|
EOD Issue 1 March, 1991
I am the first to admit that I had no idea about putting a magazine together and was learning while doing it. At the time the only other publication in Australia, specializing in horror was Terror Australis, which had not put out an issue in almost two years. I figured that I would give it a go: even if I stuffed it up at least I tried. I had just bought a used Epson XT PC (No hard drive, just two 360K floppies and 512K of RAM! My mobile phone that can fit inside a cigarette packet has over a dozen times its capacity.) that had no graphics capabilities and was running DOS 3.1 and PC Write. Weren't those the days! At my job I was in charge of the photocopy-print room and had access to a more powerful computer (namely an XT with 640K RAM and 20 Meg hard-drive! Woohoo!) and a laser printer that would only print in Courier 12 point. Luxury! With this massive technology at my disposal, I figured that I could produce my own magazine. So I began working on the first issue of EOD in January 1991. I wrote to everybody on the mailing list that had been kindly given to me by David Tansey. A couple of weeks went by and I started to get the odd submission or two in my mailbox. Submissions were few. I actually printed everything I got and didn't get to reject a story until the fourth issue. After adding a couple of filler pieces that I wrote and a story of my own, I had enough material to put out the first issue. As I couldn't afford to pay contributors, I decided to keep David Tansey's idea of running a short story competition. I decided to run the competition over the first six issues and that I would give cash prizes of $80, $40 and $20 to the three most popular stories as voted on by readers. For illustrations and artwork I used material that I photocopied from a few books I had dealing with horror art. I used movie stills of Christopher Lee and Max Schreck as Dracula, as well as famous pieces from the medieval artists like Goya, as well as some of the great art that appeared in the horror pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. The first issue of EOD was completed in early March of 1991. I used grey card for the cover and A4 white copy paper for the interior. The initial print run was only 50 copies that I printed on the photocopier where I worked. I fondly remember my feeling of satisfaction when I held the first completed copy in my hand. The first issue of EOD was completed and mailed out in March 1991. Looking at the EOD #1 now it looks so amateurish to me. The layouts are badly pasted by hand, the artwork is stolen from books, and it is riddled with typos and other editing errors. However, at the time, EOD was the only magazine in Australia publishing horror ... and I was an amateur. Despite all of this, looking at EOD #1, more than sixteen years later, I can see it with fresh eyes and, considering my total inexperience at the time, I think I did okay. |
Contents: ______________________________ Reprinted below is my Editorial: Welcome to this first issue of the revived EOD Magazine. As you can see, I've made some changes from the days of the EOD Newsletter. I decided on this smaller, A5 booklet format as it makes the magazine easier to handle and it's also cheaper to print. The aim of the EOD Magazine is still the same: to be a forum where unpublished horror writers and artists can see their work in print and also to develop their skills in the process. The Esoteric Order of Dagon was originally a club started by David Tansey and some fellow cohorts (ghouls?) in Canberra in 1988. A newsletter, that mainly consisted of a few typed A4 sheets that were photocopied and stapled together; was started in January, 1989, and distributed amongst the members, as well as other interested parties and creatures. The first few issues mainly contained Lovecraftian fiction, articles on Lovecraftian horror, reviews and some discussion amongst the members. Throughout its 14 issue life, the EOD Newsletter, stuck to its guns and the content slowly improved as the contributing writers developed their skills. The last few issues contained some excellent fiction; examples of which were the three winning entries of the EOD 1990 Short Story Contest, which were: 1st, "Ride a Bullet", by Steven Murphy; 2nd, "Forests of the Night", by Louise Steer; and 3rd, "The Beheading", by Chris Clarke. Congratulations. EOD Magazine will be issued bi-monthly, and I encourage you to tell your friends about it. As per this issue, we have a distribution of about 30, and I am eager to increase this and reach as many horror heads out there as possible. As far as I know this is the only hard-core horror magazine in Australia that prints regular fiction. There's also Terror Australis, but its publication is so erratic as to make it almost non-existent (sorry Leigh). There's no need to go on about the lack of outlets for Australian horror writers. I just hope that EOD Magazine wall ease the void somewhat. I only wish we could afford to pay contributors! Enough of my ramblings. Turn the page and read on. Chris A. Masters
|
________________________________________________________________
|
