PRINTMove over Glamour
The weird world of niche magazines that you never knew existed
HorrorHound Ltd.
May 27, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
It’s Amateur Radio instead of Allure, Rock and Ice instead of Food and Wine, and Online Genealogy instead of O. Each of these niche magazines can be found in Columbia, and Vox is here to take you inside the pages. We unearthed just a few niche magazines in case you need the perfect periodical for the cat lady with afghan quilts galore or the trench coat-wearing kid who never steps away from his horror-ridden videogames. Here are just a handful of the crazy, quirky magazines found around town.
HorrorHound
Found at Barnes&Noble
www.horrorhound.com
Published by HorrorHound Ltd., $6.99
Perfect for the horror-film, horror-video game, horror-anything aficionado who can’t get enough blood. Sounds gory, but that’s what this magazine is all about. From the Resident Evil character wielding a chainsaw to the drawing of a girl with a knife creeping toward her throat, HorrorHound makes Saw seem like a children’s movie. HorrorHound focuses on everything from movies such as The Exorcist and Chucky to action figure profiles where you’ll find Freddy, Jason and Leatherface all looking quite real and definitely scary. This is one magazine that guarantees to fill your “bloody appetite for all things horror.”
CQ Amateur Radio
Found at Barnes&Noble
www.cq-amateur-radio.com
Published by CQ Communications Inc., $5.99
Don’t forget about ham-radio lovers, with their old-school antennas and headphones used for who-knows-what. These are the folks subscribing to CQ Amateur Radio, a magazine for lovers of this out-of-date wireless way of communication. CQ Amateur Radio features articles for the young and old, and the magazine remembers that as they recruit young hammies, “we shouldn’t forget about recruiting older new hams as well.” Each issue contains departments such as Public Service: No Holiday Rest for Some Hams and The Weekender: Build a “RIB.” (That’s radio in a box for non-hammies.) To find this magazine, look for the cover with ancient radio gear and someone sporting headphones looking straight out of the 1920s.
Internet Genealogy
Found at Barnes&Noble
www.internet-genealogy.com
Published by Moorshead Magazine Ltd., $6.95
If you have a burning passion for family roots and heritage and know how to use that new-fangled gadget called the Internet, then pick up an issue of Internet Genealogy, a user-friendly guide to “researching your roots online.” Not only does this niche magazine have titillating articles such as “Homestead Act Led Americans West,” it also has features that reach worldwide such as the article for Aussie readers where you can learn “where to look for your ancestors down under!” Littered with black-and-white photos, Internet Genealogy also has a free issue online with a note from the editor who “had no concept of just how popular” this magazine would become.
Rock and Ice
Found at Walt’s Bicycle, Fitness and Wilderness Co.
www.rockandice.com
Published by Big Stone Publishing, $5.99
Warning! This magazine is not for folks with vertigo. With pictures of treacherous cliffs and mountainsides with barely noticeable, intrepid folks climbing them, these images can make anyone queasy. Rock and Ice is the magazine for “the best destinations, tips, tales and news from the climbing world.” The magazine covers all aspects of a climber’s life, from departments like Ask Gear Guy to Field Tested, which rates the rad gear of the climbing community. Previous features include articles such as “Get a Job! How to Work in the Climbing Industry” with suggestions for how to become a climbing photographer or gear rep, to “Landscaping,” a story discussing Northern Mexico as a “veritable paradise of untapped, sick-steep and shady stone.”
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