As of 2020 I’ll have been publishing online for 24 years. In that time I’ve seen countless horror websites come and go, most of which will not be missed by me or probably anyone else (I’ll never forget the nineties-era online critic whose “reviews” consisted of quotes from John McCarty). Below you’ll find listings for fourteen departed sites that I feel were worthy.
I admittedly wrote for a few of the following, but for the most part the dot-coms identified below were simply web sites I liked to read and/or watch. There are several sites I wanted to list but didn’t, as I was unable to uncover any info on them (such as a multi-million dollar horror website bankrolled by a prominent Hollywood mogul in the late nineties). Of those web sites whose info I did manage to uncover, I’ll confess that a lot of the information I’ve gathered is based on memory and hearsay, and so should be taken with a grain—several grains, actually—of salt.
NAME: Cult45.fsbusiness.co.uk
THE GIST: A UK-based online bookstore. I can’t tell you much about it because frankly I don’t think I ever checked it out. My reasons for liking the site were purely selfish: it featured an essay I wrote about author Daniel P. Mannix, on which the webmaster, as I recall, did a terrific job in terms of layout and illustrations.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: Your guess is as good as mine.
NAME: The Curse of Latomba
THE GIST: A website devoted to the most unique horror novel of the 1980s, the Southern tabloid-styled CURSE OF LATOMBA by “Edward Hyde.” This site detailed the oft-vitriolic reactions of various authors who were sent review copies of the novel (including William Golding, Louis L’Amour and Ken Kesey) and contained a link to the original Twilight Zone Magazine article that first alerted me to CURSE back in 1988.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: Actually, I don’t believe this site ever made it to the net, as the only proof I have of its existence are Xeroxed copies of the various web pages, kindly sent to me a few years ago by Mr. Hyde.
NAME: Fright.com
THE GIST: Up until its demise in 2016, the Fright Site, hosted at Fright.com, was perhaps the oldest horror site on the web. It began in 1995 but didn’t really get going until the following year, when interactive stories, an e-comic strip and other fun things were added, along with movie reviews by a certain someone named me. Truthfully I wasn’t expecting my tenure as Fright Site Film Reviewer to last very long, planning on quickly taking my leave—and, after twenty years and 1,700 plus articles, I finally did.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: Fright.com was created with what (by the 2010s) was hopelessly outdated technology, and eventually it just stopped working. Hence the site to which you’re currently logged on.
NAME: Horror-Wood.com
THE GIST: This UK-based site, focused on classic horror movies, was structured as a profusely illustrated online periodical, with a new “issue” each month. It was a bit overly reminiscent of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND in its emphasis on old-time horror cinema and use of words like “Fang-tastic,” but its articles (which included a reposting of my CHRISTMAS & HORROR piece) were usually always worth reading.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: The whole enterprise evidently cost a fair amount of money, and not a little time on the part of its editor/webmaster. I’m actually surprised he kept it up as long as he did.
NAME: Japanese New Wave
THE GIST: A short-lived companion site to the late SuperHappyFun (see below) that specialized in lovingly digitized DVRs of quite a few Japanese cult films.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: There was reportedly a lot of infighting among its proprietors.
NAME: The John Shirley Message Board
THE GIST: This message board, run by the famed horror and sci fi novelist/screenwriter John Shirley, offered some of the most stimulating political discourse I’ve encountered online. Shirley, you see, is a hardcore liberal, while most of his readers, it appeared, were Ron Paul-worshipping libertarians. This led to quite a few provocative arguments, along with much chatter about interesting topics relevant to horror and sci fi fans (it was here that I first learned about the amazing CODEX SERAPHINIANUS).
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: Shirley apparently got fed up with all the libertarian banter.
NAME: Neon Madness
THE GIST: A webzine run by the late filmmaker Andrew Copp (of THE MUTILATION MAN) that among other things featured strong reviews of quite a few cult horror flicks. I know I’ll always remember the site’s home page, which had the exploding head from SCANNERS played on a never-ending loop.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: No idea, although Andrew Copp in later years seemed pretty adamant that Neon Madness was “finished.” RIP to Neon Madness and Andrew Copp, who died on January 19, 2013.
NAME: Olympia Press.com
THE GIST: An amazing collection of X-rated literature in pdf format, much of it published by the fabled smut outfit Olympia Press, and priced at (mostly) one dollar per book. The site proclaimed itself, and was indeed, “the web’s largest, best-written, and best-priced collection of digital erotica and avant-garde literature.”
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: I guess selling books, even of the “e-” variety, for a buck a piece just doesn’t pay the bills.
NAME: Pimpadelic Wonderland
THE GIST: A gaudily designed site devoted to cult cinema of the 1970s, run by a guy who really knew his stuff. Pimpadelic Wonderland suffered from the fact that it was updated quite infrequently, although the amazing Video Library was compensation enough, being one of the most mind-blowing collections of cinematic dementia I’ve ever encountered (I was the source, FYI, for several of its videos).
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: The guy who ran the site appears to have become quite distracted by his extra-curricular activities, being a video DJ and programmer for the late LA-based Cinefamily theater.
NAME: The Spam Cam
THE GIST: A chunk of spam left out with a camera recording it as it moldered, the rate of which you could compare with that of other decaying foods (bananas, pickles, etc). Yes, that adequately sums up the “Spam Cam,” which is of interest to me because it was once an adjunct to Fright.com—and also because it remains one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: The people who ran the site (i.e. the people that initially ran my site) lost interest.
NAME: Subterranean Cinema
THE GIST: A fun, highly quirky cult film site that was updated far too infrequently, and run by an interesting fellow who billed himself as, variously, Don Hicks, Alex Hicks and Don Jodorowsky.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: I recall reading somewhere that Mr. Hicks/Jodorowsky was “in trouble” (legal? financial? familial?).
NAME: SuperHappyFun
THE GIST: Until it shut down a few years ago this invitingly designed site was the premiere source for hard-to-find foreign and cult DVRs. Run by Cashiers du Cinemart’s Mike White, SuperHappyFun’s DVRs were reasonably priced, of generally good quality and overall well worth the cost.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: In a mass email Mike explained his reasons for shuttering the site, but I’ve forgotten what they were.
NAME: Terrorflicks.com
THE GIST: A horror movie review site that began in September 2011 and went dark four months later. I was among those who wrote for it, and found the experience a (mostly) pleasant one.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: The entire enterprise was a bit overly ambitious, with around a dozen (paid) writers, a forum and an assortment of “horror babe of the week” models. Still, I believe the site had potential, and could have gone the distance if only its proprietors had stuck with it.
NAME: Witching Hour Video
THE GIST: Another excellent web-based source for hard-to-find horror and cult DVRs.
PROBABLE REASON IT FAILED: I’ve heard that the guy who ran the site, who went by the moniker “I. Zombie,” died a few years ago—can’t confirm it, though.