Ashleigh's Textual Analysis Of A Horror Magazine

Textual Analysis of A Horror Magazine

Fangoria

Fangoria is a hugely popular internationally distributed American Magazine based solely around types of horror. The name instantly is recognised as a horror magazine and has everything from horror news to horror reviews.

This magazine follows the typical conventions of a magazine; its portrait, has a barcode along with a masthead and sub-heading. The picture is located in the centre of the page and shows a man with a skeleton mask on his face looking very creepy- this is a close up . At fast glance to the audience it would just look like a mask but closer we can see the ears of the person so we assume its a guy in a mask. The image is a shiny grey along with black and this creates a creepy dark look but also stands out to the audience. The lighting used on the skeleton face allows the image to stand out. The face is big enough so that it stands out and is used in a classic way, although we cannot see the eyes of the model we get the impression they are giving us full eye contact. The background along with the picture is mainly black with a few faded lines in the background, this makes it look less plain. The dark background gives a sense of horror to the magazine and also help the image to stand out.

The title of the magazine is “Fangoria” and this would be used on all of the magazines and as well as being the front cover title it is also used as a logo for advertising and branding. The title is done in a specifically designed way so that it is recognisable to its audience. The red text against the black background works really well in helping it stand out, and it is also a symbol uses a lot in horror as it represents darkness and the red represents blood and danger. The text is also in sans serif font which creates a more modern and up to date feeling, this would make younger audiences more likely to buy it as it shows they are up to date with trends.

The main cover line of the magazine is “Laid To Rest He Kills You Best”, this makes reference to the image and they work together to advertise the film. The cover line has two different fonts and covers and this may be to spread out the sentence as it is rather long.

A fair amount of magazines use a lot of coverlines for their magazines to attract the audience and also to fill the page, Fangoria doesn’t use that many and this may be to make the picture stand out more. Sometimes magazines overrun the image that is on the front cover too much with font and use too many colours in text that they become invisible; Fangoria doesn’t do this and has stuck to two basic colours Red and White. The sub-cover lines are in white and this isn’t because they aren’t as important but simply because they aren’t related to the main image on the page.

Also mentioned in the magazine is Harpers island a horror series shown in America and the UK, as well as mutant chronicles. The barcode is in the bottom left hand corner and connotes that it needs to be purchased. As the magazine is international not just American it ensures it uses films and television series from all over.