Fangoria has been printing interviews, FX tutorials, behind the scenes content, and insights into the horror genre since 1979. Now, the long-running magazine is being collected in First in Fright: The Fangoria Compendium. The hardcover book and complete digital archive of Fangoria’s original print run is seeking backers on Kickstarter.

“First In Fright: The Fangoria Compendium takes readers through the biggest events that helped shape today’s horror landscape. This monumental collectible book is packed with over 300 pages of blood-soaked genre history, recounting iconic films and franchises, offering interviews with directors, stars, and special effects wizards, and going deep with features that track the evolution of horror filmmaking and explore the ways it has intersected with Fangoria’s own history,” per the Kickstarter page.

Since its introduction over 45 years ago, Fangoria has published tens of thousands of pages of horror news, set visits, reviews, interviews, and more. For the compendium, the Fangoria editorial staff has curated material from slashers of the 1980s to the success of indie horror and lesser known titles. It has essays about genre trends, themes, and important moments in horror history. Interviews with modern horror filmmakers and scholars, as well as interviews with current and former editors of Fangoria are also included.

Halloween director and co-writer John Carpenter provided the foreword for the book. Well known figures in the horror industry featured in the book include Clive Barker, Doug Bradley, Barbara Crampton, Mike Flanagan, Don Mancini, Tom Savini, Devon Sawa, David Dastmalchian, and Leigh Whannell, among others.

The complete digital archive of Fangoria Volume 1 contains all 344 issues of the print run. The database of every issue will be indexed and searchable using keywords, issue numbers, and month/year. Issues can be read in their original format, or readers can use the interface to find specific topics, titles, cast, and crew.

The digital archive and the compendium are also part of a companion project. The book will feature special “archive codes” that can be used in the digital archive to uncover more information on a specific actor, interview, or topic.

Pledge levels begin at $10 for access to the digital archive, $20 for the digital edition of the compendium, and $30 for the digital bundle of the archive and digital compendium. The hardcover book is $50, and the book and archive are $60. A Kickstarter exclusive edition, numbered edition, and other special editions of the book are also available.

The Kickstarter campaign has already exceeded its goal and several of the stretch goals. It closes on November 27, 2025.