Yesterday was the birthday rememberance for Boris Karloff.  I neglected to blog about that fact, although I have done so in previous years...

I noticed that a few other bloggers are running Karloff Blogathons this week or other events in rememberance for Boris.

However, what I am going to do today is blog about just one of several magazines that are being printed Today that remind me of stories that Boris Karloff and others like Rod Sterling presented to me when I was younger.  Yes, even though those two persons were on TV with their shows, Boris Karloff with 'Thriller', and Rod Sterling with 'Twilight Zone', both of those TV Shows had printed format version of those shows also!   Namely comics!

Well, Jim Main of Main Enterprises isn't printing a comic book here, but his magazine 'Dark Corridor' issue #3 had several features that reminded me of what I liked about the two above mentioned TV Shows / comics publications.

Before I start with my review, here is an excerpt from the press release for Issue #3:

What has been described as our best issue yet of our horror/fantasy/suspense fiction and illustration magazine is now availble. Cover art by Scott McClung, The Iguana and John Lambert. Interior art by Dan Taylor, Terry Pavlet, Jack Bertram. Fiction by Sam Gafford,(A Gathering Deamonica) Mark Orr (The Doll) and Michael Vance (In The Out Door). Plus our review section, Den Of The Dark(with reviews by Dennis Kininger and Glenn Walker as well as out letters page section. A 32 page full sized magazine with full color front and back covers.

I did not receive a review copy for issue #1, but since I published a photo of it above, here is the press release for that issue:

The long anticipated horror, fantasy, suspense fiction and illustration publication from Main Enterprises is finally here and is definately worth the wait! Michael Vance contributes the offbeat tales "The Zoo" and "Picked Clean" , while Sam Gafford is responsible for the mesmerizing piece,
"Showtime!" Artists Greg Woronchak, Dan Taylor and Sam Gafford handle the illustrations for the stories respectively. Rounding out the issue is the illustrated poem, "Siren's Song", by Brian Osborne and Armando Abeleda. Additional illustrations by Larry Johnson, Michael Connolly, Mike Roden, color back cover by Roger Foucault...and a stunning front cover illustration by Dan Taylor!

Okay... So reading the above press release excerpts you should get an idea of what the magazine presented to the reader.  So how did I find this magazine?

Well, the front cover of issue #3 that I received promised some dark experiences inside! The splash page had a message from the publisher "Grim" Jim Main, which reminded me of some earlier hosts both on TV and magazines and comics, which helped to set the stage. 

The 'Dark Correspondence' was next, which was the 'letters page'.  Since I had not seen the previous issues, the letters were okay, but probably would have been better to be at the back of the magazine, so that other 'newbies' to the mag like myself could have gotten right to the stories... However, having illustrations inbetween the letters was a good thought, and the letters printed were informative.

I liked the fact that the first story, 'The Gathering Daemonica' had four illustrations to help break up the text.  The next story by Michael Vance also had illustrations, in this case five of them.  Having illustrations interspersed in the story continued with the next story by Mark Orr.  Being a reviewer that likes sequential artwork, I appreciated having illustrations in this magazine's stories.  Not that I couldn't visualize the settings that the authors were attempting to portray to me, but that I enjoy having illustrations with my reading text.

The next section was called 'Den Of The Dark', which was the review section of the magazine.  Wasteland #1 was reviewed by Dark Dennis Kiniger, and then he went on to review four more publications.  Those included 'Coraline' by Neil Gaiman, 'Dark Delicacies' by  several authors, edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb.  Plus 'Duma Key' by Stephen King, and 'The Pines' by Robert Dunbar.  So again if you are a fan of this genre of fiction, you should be able to see if this reviewer's reviews matched your own if you had those selected books.

Added to the above were two inside cover illustrations, and a back cover illustration. Thus you have the complete package to Dark Corridor #3!

I believe this issue to be a well crafted magazine for those that enjoy this genre of story.  The illustrations added to the stories presented.  The letter section and the review section would make the reader of this magazine feel 'included' as part of a group, and 'feel' invited to follow the magazine next issue.  

Details on ordering these issues are as follows:

For issue #3 that I reviewed... Cost of this issue is: $3.95 plus 1.70 S&H. $5.65 total.  Personal checks only please, made out to Jim Main. 

For issue #1 that I did Not review... Cost of this issue is: $5.50 per issue postpaid in the USA.  Personal checks only, with checks made out to Jim Main.  

Jim's web site to order is at:

http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/ 

Thanks to Jim Main for sending me this magazine and other items from his Main Enterprises catalog to me for possible review!

AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!