My Interview With Fangoria (Editor In Chief) Chris Alexander

Chris: Chris Alexander,  Please tell my readers where you are from?

Chris Alexander: I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. And with the help of technology, I edit FANGORIA - as well as dabble in other media - from my office just outside the city limits.... 

Chris: Chris A., Who inspired you to become a writer? 

Chris Alexander: A desire to communicate. To me, music, film, writing...it's all the same, it's all music...it's all rhythm. It's all creating a world that invites, entertains, provokes. I always knew I could write since I was a little boy. And when I started getting rewarded for my work - gold star from teacher - that was it. By reading, by watching other people read, actor's act, listening, observing and grafting onto writer's I liked, I found a style that imitates my speech patterns. That style owes as much to beat poetry as it does the late Chas. Balun. That's important - find your style, don't repeat words, learn NEW words, always expand your vocabulary, always try to get BETTER.... 

Chris: You've worked for the two biggest names in horror publication, how do they differ in content and marketing styles?  

 Chris Alexander: RUE MORGUE gave me my first taste of having a following for my thoughts and writing. The company itself was on the upswing, growing rapidly and knocking down its competition when I was there. It felt like you were part of something but by the same token, it was like a club. FANGO is old blood and by the time I got there, it was in need of a fresh coat of paint, which I have tried to do by making the horror mag that I'd like to read. Comparing the two from my point of view...there is none. At RM I was just a writer. At FANGO I have creative control....obviously the latter wins for me!

Chris: As an avid reader of your former column in Rue Morgue, are there plans of ever bringing it back to a larger audience in Fangoria?  

Chris Alexander: I like to think that the little column in RM - Schizoid Cinephile - has been expanded to the point that its all over FANGORIA....every page of the mag is personal to me and that was the point of the column, to defend and get people excited about cinema that meant something to me, to others. To find interesting angles in common stories, always defy expectations.  Plus, I write SO much of the mag now....it feels like a refined version of that column, which i cannot ever read today because it feels so sloppy and immature!

Chris: You composed the Music for Rodrigo  Gudiño's series of short films would you like to talk about that experience? 

Chris Alexander: Negative. Rod bought one of my pieces 'ORGAN GRINDER' for his short film THE DEMONOLOGY OF DESIRE. I liked the film and I thought my track worked well. 

Chris: You also have an album coming out through an independent music company correct?  

Chris Alexander: Already out from 2M1 records...it's called MUSIC FOR MURDER and it's a collection of some of my favorite pieces of music that I've been quietly making over the last decade.  

Chris:  What through your mind when Tony Timpone gave you the reigns at Fangoria? 

Chris Alexander: The reigns were handed over to me from publisher Tom DeFeo and then VP Scott Licina but it was with Tony's blessing. Tony is a hero to horror, a guy who kept a mag chugging along against the odds for years. A legend. I still defer to Tony in many cases. He's a total pro. What went through my mind was HOLEEEEEE FUCKING SHIIIIIIIIT! No really. I mean, I still don't believe that this is my job....it still hasn't quite hit me. FANGORIA is mythical and yet here I sit, making it, every month. Working with Mike Gingold, Bill Mohalley...legends of horror print media. Surreal. 

Chris:  You've revamped Fangoria's look, and over all feel, was it important to make your mark immediately?  

Chris Alexander: Yes. Again, I wanted to make a fun, exciting somewhat experimental horror and cult film magazine that honored its history and classic feel while forging ahead into a more unpredictable terrain. I like taking chances... and that doesn't mean making it GORIER and more EXPLICIT...it means challenging people's conceptions as to what a horror film is and can be.

Chris:   Where do we see Chris Alexander in 5 years? 

Chris Alexander: Who knows? My kids and family are everything to me, the mag is everything to me,  music is my spine...and now I'm dabbling in filmmaking so I hope to be a better, stronger, smarter version of what I am now. I still don't feel like I've peaked and at the age of 37, that's a good way to feel!

Chris: What are your thoughts on the current state of horror in Hollywood? 

Chris Alexander: Same as it ever was! With horror, you always need distance....once you remove the politics, the trends and the commercial cynicsm we can view Hollywood horror with clearer eyes and appreciate it more. Movie have ALWAYS been about making money, always about getting bums in seats, eyes on screens, popcorn in guts. I always say give ANY horror movie 10 years and it looks better than it did when it was released.  If you're asking about how I feel about remakes, I don't care. I love what I love. Plus most classic films were riding commerical tides from popular films, remakes or ripoffs or homages. I mean look closely and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a rip off of DELIVERANCE. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a direct rip off of Matheson's I AM LEGEND and the first adaptation, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH! So none of it bothers me....in fact, I just watched the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET remake again in cable last week and didn't hate it nearly as much as I did theatrically....so time, distance, and circumstance - I think horror works BEST at home, alone, late at night - are key to loving and embracing all horror.

Chris: Do you have any plugs you'd like to make? 

Chris Alexander: Hmmmmm....yes! The only thing I love more than horror is the band KISS. I'm happy to say I am the editor and Fango is the publisher of the new KISS: MONSTER magazine, a real labor of love that is out now and can be ordered via www.fangoria.com. Buy it!