Codes and conventions of a horror magazine

Lenny Lavers

The Masthead, ‘Fangoria’ has clear connotations of vampires, therefore appealing to a horror audience. The colour scheme is red again clearly dictating to the audience that this is a horror magazine. This is because red has connotations of blood and gore.

The film stock is a consistent convention of ‘FANGORIA’ that raises brand identity. It allows the consumer to relate to the magazine. It dictates to the audience what other horrors are featuring in this edition of ‘FANGORIA.’

The main colour scheme is red and yellow. This is to create a sense of nostalgia of video nasties in the early 1980’s. Because this videos were banished from the shop shelves it created a sense of excitement and challenge to them, making them more appearance. By using this colour scheme the editor is allowing the audience to relate with this magazine.

Buzz words like scream will create a scary atmosphere for the magazine. Also it clearly tells the audience that it’s a horror magazine. The banner tells the audience the dated content that will feature in the magazine. Also it plays with the concept of uses of gratification as the audience will want to know all of the best ‘screams’/horrors of 2008. also the yellow typography clashes with the red again reinforcing the concept of ‘video nasties’

Hell Boy is almost a blockbuster, however it does contain elements of horror, therefore it relates to the niche audience of ‘FANGORIA’. He has connotations of the devil, therefore he will appeal to this target audience. The bar tag is in a

conventional space, this is because it is placed at the bottom left of the magazine, on every issue of ‘FANGORIA.’

The image is of a devilish figure that creates a sense of genre for the magazine. It clearly shows that ‘FANGORIA’ is a horror magazine. Also these are the type of images that their niche audience will expect to see.

Supplementary images are present in the side board. This allows the consumer to have a ‘sneak peak’ into the magazines content. The purpose of this is to create a sense of excitement, so that the consumer will want to buy the product and read more.

The Masthead is in the same conventional typography with red filling and white piping around the letters. This is so that the audience can identify the magazine and relate with it.

The film stock is a consistent convention of ‘FANGORIA’ that raises brand identity. It allows the editor to present a couple pictures of horror films that are featuring in the magazine in a conventional way. This allows the audience to identify themselves with this magazine.

Again the bar code lies in the same conventional place. This is a small way which builds a structure of the magazine that the audience will be able to recognise. This is functional as well, as its purpose is to show the price of the magazine when scanned.

This is a clever use of buzz words in the form of alliteration that will appeal to a horror audience. Also the same use of red and yellow colour scheme will not only create nostalgia, but raise brand identity.

Top Banner is a clever play of words to tell the audience that they have an interview with Rob Zombie, who is a respectable horror film director. The phrase ‘spill his guts’ is a pun as it has connotations of a secret being uncovered and someone actually having their guts spilled out, which relates to horror.

Devilish figure featuring on the front cover of FANGORIA is a conventional aspect, as it directly tells the audience that it’s a horror magazine straight away.

This is an additional incentive to try and attract their consumer with a free give away, related to horror, (horror DVD’s).

The ear piece is in a conventional place. Its purpose is to attract the audience with its buzz words, (monster) and its unique issue design, (100 pages).

More buzz words that will attract the target audience. Its plays with the uses of gratification theory, as people will want to be able to tell their friends about it.

Supplementary images are present in the side board. This allows the consumer to have a ‘sneak peak’ into the magazines content. The purpose of this is to create a sense of excitement, so that the consumer will want to buy the product and read more.

The main image is of a pale faced little girl, with blood running down her face. This is a conventional image for a horror magazine as there is blood, which represents gore, and a pale faced little girl, suggests that she is either very ill or possessed. Also to compliment this there is a black background which has connotations of darkness and death. This will allow the audience to recognise that this is a horror magazine and therefore can relate to it.

The images on the front page are hand drawn. This is their mode of address as they tap into the old style film posters that used to be hand crafted as well. This creates a retro style magazine, for a more mature audience to relate to. This will raise brand identity and will create a unique selling point, as this is the only modern magazine that has a hand drawn front cover.

The masthead is in an unconventional place, (centre of the page) and is in a circular frame. This makes the visual imagery of the magazine different from the mainstream, and will therefore make it easier for their niche audience to recognise it. Also it makes the consumer feel special as only they will be able to recognise the genre of this magazine.

This tells the audience that the feature story is about the film, ‘Let the right one in.’ It doesn’t try to use buzz words, which is unconventional, therefore allowing their Niche audience to recognise this magazine. The typography is unsymmetrical and not in block capitals, which also conveys that this magazine is for a niche audience and doesn’t aim to attract the mainstream.

The bar code is in an unconventional place, however this is another way that’ Little White Lies’ raises their brand identity to their niche target audience. This allows their niche audience to recognise this product.