The world of strange phenomena (Fortean Times, The)

Name: leetemplar

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Fortean Times, The
Date:	19/04/07 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A dizzying mix of unexplained topics

Disadvantages: Sometimes jarring between populist and scholarly writing

Charles Fort, than man from who the term 'Fortean' derives, was an obsessive American collector of strange tales and anomolies in the early 20th Century. His philosophy was to subscribe to no particular belief system, and to see both religion and science as rigid systems that ignored any information that didn't sit comfortably with their world views.

This "damned data" was what Fort collected: tales of ghosts, strange lights, bizarre coincidences, falls of fish and frogs, and anything else reported in the press that was seemingly against nature. He was the first man to suggest UFOs may be piloted by beings from other worlds, and coined the word 'teleport'. His playful theories on the data included the idea of a Cosmic Joker, a supreme being whose sole purpose seemed to be to amuse himself by confusing and baffling the human race.

In the 1970s, Bob Rickard and Paul Sieveking started producing a magazine to help continue Fort's work. Originally titled 'The News', it was soon retitled 'Fortean Times' and grew steadily in popularity and readership. In the mid 90s, at the height of public interest in unexplained phenomena fuelled by The X-Files, the magazine became glossy and monthly, in the form which it still exists in today.

The subject range of Fortean Times probably spans more topics than any other British magazine. Its 'Strange Days' news section follows the Fortean tradition of collecting bizarre stories from around the world, and the rest of the magazine has in depth reports, short forum pieces, and readers' letters. Subjects include ghosts, UFOs, folklore, conspiracy theories, new science, religion and cults, urban legends, parapsychology, cryptozoology (the study of unknown animals), medical curiosities, coincidences and luck, archaeology, and anything else that seems to fit. Readers are left to make up their own mind, and the magazine toes no party line, sometimes printing features that wildly contradict views previously given.

From the magazine's move to a more mainstream newstand publication, there has always been a trade off between the more scholarly nature of some articles, and a more "shock horror" approach to some of the news pages, especially in devoting space to gruesome or bizarre photographs. Some feared it would move more in the latter direction when it became a stablemate of Bizarre magazine, but this was largely unfounded.

Although it possibly lacks some of the charm and depth as it did many years ago, Fortean Times is always a stimulating read, and it's hard not to learn something new and eye-opening with every new issue. Recent issues have perhaps seen a slight slump in quality, but there will never be another magazine quite like it.

Summary: A must for students of the bizarre!