''Rue Morgue'' is a multinational

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

devoted to coverage of

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

. Its content comprises news, reviews, commentary, interviews, and event coverage. Its journalistic span encompasses films, books, comic books, video games, and other media in the horror genre. ''Rue Morgue'' was founded in 1997 by

Rodrigo Gudiño Rodrigo Gudiño is a Mexican Canadian film director and editor, known for being the founder of the horror magazine and company '' Rue Morgue''. He currently serves as the company's president and also helps coordinate and program for several of ...

, and is headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, with regional offices in various countries throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The magazine has expanded over time to encompass a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

, book publishing company, and

horror convention Horror conventions are gatherings of the community of fans of various forms of horror including horror cinema, goth lifestyle, and occasionally science fiction and fantasy. Historically the focus has been on the cinematic form rather than lite ...

. The magazine's namesake is

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's short story "

The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Dup ...

" (1841). ''Rue Morgue'' won the Rondo Award in the "Best Magazine" category every year from 2010 to 2016. The magazine published its landmark 200th issue in May 2021, which featured an exclusive interview with Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone.

Staff

Founder and former editor-in-chief Rodrigo Gudiño serves as the company president. As of March 2017, the executive editor is Andrea Subissati; contributing editor Monica S. Kuebler oversees book features and reviews; online managing editor William J. Wright handles news and reviews on Rue-Morgue.com; operations manager Mariam Bastani handles customer service and ensures that all weekly office operations are running smoothly; editorial assistant Maddi McGillvray reviews and edits the final prints of the magazine during production and is a frequent contributor to the website; music editor Aaron von Lupton oversees music features and reviews, and games editor Evan Millar oversees video game and tabletop game features and reviews. The art director is Andrew Wright. Some of the magazine's reviewers and feature writers are Michael Gingold, John W. Bowen, Paul Corupe, Sean Plummer, Gary Pullin, Aaron Von Lupton and Kaci Hansen, who publishes under the moniker "The Homicidal Homemaker". Rue Morgue International publishes and maintains offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Mexico. Gudiño was the magazine's first editor-in-chief; he was followed by Jovanka Vuckovic, then Dave Alexander, who stepped down in 2017. The ''Rue Morgue'' logo was created by former art director Gary Pullin, and first appeared on the cover of the seventh issue.

Distribution

''Rue Morgue'' secured national distribution in Canada by its fourth issue, published in July 1998. It began

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

in the United States in January 1999. By 2006 it closed a direct

distribution deal A distribution deal (also known as distribution contract or distribution agreement) is a legal agreement between one party and another, to handle distribution of a product. There are various forms of distribution deals. There are exclusive and no ...

for Europe. ''Rue Morgue'' was published every other month for a number of years, then in January 2005 began publishing 11 issues per year (no issue was published in February). In 2017, the magazine returned to bimonthly publication.

Other media and events

From 2007 to 2012, ''Rue Morgue'' broadcast a weekly online radio show called ''Rue Morgue Radio'', made up of horror music, film reviews, and offbeat film clips. It was released through the magazine's website and as a podcast. For a time, the magazine also had a sister show, the ''Rue Morgue Podcast'', which was all interviews and commentary. The magazine's website hosted a

Web forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

called ''Rue Mortuary''. When ''Rue Morgue'' decided to stop managing the forum, ownership shifted to Cinephobia and it was renamed The Mortuary. The new address became the-mortuary.com. In 2010, ''Rue Morgue'' released a free album of horror themed music for download entitled Hymns from the House of Horror. Another album, Hymns from the House of Horror II, followed in 2011. ''Rue Morgue'' has sponsored the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto, and the Dark Carnival Expo in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. Popular YouTube Channel HorrorBabble regularly collaborates with Rue Morgue Library for readings of little-known horror short stories & novellas. The magazine regularly hosts cultural events, including screenings of classic horror films (with their stars or creators in attendance) and horror-themed art shows. Rue Morgue has also hosted the premiers of mainstream horror films in Canada, including the Canadian release of Annabelle. In 2013, the company started an

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

called The Rue Morgue Library. The magazine's 19th anniversary was celebrated by the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 2016 with the redecoration of the

Auberge Le Saint-Gabriel Auberge Le Saint-Gabriel (Auberge Saint-Gabriel) is located in Old Montreal, Canada, and was the first establishment to have an alcohol license issued in 1754 as stated by Lesley Chesterman from the Gazette Montreal “...granted the first liquor ...

with horror-themed decor.

Cinema

Rue Morgue Cinema, a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

, debuted its first film at the 2006

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, and has since produced several short films. Among these are publisher Rodrigo Gudiño's ''The Eyes of Edward James'', ''The Demonology of Desire'', and ''

The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow ''The Facts In the Case of Mister Hollow'' is a 2008 Short horror film that was directed by Rodrigo Gudiño and Vincent Marcone, based upon a story written by Gudiño. The short was first released on July 17, 2008, at the Fantasia Film Festival an ...

'' (with

Vincent Marcone Vincent Marcone (born 1973) is a Canadian web designer, illustrator, film director, and musician. He forms one third of the band Johnny Hollow, based in Guelph, Ontario. Early life and education Marcone studied graphic design at Conestoga Colle ...

). Rue Morgue Cinema also produced a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "In the Dark", a single by

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock band , formed in 1999 in London, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, l ...

. Gudiño co-directed the video with lead guitarist Michael Falcore. The company's biggest-budget project was the feature film ''

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh ''The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh'' (also known as rus. "Zaveshanie") is a 2012 horror film directed by '' Rue Morgue'' founder Rodrigo Gudiño. It was released in Russia on 13 June 2013 as ''Завещание'' and was later relea ...

'' (2013), which starred

Aaron Poole Aaron Poole (born March 17, 1977) is a Canadian actor. Early life Poole grew up in Barrie, Ontario and attended Barrie Central Collegiate. He is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts and George Brown College. He is of Italian descent. ...

and

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...

. Rue Morgue and Unstable Ground co-promote a monthly film festival in Toronto called Little Terrors, which screens short horror films. In 2017, Rue Morgue, Unstable Ground, and Indiecan began compiling Little Terrors films into video anthologies.

References

External links