Darker Magazine () is a Russian monthly horror
webzine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
. It covers various sorts of horror media, including
slasher,
splatter,
exploitation films
An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...
, as well as
horror literature
Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...
,
videogames
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...
,
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s and dark music. The magazine is in regular publication since April, 2011. It is part of
Russian Horror Web. It publishes articles, interviews, reviews and short stories by Russian and foreign authors. The zine also helds an annual literary contest "The Devil's Dozen", which is the largest among horror stories in Russian. Darker Magazine is a cult outlet in Russian Internet horror segment, and its mission is support of horror in Russia. It is published on the initiative and with the assistance of The Horror Authors Association and Horror Web media network. The zine is funded by its subscribers.
History
''Darker'' was founded in 2011 succeeding another webzine ''The Darkness'' (). ''Darkness editor Mikhail Parfenov ran the new project that soon became even more successful than its predecessor. The first issue of Darker Magazine was released on April 21, 2011 and since then has been published every month on 20th. Since that time ''Darker'' released a lot of reviews of books and movies and also interviews with notable creators in the horror genre.
Notable authors
''DARKER'' has been first in Russia to translate some short stories by such horror authors as
H.P. Lovecraft,
Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...
,
Tomas Ligotti,
Jeff Vandermeer
Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Series. The se ...
,
Graham Masterton
Graham Masterton (born 16 January 1946, in Edinburgh) is a British author known primarily for horror fiction. Originally editor of ''Mayfair'' and the British edition of '' Penthouse'', his debut novel, ''The Manitou'', was published in 1976. T ...
,
Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden (born July 15, 1967) is an American writer.
Early life
Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts University.
Career
As well as novels, Golden has written com ...
,
Joe Lansdale,
Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...
,
Robert McCammon
Robert Rick McCammon (born July 17, 1952) is an American novelist from Birmingham, Alabama. One of the influential names in the late 1970s–early 1990s American horror literature boom, by 1991 McCammon had three ''New York Times'' bestsellers (' ...
,
Adam Nevill
Adam Nevill (also known as Adam LG Nevill) is an English writer of supernatural horror, known for his book ''The Ritual''. Prior to becoming a full-time author, Nevill worked as an editor.
After publishing several novels through Pan Macmillan ...
,
Ken Liu
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Lanzhou, Gansu, China
, occupation =
, nationality = American
, period =
, genre = Science fiction, fantasy
, subject =
, movement =
, notableworks=
* '' The Paper Menagerie'' (2011 ...
,
Gwendolyn Kiste,
Matthew Stokoe S.T. Joshi and more. Also publish for the first time some short stories of the famous Russian writers as
Mariya Galina,
Svyatoslav Loginov,
Anna Starobinets
Anna Alfredovna Starobinets (Russian:Анна Старобинец, born 1978) is a Russian writer and scriptwriter who has been called the "Russian Queen of Horror". She has published novels, short stories and children's books, and describes hers ...
. The zine also publishes interviews with notable horror figures, and among them are
Mike Flanagan,
Lin Shaye
Lin Shaye (born October 12, 1943) is an American actress. In a career spanning over fifty years, Shaye has appeared in more than a hundred feature films. She is regarded as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror productions, which inc ...
,
Chris Walas
Christopher James Walas (born 1955) is an American special effects artist, make-up effects artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the film '' The Fly'' (1986), for which he won an Academy Award and was ...
,
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley (2 December 1937 – 2 January 2024) was an English author of horror fiction. He came to prominence in the 1970s writing in the Cthulhu Mythos created by American writer H. P. Lovecraft but featuring the new character Titus Crow, ...
,
Ryuhei Kitamura
is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated to Sydney, Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short film ''Down to Hell'', which receiv ...
,
Mick Garris
Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations.
Early life
Garris was b ...
,
André Øvredal
André Øvredal (; born 6 May 1973) is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films '' Trollhunter'' (2010), '' The Autopsy of Jane Doe'' (2016), '' Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'' (2019) and '' The La ...
.
Critics
Famous British author
Graham Masterton
Graham Masterton (born 16 January 1946, in Edinburgh) is a British author known primarily for horror fiction. Originally editor of ''Mayfair'' and the British edition of '' Penthouse'', his debut novel, ''The Manitou'', was published in 1976. T ...
notes the educational role of Darker Magazine:
��to make horror popular and to bring together a community of people who find horror exciting, frightening, wildly imaginative and highly creative. DARKER does the same for Russia. There is a wonderful tradition of dark and disturbing literature in Russia. ��DARKER is helping to breathe life back into that tradition and I admire your courage and determination in doing that.
Notable contributors
*
Mikhail Parfenov — creator of the webzine
*
Svyatoslav Loginov — veteran of Russian
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
*
Mariya Galina — Russian horror writer and translator
*
Alexei Sholokhov — Russian horror writer
Awards
Literature
# Nesterik, Ella, Kazbekova, Maiya
Supernatural Horror in English Literature and Means of it Realization European Researcher (2014)
# Ksenia Olkusz
Zombie w kulturze Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta (2015)
# Ksenia Olkusz, Krzysztof M. Maj
Narracje fantastyczne Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta (2018)
# Nosachev, Pavel
The Influences of Western Esoterecism on Russian Rock Poetry of the Turn if the Century Faculty of Philology,
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
(2018)
References
External links
Darker official site
{{Authority control
2011 establishments in Russia
Horror fiction magazines
Magazines established in 2011
Science fiction magazines published in Russia
Russian-language magazines
Horror fiction websites