Fate Magazine
Encyclopedia
Fate is a U.S.
magazine about paranormal phenomena. Fate was co-founded in 1948 by Raymond A. Palmer
(editor of Amazing Stories
) and Curtis Fuller, suspended print publication in July 2009, and launched a new website in January 2010 featuring news, articles, and blogs written by experts and paranormal researchers.
Promoted as "the world's leading magazine of the paranormal", it has published expert opinions and personal experiences relating to UFOs
, psychic
abilities, ghost
s and hauntings, cryptozoology
, alternative medicine
, divination
methods, belief in the survival of personality after death
, Fortean phenomena, predictive dream
s, mental telepathy, archaeology
, warnings of death
, and other paranormal
topics.
Though Fate is aimed at a popular audience and tends to emphasize personal anecdotes about the paranormal, American writer and frequent Fate contributor Jerome Clark
says the magazine features a substantial amount of serious research and investigation, and occasional debunking of dubious claims. Subjects of such debunking articles have included Atlantis
, the Bermuda Triangle
, and the Amityville Horror.
of the Amazing Stories magazine, and Curtis Fuller, an accomplished editor in his own right, the magazine's inaugural edition featured an article by Kenneth Arnold
who recounted in it his amazing UFO encounter in 1947. Arnold's sighting marked the beginning of the modern UFO era, and his story propelled the fledgling Fate to national recognition.
In 1955, Curtis Fuller and his wife Mary took full control of Fate when Palmer sold his interest in the venture. The Fullers expanded the magazine's focus, and increased readership to well over 100,000 subscribers.
In 1988, Fate was sold to Llewellyn Publications (now Llewellyn Worldwide
). In his farewell column, Curtis Fuller wrote, "Our purpose throughout this long time has been to explore and to report honestly the strangest facts of this strange world and the ones that don't fit into the general beliefs of the way things are."
Fate underwent a facelift in 1994, when Llewellyn decided to change it from digest size
to a full-size, full-color magazine.
In 1998, the magazine celebrated its 50th year of publication. When asked to comment on how a magazine like Fate survived through five decades, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke said, "No product, especially a magazine, can stay around for fifty years unless it meets a need. Fate recognizes that the impossible can be possible; we explore the unknown so that it can be known."
In September 2001, Galde Press, Inc., owned by editor-in-chief Phyllis Galde, purchased Fate. Galde has continued Fate
In May 2003, Fate returned to its pre-1994 digest size
. In 2008, it moved to a bi-monthly format with its July/August issue.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazine about paranormal phenomena. Fate was co-founded in 1948 by Raymond A. Palmer
Raymond A. Palmer
Raymond Arthur Palmer was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to publish and edit Fate Magazine, and eventually many other magazines and books through his own publishing houses, including Amherst Press and Palmer Publications...
(editor of Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
) and Curtis Fuller, suspended print publication in July 2009, and launched a new website in January 2010 featuring news, articles, and blogs written by experts and paranormal researchers.
Promoted as "the world's leading magazine of the paranormal", it has published expert opinions and personal experiences relating to UFOs
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
, psychic
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
abilities, ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s and hauntings, cryptozoology
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
, alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
, divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
methods, belief in the survival of personality after death
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
, Fortean phenomena, predictive dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s, mental telepathy, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, warnings of death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, and other paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
topics.
Though Fate is aimed at a popular audience and tends to emphasize personal anecdotes about the paranormal, American writer and frequent Fate contributor Jerome Clark
Jerome Clark
Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....
says the magazine features a substantial amount of serious research and investigation, and occasional debunking of dubious claims. Subjects of such debunking articles have included Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
, the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
, and the Amityville Horror.
History
Established in 1948 by Clark Publishing Company, the first edition of Fate hit world newsstands in the spring. Co-founded by Ray Palmer, editorEditing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of the Amazing Stories magazine, and Curtis Fuller, an accomplished editor in his own right, the magazine's inaugural edition featured an article by Kenneth Arnold
Kenneth Arnold
Kenneth A. Arnold was an American aviator and businessman. He is best-known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported unidentified flying object sighting in the United States, after claiming to have seen nine unusual objects flying in a chain near Mount Rainier, Washington...
who recounted in it his amazing UFO encounter in 1947. Arnold's sighting marked the beginning of the modern UFO era, and his story propelled the fledgling Fate to national recognition.
In 1955, Curtis Fuller and his wife Mary took full control of Fate when Palmer sold his interest in the venture. The Fullers expanded the magazine's focus, and increased readership to well over 100,000 subscribers.
In 1988, Fate was sold to Llewellyn Publications (now Llewellyn Worldwide
Llewellyn Worldwide
Llewellyn Worldwide is a New Age publisher, currently based in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. Llewellyn's mission is to "serve the trade and consumers worldwide with options and tools for exploring new worlds of mind & spirit, thereby aiding in the quests of expanded human potential,...
). In his farewell column, Curtis Fuller wrote, "Our purpose throughout this long time has been to explore and to report honestly the strangest facts of this strange world and the ones that don't fit into the general beliefs of the way things are."
Fate underwent a facelift in 1994, when Llewellyn decided to change it from digest size
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
to a full-size, full-color magazine.
In 1998, the magazine celebrated its 50th year of publication. When asked to comment on how a magazine like Fate survived through five decades, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke said, "No product, especially a magazine, can stay around for fifty years unless it meets a need. Fate recognizes that the impossible can be possible; we explore the unknown so that it can be known."
In September 2001, Galde Press, Inc., owned by editor-in-chief Phyllis Galde, purchased Fate. Galde has continued Fate
In May 2003, Fate returned to its pre-1994 digest size
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
. In 2008, it moved to a bi-monthly format with its July/August issue.
Further reading
- "Strange Twist of Fate" Compiled by the Editors of Fate Magazine. Paperback Library. 1967.
- "Exploring the Healing Miracle" Compiled by the Editors of Fate Magazine. Clark. 1983.
- "Out of Time and Place" Compiled & Edited by Terry O'Neill from the files of Fate Magazine. Llewellyn Publications. 1999. ISBN 1-56718-261-5
- "Mysteries and Monsters of the Sea" Compiled by the Editors of Fate Magazine. Gramercy. 2001. ISBN 0517163497
- "Mysteries of the deep" Compiled & Edited by Frank Spaeth from the files of Fate Magazine. Bounty Books, 2005. ISBN 0-7537-1116-8
- "Strange But True—From the Files of Fate Magazine" By: Corrine Kenner, Craig Miller. September 2002. ISBN 9781567182989
- "True Tales of Ghostly Encounters" By: Andrew Honigman. September 2006. ISBN 9780738709895