostalgia, GZ was revived in 2013, albeit with one minor limitation – it is now only available via direct subscription.
In honor of GOREZONE and the lasting impact it had on gorehounds like me, today Camera Viscera turns into a virtual magazine rack. Below are a few colorful excerpts – high quality scans directly from my own copy of GOREZONE #1. I love everything about it: the simple layout and colors, the enthusiasm, the puns, and the journalistic earnestness. And how about that classifieds section? Can’t beat it. Enjoy!
Camera Viscera 
I have six gorezone magazines. I always hung the posters on my wall. A few fangoria me and my boy were big into horror flicks
LikeLike
Nice! I always loved GoreZone—felt much grittier and darker than Fango.
LikeLike
This is awesome! Does anyone have a copy of an issue from 2009/10?
LikeLike
Man I love this stuff. I never subscribed to Gorezone, only Fangoria. But I used to wait in my room and watch out the window for the mailman. If he had that black garbage bag looking thing, I’d beat it right to the mailbox. Feelings like this are why I’m chasing nostalgia all the time.
Every once in a while I’d find Gorezone at the convenience store. Always a great feeling. My collection is much smaller though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Your memory of Fango being wrapped in a black bag is awesome; I didn’t subscribe (always bought it at the store), so I didn’t realize they treated it like it was a copy of Penthouse. How silly.
I’m still searching for a childhood memory I have that’s associated with a horror magazine: it’s hazy, but I just remember flipping through one at the grocery store and being so creeped out by some of the illustrations in the back of the magazine, that I actually said aloud “this scares me”, which prompted my mom to never buy me another horror magazine again. Learned my lesson that day – play it cool around the parents. Still don’t know which magazine it was, but I’m always on the hunt.
LikeLike