By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
For decades, naysayers have declared print dead. An ever-changing digital media landscape has all but proven them right as many once-popular magazines have transitioned to strictly online formats or, sadly, ceased publication altogether. However, RUE MORGUE has weathered this uniquely modern storm for over a quarter of a century to remain at the top of a shrinking genre publishing heap. Like Jason Voorhees, Micheal Myers and Freddy Krueger, RUE MORGUE is unstoppable, rising from the grave time and again to give its loyal readership the best of horror in culture and entertainment.
Readers are a magazine’s lifeblood, and no one knows that better than the man at RUE MORGUE’s helm for nearly three decades, founder-publisher Rodrigo Gudiño. Out to ensure his creation’s immortality and grow its faithful legions, Gudiño along with his brood of creepy creatives is launching RUE MORGUE’s Blood Drive this October, a Kickstarter campaign designed to preserve the magazine’s print archive digitally and most importantly, attract new subscribers. Recently, Gudiño took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me about the Blood Drive and the importance of continuing horror’s glorious legacy in print.
What can you tell me about RUE MORGUE’s Blood Drive and the motivation behind it? How do you hope this undertaking will attract new readers?
RUE MORGUE founder/publisher Rodrigo Gudiño
The Blood Drive was motivated by changes to magazine distribution particularly over the past decade – specifically changes to consumer habits (away from retail and towards online) — along with changes to industry practices brought on by the pandemic, which has made it necessary for us to actively pursue alternate means to connect with readers. After much research, we felt that Kickstarter is a promising platform for us to reach new fans and genre connoisseurs who are no longer shopping at retail stores, at least, not in the numbers they once did. Aside from that, RUE MORGUE readers are reading the magazine differently than they did 28 years ago when we first launched. Specifically, a portion of our readership is moving away from print and into digital, so that had us considering how we could make the digital experience that much better.
Why is it important to digitize RUE MORGUE’s print archive? What are some of the challenges of undertaking a project of this scope? Most, importantly, how will readers be able to access it?
The RUE MORGUE archive was born out of the idea of making our entire library of back issues (a total of 220 as of this Halloween) available in digital format. This, of course, is a way to once again make available those rare issues that have long since sold out along with hard-to-get collectible issues and issues with alternate covers. The digitization of the RUE MORGUE archives was a project we began several years ago. However, it gets harder the farther back we go. Backers will be able to access the digital archives through our rewards, and we hope to have the entire archive restored by 2025, providing that the campaign meets its goal.
As the founder and publisher of “the best damn horror magazine in the genre,” where does a print publication (especially one devoted to the horror genre) fit into an increasingly digital landscape? Why do “physical” horror magazines matter, and why do they matter to you as both a professional in the genre and a fan?
Physical magazines still matter because they exist outside of the interface with which we relate to so much of our lives. We do so much on our computer screens, from work to finance to entertainment to learning. It only makes sense that there would be value in stepping away from that space to interact with a physical object that is not designed to hyperlink you away from itself but that serves as a tactile respite from distractions. In this day and age, this is extremely valuable. It is also important for me, personally, as a publisher because I have always manufactured RUE MORGUE as a collectible. We go to great lengths to give it that look and feel. Obviously, that is not something you can achieve with digital – at least not in quite the same way.
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RUE MORGUE has been continuously in print since its inception over 25 years ago – something that other popular genre publications have often struggled (and sometimes failed) to do. Distribution and its costs have become a particularly challenging area for print media. How has this affected RUE MORGUE? What are the keys to RUE MORGUE’s continuing success and how does the Blood Drive figure into this equation?
It’s true that the publishing landscape has been quite challenging, particularly over the past ten to fifteen years. The key to RUE MORGUE’s ongoing success is that we have been able to adapt and innovate quickly, even to the point where we have had to reconsider what a magazine is and does. The Blood Drive is an example of some of that innovation in action, a concentrated effort to reach new readers directly and grow our presence. We will also be complementing the Blood Drive with a renewed presence at horror conventions across North America in the coming year and a renewed physical presence at genre events and screenings, so stay tuned!
What can contributors expect in return for supporting the Blood Drive? What does the future hold for RUE MORGUE?
We hope and expect that the RUE MORGUE Blood Drive will reach readers who are casual readers of RUE MORGUE or those who may be unfamiliar with us. The emphasis of the campaign is to introduce or reintroduce them to the mandate of our brand, which is to provide analysis and insight into the culture of horror via our legacy of award-winning journalism and design. If you look back on the history of RUE MORGUE, you will notice shifts in style and personality through time, but our core mandate has never changed. RUE MORGUE has always existed as a showcase of the horror genre past and present through entertainment media and into the culture itself, presented in a way that is reverent and honourable to the subject.
RUE MORGUE’s Blood Drive goes live on Kickstarter beginning October 1 and runs through Halloween. Keep an eye on this space for news and developments.
