''Bizarre'' was a British alternative magazine published from 1997 to 2015.Media Information
Dennis Publishing Ltd It was published by

Dennis Publishing Dennis Publishing Ltd. was a British publisher. It was founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis. Its first publication was a kung-fu magazine. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc. In the 1980s, it became a leading publisher of computer enthusi ...

and was a sister publication to ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...

''.

History

''Bizarre'' was launched as a bimonthly title by

John Brown Publishing John Brown Media is one of the world's largest content marketing agencies. It was bought by Dentsu Aegis in May 2015. While originally formed as a magazine company, the company creates multichannel content for various brands, with services incl ...

in February 1997 and was edited by Fiona Jerome. It was an immediate success and changed to monthly issuance a year after its launch. Circulation peaked at more than 120,000 in 2000, but later the same year declined to less than 30,000 when I Feel Good (IFG) bought the magazine for £5 million. IFG was a company founded by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, the former editor of '' Loaded'' magazine. When IFG collapsed,

acquired ''Bizarre''. The editor of ''Bizarre'' became David McComb in December 2013.David McComb becomes editor of redesigned ''Bizarre''
/ref> ''Bizarre'' announced the end of publication in early 2015, with the January issue, published on 20 January, being its last. On 28 February 2020 it was announced, via the magazine's social media pages, that Bizarre was in the early stages of making its return, both physically and online, under entirely new ownership. To date, no further details have been announced regarding the magazine's reboot.https://www.facebook.com/BizarreMagazine/posts/10155878172407465

Content

''Bizarre'' covered

alternative culture Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures. These subcultures may have little or nothing in common besides their relative ...

through interviews with

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

personages, and articles about the

Occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

LGBT culture LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals (LGBTQ people). It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA cult ...

and

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

, fetish and other

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

s. It also reviewed the work of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

directors, musicians, authors and visual artists. The magazine's news coverage included unusual news events from around the world; development and impact of legislation concerning

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

, sex offences and occasionally, incidents of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

abuses. Articles in ''Bizarre'' examined the Manchester police's

Operation Spanner Operation Spanner was a police investigation into same-sex male sadomasochism across the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. The investigation, led by the Obscene Publications Squad of the Metropolitan Police, began in 1987 and ran for three year ...

of 1987,

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (citation of United Kingdom legislation, c. 23) (RIP or RIPA) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillanc ...

, British legislation banning "

extreme pornography Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law came into force on 26 January 2009. The legislation was brought i ...

" and the

Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (E ...

. After the murder of Sophie Lancaster in 2007, ''Bizarre'' campaigned for awareness of bigotry against people who exhibit some form of cultural deviance. Like

lad mag Lad mag is an informal term used for lifestyle magazines aimed at younger heterosexual men, focusing on "sex, sport, gadgets and grooming tips", particularly in the UK in the 1990s and early 2000s. The lad mag was notable as a new type of magazin ...

s, issues of ''Bizarre'' commonly featured a semi-nude female model on the front cover and reviews of weird gadgets, films, music and websites.

Pornography

Earlier issues of ''Bizarre'' included a sealed section featuring censored pornography, in which images of anuses, genitalia, semen and sex acts were obscured. The censorship was self-imposed to avoid alienating mainstream

newsagent's shop A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of loca ...

s and booksellers.

History

Content

Pornography

References

Further reading