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Recently we had the honour and pleasure of "sitting down" with Jovanka Vuckovic, the Editor-In-Chief of Rue Morgue magazine. Here is the interview I conducted in full...


When you first began with Rue Morgue, what was your position? And did you imagine it would be where it is today, with it's various off-shoots, such as Festival Of Fear, Rue Morgue Radio and such?

Rod hired me on as Managing Editor with the clear intent to train me to take over for him from day one. I worked in that position for a few years while Rod slowly eased himself out of the magazine and taught me everything he knew. By the time he finally stepped down in January, it was a smooth transition for both of us. As for the prolific beast Rue Morgue has become, I’ve always known it would end up this way because these are all things Rod had meticulously planned out in advance. He’d always intended it to be a magazine (not a fanzine), he’d always planned to branch out into multi-media horror, he’d always wanted to create the Festival of Fear in Rue Morgue’s name, and he’d always planned on becoming a film director. The magazine was his way to get into the film industry. Of course, he learned a great deal along the way and immensely enjoyed making the magazine for eight years. He learned a lot about himself through his time here, and that’s vitally important in any exercise.


What are your favourite horror flicks? How much of an influence did they have on you, doing what you do?

I despise this question because as a horror fan, I have favourites from each subgenre. Don’t we all? It’s difficult to choose one and call it the apex of great horror films, but, when backed into a corner I always choose John Carpenter’s The Thing. To me it’s a perfect movie, and there’s not a single woman in it. It stands simply and strongly as a story well-told. These days it seems that people have forgotten the art of storytelling when it comes to horror cinema. Boobs and blood have become the staple of the horror film, and I find that cheap (not that I don’t like those things, they are just not always necessary, contrary to popular thought). I’d rather have my horror cerebral these days. As for influence, I began watching horror films when I was far too young to be watching them. They left a neat scar that I’ve been picking at ever since. It’s the great love affair of my life. So yes, they’ve had a profound impact on me, far too profound to tell in one answer. I think if you keep reading Rue Morgue, you’ll see I’m using it as a forum to explore what horror means to me, and maybe over the years it will become clear – to myself and hopefully the readers as well.


You musta met alot of horror icons and celebrity over the years, which meeting would you put at the top of your list as most memorable?

One of my favourite people living and breathing on this planet is Guillermo del Toro. You’ll never meet a more inspiring, dedicated, intelligent, funny and beautiful person in your life. Well, maybe Clive Barker, but del Toro is truly a breath of fresh air. His approach to “genre” is unorthodox, and he fuses so many art disciplines in his work, it’s what makes his films so special – blockbuster or independent. I’m lucky to have him as a friend because he imparts so much passion and wisdom to me every time we meet.


Is there anyone you haven't met yet that you hold as an inspiration and would like to meet?

Vincent Price. Care to conjure him up? I’d have to say The Brothers Quay, whom are pen pals of mine, but we’ve yet to meet in person. Other freeform thinkers and rule-breakers; lunch with Ingmar Bergman would be sublime.


To any fans who aren't in Canada and close to the venue for Festival Of Fear, how would you sell it to them? What makes FoF a special thing to be a part of?

I don’t really need to sell it, the first year we held the show fans flew all the way from as far as Japan to meet Alejandro Jodorowsky. What’s really unique about FoF is that it takes place in the heart of Toronto, and we organize plenty of on and off-site events so there’s lots to see and do while you’re here apart from perusing merchant wares, getting autographs and attending intimate and interactive Q&A’s. And if you’re into sci-fi, anime, or comics, (which many genre fans are), you can check out the other sections of the Expo, which concentrate on those areas of interest. Rod’s really got this horror festival thing down. One thing about Gudino I know, the man knows how to throw a party.


How did you get into the horror and gore biz? Were you always interested in horror movies and culture?

Horror has been a part of my life for so long, I can’t remember anything else. (Lifted loosely from Alien 3 when Ripley thinks she’s speaking to the creature – see, I’m a colossal horror dweeb).


With 2006 being labled "The Year Of The Remake" by alot of people in alot of places, what are your personal feelings on the bigass amount of remakes that have, and are coming to our screens this year?

We covered that subject pretty thoroughly in RM#54. My editorial, along with all of the other cover story articles address our position on remakes: Most are not necessary but some can be invaluable. You’ll have to read the issue for more because I think we pretty much covered it.


How do you think new horror directors like Eli Roth measure up to the more old school directors of the genre like George Romero? Is it impossible to compare?

I don’t think it’s fair to make them “measure up”, as they’re coming from different times and places. The new school of directors are certainly more visceral. There is a sense that they all want to outdo each other in terms of extreme horror, which is a product of the fact that mostly everything’s been done already. But I wouldn’t expect any of these guys to measure up, I’d prefer to just see them make something that’s meaningful to them. Young people like Lucky McKee impress me because they’re thinking about horror in new ways, emotional ways – which tend to tear us asunder more efficiently than any chainsaw ever could.


I wont take up much more of your time.....so, any last words for the readers?

I hope to see you in September at the 3rd Annual Rue Morgue Festival of Fear. And thanks for reading, we appreciate the support we get from our fans more than they know.


I wanna thank Jovanka and Rue Morgue for giving Dark Obsessions this chance to talk with them. Alot of us here are fans of Rue Morgue and the various things they offer. Thanks a big, gory, spooky bunch!!

Below, check out the interview we also conducted with the man who started the Rue Morgue empire, Rod Gudino...

A few months ago, Dark Obsessions had the honour to conduct an interview with the Editor of what I feel is THE best horror publication on the planet. Rod Gudino from Rue Morgue magazine.

I would urge anyone who has yet to pick up a copy of this magazine to do so, and for fans of Rue Morgue to just keep watching, reading and keeping your eyes peeled for future suprises and such. Here is the interview in full.

Firstly Rod, thanks for your time. To begin, as a fan of Rue Morgue, I was wondering, how long have you been involved in the horror scene, and what inspired you to be so involved?

Ever since I was quite young I was fascinated by macabre imagery and horror generally. So when I found myself – nine years ago – working in the music industry and bored to tears I began considering what it was that I wanted to do with my life. Having come out of university with a Philosophy and Literary Studies degree, I realized that horror entertainment had come to its own in the twentieth century and that there were deeper cultural reasons for that – existential philosophy, Darwinism, two world wars and the social ramifications of the industrial revolution. Adding to that was the explosion in horror in cinema and in pop art – dolls, games, comics, music and modern literature. So I suppose I was inspired by seizing the moment as I saw it, and the excitement of exploring the genre in a way that I felt had not been done up till now.


Rue Morgue magazine is hugely popular the World over with fans of the macabre. Horror fans, from horror toy collectors to movie buffs read your publication. You interact with these fans at conventions across the US and Canada, how important is it to stay in tune with the fanbase?


It’s pretty important, though I can tell you in no uncertain terms that part of our philosophy is not to care what anyone else thinks. The idea behind Rue Morgue is to challenge and please ourselves and, in so doing, challenge and please our readers. If I determined what went into the magazine based on what readers wanted, I never would have published articles on Soren Kierkegaard, Nacho Cerda’s Aftermath or Robert Morgan (the latter two primarily because no one knows who they are). Rue Morgue is the kind of magazine that fans go to to find new things out, not to reaffirm what they already know. And to do that we have to continually be on the pulse in a way that the average reader in not. So I respect what readers say but ultimately, I follow my gut instinct and encourage the staff to do so too. In this sense I believe we are not a regular magazine, because we are not merely reporting on what’s happening, we’re taking the time to discover it.


On the subject of conventions, which are your favourites, and why?

Well, my favourites are the film conventions because I get to see all the new material coming out and the chances of glimpsing something truly mindblowing are high. I’m not personally a huge fan of the regular fan conventions, though I am very proud of Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear of course, and we put a lot of work into it. I suppose I’ve always seen film cons to be about art and fan cons about consumerism which is why my loyalties are where they are.


When was the first issue of Rue Morgue magazine released, and what was the feedback like from it?

The first issue hit the streets on October 29, 1997 – it was a small 20 page black and white zine. Many people ignored it, but the people who noticed it – like Jay Douglas, then head of Anchor Bay Entertainment – called me out of the blue and told me it was the best independent magazine he had seen in his entire life - that made up for a lot. The second issue also got feeback from the industry, specifically from Columbia Pictures, as did Issue #3. I guess now that I think of it, the industry responded to Rue Morgue immediately, and the fans came a little later.


Things are just moving up and up for Rue Morgue, with the magazine, Festival Of Fear convention, Rue Morgue Radio and more...do you have any other suprises in the pipeline that you could share with us?

I am currently working on Rue Morgue Cinema which will be developing a line of in-house horror movies over the next few years. That’s all I can say at the moment.


Dark Obsessions has a bunch of fans who attend Festival of Fear, for those who have never been before but are curious, how would you sell it? What's it like?

Picture 25,000 fans packed into Canada’s largest convention centre with a lot of horror celebs and a ton of collectible merchandise. That said, we try and keep it an intimate affair and give fans an opportunity to meet their heroes through intimate and interractives, autograph sessions and special parties. It’s a great time.


We all have our favourite horror flicks dude, what are yours?

They always change but the last film that I really liked was The Devil’s Backbone by Guillermo del Toro. I also loved Fabrice du Welz’ Calvaire which is an amazing riff on Deliverance. Of course I have a soft spot for the original Halloween and I love Onibaba.


With the popularity of J-Horror increasing more and more, and horror fans accepting foreign cinema into their homes on a more regular basis, what is your opinion on foreign horror, such as J-Horror movies?

Well horror is the type of genre where the star system can work against it as much as for it. People go to horror movies to be frightened and you are apt to be more frightened when you don’t have any preconceived notions about who is going to die on the screen (ie. the star) and how that is going to happen (ie. in one of many formulaic ways). Foreign horror neatly sidesteps those problems, because they are coming from different cultures with different cinematic histories that seem new to us. In the case of J-horror, these are stories that have root in Japanese ghost tales mixed with western cinematic conventions (specifically The Amityville Horror cycle of films) which gives them a western feel. But like all cycles, the J-horror is not immune to redundancy, and that’s what’s happening now with it. Nevertheless some of the best ghost films in the past five years have come from Japan, but I think they need to start exploring new ideas.


You must have met a huge bunch of horror movie celebrity over the last few years, is there anyone you would love to meet, but haven't had the chance?

I think I’ve pretty much met everyone at one time or another. To be honest I am more interested at this point in the younger generation, the people who are the future of the genre and you just don’t know who that is… it could be you.


I'll end it here, I know youre a busy man, but before we finish, would you care to leave a quote of any kind, or thank anyone?

I’d like to thank my mom.


Thanks alot man, I appreciate this greatly, and I will keep reading Rue Morgue and checking out the various things that go along with it.

Thanks for your interest. Send me the link once you’ve posted it.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was voted, by you, as the best Horror movie of all time.

There were ALOT of votes, and the outcome was a good one in my opinion too. Tobe Hooper directed this landmark screamfest that is a measuring stick for horror movies to this day. Long live the chainsaw massacre!