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Harry Knowles, over at AICN is reporting the sad news of the failing health of Forrest J Ackerman, author, agent, co-creator and editor of “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine, inventor of the term “sci-fi”, and the greatest film buff ever born. If one single person has had an influence on who I am today and what I have devoted my life to, it would be this man, who I have already mentioned many, many times on these pages. Without Ackerman and “FM”, I can’t even begin to imagine what growing up for me would have been like. Those pulpy black and white pages, crammed to the borders with rare stills and awful puns were a world of escape for me.

The months, for me, couldn’t pass quickly enough. Luckily, used book stores were a big thing in the seventies (I don’t think the concept even exists anymore, does it?) so I could always hope for some windfall, like some parent deciding their son (or daughter) was too old for monsters and comic books, chucking a big stash in for a couple of bucks in return. I was quite lucky a few times, and built up a pretty big collection, but karma being what it is, I lost pretty much the whole collection in exactly the manner I have just described. Didn’t take me very long to start up the collection again though, of newer issues mostly. I was a very stubborn child.

The thing that struck me most about Ackerman and the mag was its unbridled enthusiasm. Ackerman loved (loves) horror movies and it didn’t matter to say so. Letters from readers who were kids like myself (and even some adults) showed me I wasn’t alone in my love of monsters and movies. Young-at-heart, in fact, it seemed like the guy putting the magazine together every couple of months (and then every month as its popularity grew) was a kid himself. I mean, how many adults at the time would dress up like Frankenstein or wear Dracula’s ring 24-7?

A fevered life-long collector, Ackerman offered a running free invitation to fans to drop by his home and see his stuff, ranging from memorabilia from the golden age of pictures right through to current day props and other items donated by fans who were now making their own big-budget motion pictures (people like John Landis, Joe Dante, Spielberg and Lucas to name only a few).

One of the major regrets of my life, and one that’s beginning to pain me even more, is the fact that I never got to see the Ackermansion (or mini-Ackermansion, after F.J.A. was forced to move into smaller digs back in 2003 or so), meet Dr. Acula and get the grand tour. It’s my own damn fault too, having spent a good deal of time working in Hollywood, a scant couple of blocks (well, a pretty brisk walk, actually) away from Ackerman’s bungalow of scream cinema history.

I still get a nostalgic thrill flipping through the pages of any pre-1978 issue of the mag (as, with the release of “Star Wars”, it seemed like Warren Publishing fell under the spell of catering to the masses and sci-fi was in and monsters were more about gore than they used to be). If you’re enterprising and eagle-eyed, you can often find a lot of issues on eBay. Costs a hell of a lot more than they used to cost me at the used book store, and I have a tragic hunch the price is about to go up even more.

At any rate, I can only hope that this is only a scare (there have been others in the past) and that Forry has many years left with us here. As a bit of a tribute, I’ve uploaded a magazine scan of a favorite issue of “Famous Monsters of Filmland”, from 1976. Certainly not the first issue I ever had, but one I remember distinctly working very had to come up with the $1 required to purchase.

Note, happily, as well, that the ads in the back are intact. They were always one of the best things in every issue, and I myself ordered my share of Captain Company products.

Enjoy and wish Forry the best. The address to send cards and letters is:

FORREST J ACKERMAN
4511 Russell Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90027

Updated 6/12/08: Mr. Ackerman passed away Thursday evening in California. Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News, has a very nice send-off you should check out.

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