VAULT VLOG: Where Have You Gone, Forrest J. Ackerman?

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Forrest J. Ackerman 1916-2008

One of the giants--if not the giant--of genre fandom has finally shuffled off his mortal coil. The venerable Forrest J. Ackerman; Uncle Forry; Dr. Acula; 4SJ; The Ackermonster--is no more. Last Thursday night, he slipped peacefully away, surrounded by friends, at the age of 92.

If you're reading this blog, you probably already know this, but Ackerman was the quintessential, original "fanboy", in 1958 founding the legendary magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland that ran for nearly a quarter century and literally gave birth to the modern phenomenon of horror/sci-fi/fantasy fandom as we know it. In fact, it was Forry who coined the term "sci-fi" in his early issues of FMOF. He inspired generations of "monster kids" in the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s, and his influence continues to be felt.

Additionally, Ackerman had gathered together over his almost century of life the single most impressive collection of genre memorabilia on the planet. He enjoyed the friendship of everyone from H.P. Lovecraft to Harry Knowles. The man was literally a pop culture phenom all too himself, and the world is poorer for his passing.

For a truly amazing tribute, I direct you to Knowles' Ain't It Cool News, where you can check out tributes from Phil Tippett, Rick Baker and Paul Dini, as well as a moving final farewell written by Ackerman for Knowles five years ago, in anticipation of his death.

Most of Ackerman's heyday occurred before my time, but even though I grew up more in the era of Starlog/Fangoria, his was a name I always knew and respected--the godfather and president emeritus of the entire fan community. 

R.I.P. Uncle Forry.

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The Man Who Replaced Forry Ackerman

No matter what they tell you, it really is a small world, after all. Case in point: In recent months, I've been making my modest living picking up freelance projects here and there. And this week, courtesy of a worthy comrade from my WWE days, I had the pleasure of doing some work for Wine Enthusiast magazine in beautiful Westchester County.

The gentleman who contacted me about the job, and to whom I reported during my scant two days in their offices, was one Tim Moriarty, managing editor. Well, if I had been more of a student of the venerable Warren Publishing Company and the legendary Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, I probably would've determined right away that Mr. Moriarty was one of Warren's editors, and in fact the man who took over for Forrest J. Ackerman as editor-in-chief of Famous Monsters (albeit for its final issue, pictured).

Being the boob that I am, I didn't discover this fact till I was almost out the door after completing my last day of work for Wine Enthusiast, mere hours ago. It's probably for the best--I don't know how much work I would've been able to get done if I had known earlier.

It started when one of the members of the staff was engaged in a conversation with Tim about old-school TV "horror hosts". Naturally, this drew me into the conversation. Then Tim casually mentioned that he worked for the company that published the Vampirella comics. Yes folks, Warren Publishing, the great horror comics house best known for its Eerie and Creepy titles of the '60s and '70s.

Little did Tim realize that he was speaking to the man behind The Vault of Horror--a fact of which I soon informed him. And as the day wound down, and we both were ready to hit the highway, we took a few minutes to chat about our love of the old Universal flicks, the classic giant monster movies, Hammer stuff (well, my love of the Hammer stuff), you name it.

So there I had been, for two days, working unknowingly for the last editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland--a bona fide "monster kid" from the golden era of monster fandom. And one who actually got to be a part of it all.

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