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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Fortean Times

All Acting Regiment

20:27 / 11.12.05

Does anyone read the Fortean Times? Well, Virgin Queen, obviously, as they came here from the fortean times message board, but does anyone else read it and what do they think of it in it's current incarnation?

sleazenation

21:33 / 11.12.05

Used to read it for work but haven't done so for a while now...

Mark Parsons

22:10 / 11.12.05

Been reading since 89 back when I lived in London. Saw it at that shop near Neal's Yard. Is is still there? What was/is it called. That & FP were my LSCs for six years, plus a small shop in Brixton run by a chubby, shady dude...

Mark Parsons

22:11 / 11.12.05

As to what I think, I think it's as good as ever (more book reviews for one thing). Over here in the USA it's ten bucks a pop, which is the only drawback. Sub rates are no lower either.

All Acting Regiment

22:16 / 11.12.05

Ten dollars? Yeah, that does seem unfair. That translates to about 5/6 quid over here and much as I like the magazine I'm not sure that "as is" it's worth that ammount.

I appreciate the way it tends to properly investigate things rather than just shouting about them. I gather it's more popular here than, say, Bizarre?

DaveBCooper

11:26 / 12.12.05

Love the FT, and have read it since it went all available-on-the-newstand-y around issue 52.

Whilst there are some areas it covers that aren’t my bag (cryptozoology just doesn’t interest me), the articles are generally interesting and well-written.

And as an occasional book reviewer for them, I shall take furioso’s comment personally. In a good way.

Sax

13:11 / 12.12.05

Modesty forbids.

Almost.

All Acting Regiment

13:38 / 12.12.05

Ah, you're allowed to pimp y'self, Sax. As a writer, did you find FT useful as source material?

Sax

11:15 / 13.12.05

Oh, immenseley. Not just for the big articles on monsters and ghosts and stuff, but for the little collections of oddities culled from local newspapers and the meticulous way they go about cataloguing incidents with names, dates, places and proper references.

Benny the Ball

09:47 / 14.12.05

I used to - subscribed and everything - but haven't picked it up for about a year. Is it still good? I sometimes see issues and think about picking them up, but haven't for a long time now.

All Acting Regiment

12:01 / 14.12.05

I'd say so. It's just got lots of interesting stuff in it, presented in an interesting way. The website's well worth a look if you want to get a feel for the general standard of articles, they put whole ones up there, and the forum, though horrible compared to this one, has a vast selection of disparate stories and encounters, marred somewhat by people called xcthulu666doomx posting stories about "PC gone dangerously mad" in the "Fortean News" section.

What you won't get from the website is the sense, built up from all the little articles and bits and pieces, of a wonderful world revolving out there. Add to this the fairly regular travel section (they've had piercing festivals in Bangkok and special mounds in Slovenia) book reviews (wide range of interesting topics, well looked at with no pandering) and yeah, I'd say it's worth getting at least one copy to see what's up.

Quantum

14:28 / 14.12.05

I Heart FT!

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

02:12 / 15.12.05

I buy it most months... I'm of the opinion that it's not as good as it used to be, however- it's not the quality of the writing or anything, it's just that when it was quarterly it just felt like there was just SO MUCH WEIRD STUFF bursting out of it... now it sometimes seems like they're reaching a bit to fill 12 a year. It's still a great mag, though... I think maybe the world's not weird enough.

All Acting Regiment

05:04 / 15.12.05

There's been a bit of a furore recently about the adverts in the back, with people complaining about adverts for drugs, porn, and (the third and most terrible, my eyes, my eyes) alchemy gothic jewelerry. What does everyone else think?

grant

16:13 / 20.12.05

Modesty forbids my sweet ass!

I don't think I ever made a conscious decision that I was going to write fiction. I just always have. I was the lad at school who, when asked to write about what he'd done over the summer holidays, would turn in a 15-page preposterous lie about being abducted by aliens and saving some far off planet from marauding space worms, that kind of thing. Hinterland was my first novel: I worked on it on and off for a couple of years, sent it off, got nowhere with it and shelved it, coming back to it a couple of years ago and eventually getting published by Immanion Press, which is run by British fantasy author Storm Constantine.

And so on.

doctoradder

03:10 / 25.12.05

Fortean Times is the only magazine I still subscribe to! Admittedly, it's had a few "dry" issues in the last year or two... and there's been a bit of pandering to media-related interests; but to my mind, the magazine's worth every penny. Where else are you going to get in-depth stories about Arthur Koestler's history with psi research, the occult Nazi castle, Victorian writers on drugs, and bizarre WW II weapons proposals to build battleships out of ice? All this, and one of the best book review sections around. (And BTW, the USA subscription rate isn't nearly as outrageous as the newsstand cover price. I think it's under $60 for 12 issues, which totals out to a much more reasonable $5 an issue. Check out the subscribe button at www.forteantimes.com)

adamswish

21:49 / 04.01.06

I dip in and out occassionally. Basically if I see it in the newsagents and the cover appeals to me then I'll pick it up.

Oh and for anyone looking for articles on Victorian writers on drugs might I suggest you try The Chap

BlueMeanie

19:14 / 05.01.06

I'm a subscriber, and an occasional poster on the messageboard there.

I think one of the best things about the magazine is its attitude - it doesn't fall into either the trap of cynical scepticism or gullibility. And it's not annoyingly agnostic, either, come to think of it. It's a very careful balance of a meticulous, adult approach and a genuine openmindedness. I like it a lot.

All Acting Regiment

00:32 / 06.01.06

Absolutely. I particularly enjoy reading their reviews of Matrix Warrior type books.

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