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Fortean Times



 
 
Fortean Times - "The World of Strange Phenomena" - is a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 monthly magazine
Magazine

for quarterly in Heraldry see Quartering Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of Article , generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscription, or all three....
 devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
. Previously published by John Brown Publishing
John Brown Publishing

John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
 (from 1991 to 2001) and then I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of August 2005, its circulation was approximately 27,000 copies per month.

roots of the magazine that was to become Fortean Times can be traced back to Bob Rickard's discovering the works of Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
 through the second-hand method of reading science-fiction stories:
"John Campbell
John W. Campbell

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction....
, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction (as Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an United States science fiction magazine. As of 2007, it is the longest continually published magazine of that genre....
 was then titled), for example," writes Rickard "encouraged many authors to expand Fort's data and comments into imaginative stories."


In the mid-1960s, while Rickard was studying Product Design
Product design

Product design can be defined as the idea generation, concept development, Test method and manufacturing or implementation of a physical object or service....
 at Birmingham Art College
Birmingham School of Art

The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its listed building building on Margaret Street remains the home of the unive...
 he met several like-minded science-fiction fans, particularly crediting fellow-student Peter Weston
Peter Weston

Peter Weston is an influential United Kingdom science fiction fandom. Now retired, he currently lives in Birmingham, UK.Weston's lifelong love of science fiction led him into science fiction fandom where he made many notable contributions in fan writing, science fiction fanzine editing, convention-running and in local sf clubs....
's fan-produced Speculation 'zine as helping him to "[learn] the art of putting together a fanzine," some years before he created his own.






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Fortean Times - "The World of Strange Phenomena" - is a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 monthly magazine
Magazine

for quarterly in Heraldry see Quartering Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of Article , generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscription, or all three....
 devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
. Previously published by John Brown Publishing
John Brown Publishing

John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
 (from 1991 to 2001) and then I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of August 2005, its circulation was approximately 27,000 copies per month.

History


Pre-1973

The roots of the magazine that was to become Fortean Times can be traced back to Bob Rickard's discovering the works of Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
 through the second-hand method of reading science-fiction stories:
"John Campbell
John W. Campbell

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction....
, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction (as Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an United States science fiction magazine. As of 2007, it is the longest continually published magazine of that genre....
 was then titled), for example," writes Rickard "encouraged many authors to expand Fort's data and comments into imaginative stories."


In the mid-1960s, while Rickard was studying Product Design
Product design

Product design can be defined as the idea generation, concept development, Test method and manufacturing or implementation of a physical object or service....
 at Birmingham Art College
Birmingham School of Art

The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its listed building building on Margaret Street remains the home of the unive...
 he met several like-minded science-fiction fans, particularly crediting fellow-student Peter Weston
Peter Weston

Peter Weston is an influential United Kingdom science fiction fandom. Now retired, he currently lives in Birmingham, UK.Weston's lifelong love of science fiction led him into science fiction fandom where he made many notable contributions in fan writing, science fiction fanzine editing, convention-running and in local sf clubs....
's fan-produced Speculation 'zine as helping him to "[learn] the art of putting together a fanzine," some years before he created his own. Attending a science-fiction convention
Fan convention

A fan convention, or con, is an event in which Fan of a particular Television program, comic book, or actor, or an entire style of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather together to meet famous personalities face-to-face....
 in 1968, Rickard obtained Ace
Ace

The word "ace" comes from the Old French word 'as' meaning 'a unit', from the name of a small Ancient Rome coin. It originally meant the side of a dice with only one mark, before it was a term for a playing card....
 paperback copies of all four of Fort's books from a stall run by Derek Stokes (later to run Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s.Started by Derek 'Bram' Stokes, who previously ran the Gothique fanzine but had left to start a science fiction mail order book service.Diane Lister joined him in 1969....
 and take a role in the day-to-day running of The Fortean Times).

After reading an advert in the underground magazine Oz
Oz (magazine)

Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963–69 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and more famous incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London....
 (in 1969) for the "International Fortean Organisation" (INFO), an American group "founded in 1966... by Paul and Ronald Willis," who had acquired material from the original Fortean Society
Fortean Society

The Fortean Society was started in the United States in 1931 by Tiffany Thayer in order to promote the ideas of American writer Charles Fort. The Fortean Society was primarily based in New York City....
 (started in 1931, but in limbo since the 1959 death of its founder Tiffany Thayer
Tiffany Thayer

Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer was an United States actor, author and founder of the Fortean Society.Born in Freeport, Illinois, Thayer quit school at age 15 and worked as an actor, reporter, and used-book clerk in Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland....
), Rickard began to correspond with the brothers, particularly Paul. Rickard was instrumental in encouraging the Willises to publish their own Fortean journal - the "INFO Journal: Science and the Unknown" began intermittent publication in Spring, 1967 - and sent them many British newspaper clipping, although few saw print. Rickard later discovered that the production was fraught behind-the-scenes as Ronald Willis had been seriously ill, Paul thus finding it difficult to "keep up with things" on his own. Ultimately, the Willises were instrumental in inspiring Rickard to create his own periodical. Ron Willis succumbed to a brain tumour in March 1975. Bearing a date of November 1973, the first issue of Rickard's self-produced and self-published The News was available directly from him.

The News (1973-1976)

The magazine which was to continue Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
's work documenting the unexplained was founded by Robert JM "Bob" Rickard
Bob Rickard

Robert "Bob" J M Rickard is the founder and editor of the UK magazine Fortean Times, which debuted in 1973 under its original title The News....
 in 1973 as his self-published bi-monthly mail-order "hobbyish newsletter" miscellany The News - "A Miscellany of Fortean Curiosities". The title is said to be "a contraction taken from Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (novelist)

Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian era author who published a variety of works, including the Utopian satire Erewhon and the posthumous novel The Way of All Flesh , his two best-known works, but also extending to examinations of Christianity orthodoxy, substantive studies of history of evolutionary thought, studies of Italia...
's The News from Nowhere", (although Rickard may be conflating/confusing Butler's Erewhon
Erewhon

Erewhon, or Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler , published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist....
 and William Morris
William Morris

William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and Socialism associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement....
' "News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere

News from Nowhere is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris....
"
). The News saw fairly-regular bi-monthly publication for 15 issues between November 1973 and April 1976. Debuting at 35p (£1.80/$4.50 for a year of 6 issues) for 20 pages, The News was produced on Rickard's typewriter, with headings created with Letraset
Letraset

Letraset is a company which manufactures sheets of artwork elements which can be transferred to artwork being prepared. The name Letraset was often used to refer generically to sheets of dry transferrable lettering of any brand....
, during (as Rickard says in #2) the late-70s blackouts. The first issue featured a cover (which would become briefly the unofficial logo of The News) drawn by Rickard from a Selfridges
Selfridges

Selfridges is a chain of department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909....
 advert originally created by Bernard Partridge. From the second issue, pictures and photographs from various newspapers were interpolated within the text. The price was raised slightly for #6 - which also saw the page count upped to 24pg - due in large part to rising postal and paper costs.

Helping behind-the-scenes was Steve Moore
Steve Moore (comics)

Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
, a kindred-spirit whom Rickard met at a comics convention when the latter was a sub-editor at IPC
IPC

IPC is an initialism that may stand for:* Ikano Power Centre, a shopping mall in Mutiara Damansara, Selangor, Malaysia* India Pentecostal Church of God, the largest indigenous Pentecostal movement in India...
. The two found they had much in common - including a love of Chinese mysticism - and Moore helped inspire Rickard to publish The News. The early issues featured some articles by different individuals, but were "largely the work of Bob Rickard, who typed them himself with some help from Steve Moore."

Key News-people
Moore and "Paul Screeton (then editor of The Ley Hunter), both urged on the first few uncertain issues" and Moore would frequently join Rickard to "stuff envelopes and hand-write a few hundred addresses" to disseminate the early issues. Rickard also highlights amongst the key early Fortean Times advocates and supporters: Ion Will, who discovered The News in 1974 and became a "constant [source] of valuable clippings, books, postcards and entertaining letters"; Janet and Colin Bord, later authors of Mysterious Britain (Janet also wrote for Flying Saucer Review and Lionel Beer's Spacelink, while it was Colin's Fortean article in Gandalf's Garden
Gandalf's Garden

Gandalf's Garden was a mystical community which flourished at the end of the 1960s as part of the London hippie/underground movement, running a shop and a magazine of the same name....
 that is particularly cited by Rickard as bringing him/them to his attention); Phil Ledger, a "peripatetic
Peripatetic

The Peripatetics were members of a school of philosophy in ancient Greece. Their teachings derived from their founder, the greek philosophy Aristotle and Peripatetic is a name given to his followers....
 marine biologist", and The News' "first enthusiastic fan"; Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (actor)

Kenneth Victor Campbell was an England writer, actor, theatre director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre." ...
, Fortean playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
; John Michell
John Michell

John Michell was an England natural philosopher and geologist whose work spanned a wide range of subjects from astronomy to geology, optics, and gravitation....
; Richard Adams and Dick Gwynn, who both helped with the evolving layout and typesetting of later issues; Chris Squire, who helped organise the first subscription database; Canadian "Mr. X"; Mike Dash and cartoonist Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson

Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....
. Emerson was introduced to Rickard in late 1974, when after seven issues, he "wanted to improve the graphics", which Emerson certainly did, providing around 30 headings for use in issues #8 onwards. (Emerson's still-on-going monthly "Phenomenomix" strip in FT had it's prototype in #11's three-page "Fortean Funnies").

Notable News content
Other early contributors included writer and researcher Nigel Watson
Nigel Watson

Nigel Watson is a United Kingdom writer, researcher and UFO consultant....
 (Chairman of the Scunthorpe UFO Research Society 'SUFORS'), who wrote "Mysterious Moon" for The News #2. Watson would later write a regular column of UFO commentary entitled Enigma Variations (from #29), and articles on the subject of UFO-related murders and stories of sexual assault by aliens. Phil Grant wrote about Ley lines for #3 and Mary Caine who revised an earlier article (from Gandalf's Garden
Gandalf's Garden

Gandalf's Garden was a mystical community which flourished at the end of the 1960s as part of the London hippie/underground movement, running a shop and a magazine of the same name....
) on The Glastonbury
Temple of the Stars

The Temple of the Stars is an alleged ancient temple thought to be situated around Glastonbury in Somerset, England.The temple is thought by some to depict a colossal landscape zodiac, a map of the stars on a gigantic scale, formed by features in the landscape ....
 Zodiac
Landscape zodiac

A landscape zodiac is a map of the stars on a gigantic scale, formed by features in the landscape, such as roads, streams and field boundaries....
 for issue #4, which also saw the debut of the "Reviews" section, beginning with comments on a book by John Michell
John Michell

John Michell was an England natural philosopher and geologist whose work spanned a wide range of subjects from astronomy to geology, optics, and gravitation....
, the Sphere reprint of Charles Fort
Charles Fort

Charles Hoy Fort was an United States writer and researcher into anomaly .Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a Satire hugely skeptical of human beings ? especially scientists ? claims to ultimate knowledge"....
's New Lands and John Sladek
John Sladek

John Thomas Sladek was an United States science fiction author, known for his satire and surrealism novels....
's The New Apocrypha. Issues #2 and #3 noted that The News was published "with an arrangement with INFO", this was revised from #4 to it being "affiliated to the International Fortean Organisation". From #5, Mark A. Hall produced a section entitled "Fortean USA", continuing on from his earlier, discontinued, newsletter From My Files; issue #5 also saw William Porter's article on Llandrillo
Llandrillo

Llandrillo may refer to one of the following in North Wales, UK:* Llandrillo, Denbighshire, a village near Bala* Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, a multi-campus college...
 printed, after being delayed from #4 for space constraints. Janet Bord contributed "Some Fortean Ramblings" alongside William R. Corliss
William R. Corliss

William Roger Corliss is an American physicist and writer who has become known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomaly .Since 1974, Corliss has published a number of works in the "Sourcebook Project"....
's "The Evolution of the Fortean Sourcebooks" for #7, and issue #8 was the first issue of Vol. 2, after Rickard decided to end Volume 1 with #7 (not #6 as fully bi-monthly titles do), since that issue was dated November '74, thereby attempting to keep each Volume aligned with a year.

Issue #8 (or, Volume 2, issue #1) saw the special "Christmas present" of headings by Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson

Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....
, after Rickard was introduced to Emerson by Carol and Nick Moore as Hunt was working on Large Cow Comix. Described by Rickard as "as much a disciple of George [Herriman]
George Herriman

George Joseph Herriman was an American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip Krazy Kat....
... and my [Rickard's] favourite artists from Mad (Bill Elder
Will Elder

William "Will" Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art, but is best known for a zany cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952....
 and Wally Wood
Wally Wood

Wallace Allan Wood was an United States comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad ....
)" as Rickard was of Charles Fort, the two got on well, with Emerson producing not only a series of headings, but later strips and covers for issues right up to the present day. The death of INFO co-founder Ronald J Willis was announced in #9, which described itself as providing "bi-monthly notes on Fortean phenomena", and an index to the first year's issues (#1-7) became available. Colin Bord penned "Amazing Menagerie" for issue #10, while Paul Devereux
Paul Devereux

Paul Devereux is an author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the Cotswolds, England. Devereux is a Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories group at Princeton University....
 and Andrew York x=compiled an exhaustive study of Leicestershire
Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Hall, situated in Glenfield, Leicestershire, about 3 miles northwest of Leicester city centre, is the seat of Leicestershire County Council and the headquarters of the county authority....
 in "Portrait of a Fault Area", serialised in #11-12. Issue #11 featured Rickard and Emerson's first "Fortean Funnies" cartoon, while #12 saw a price rise to 50p/$1.25, a logo change (from Selfridges' herald-on-horseback to the more descriptive Fort's face-encircled) and a tweaking of its tagline to "bi-monthly news & notes on Fortean phenomena." Issue #14 first mentioned Rickard and Michell's then-in-production book Phenomena!, which would be more actively trailed from #18. Issue #15 - now with 28 pages - announced that Rickard had decided to bow to popular opinion and retitle his miscellany with a more descriptive title. Thus, with a subtitle of "Portents & Prodigies", Fortean Times was born.

Fortean Times (1976-present)

After fifteen issues of The News, issue #16 (1976) saw the magazine renamed Fortean Times, which "new title emerged from correspondence between Bob Rickard and Paul Willis" - the two having talked of creating a Fortean version of The Times
The Times

The Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of News International....
 newspaper, "full of weird and wonderful news and read by millions worldwide". It's cover bore the descriptive text "Strange phenomena - curiosities - prodigies - portents - mysteries," while the inside cover kept the 'Fort face' logo from later issues of The News but bore the revised legend "A Contemporary Record of Strange Phenomena". Included within was an offer for a "4-colour silk-screened poster" created by Hunt Emerson for this landmark issue. From the start, this new format compounded earlier financial difficulties for Rickard, following on from #14's plea: "we need more subscribers or we die!". (Fortean Times issues #16-18 - as The News #1-15 before them - were solely edited, published and in large part written & typed by Rickard himself. Even by passing on rising postal and paper costs to the readership - which Rickard constantly reiterates that he is loathe to do, the early Fortean Times was constantly facing an uphill financial battle.) Early editorials of the new FT, therefore (in fact beginning with The News #15) featured a notification of donations received, naming and thanking the hardcore readership (which included many current and future-contributors) for monies received, which aided the move towards higher production values. With donations helping to offset costs, the price was held at 50p up until issue #20, whereupon the magazine dropped to a quarterly schedule from Spring 1977 (Issue #21) - but raised the page count (and price) to continue producing the same amount of material for the same yearly fee (40pg, 75p ea. or £3/year).

Issue #18 saw a new semi-regular feature entitled "Forteana Corrigenda," aimed at correcting "errors in the literature" that had crept into various Fortean works through misquotation or other difficulties. After 18 more-or-less solo-produced issues, long-term supporter and helper Steve Moore was credited as assistant editor for issues #19-21, becoming co-contributing editor (with Phil Ledger, Stan Nichols and Paul J Willis) on issues #22-26 and 'associate editor' from issue #27. He was joined by contributing editor David Fideler, and subsequently (also as co-associate editor) by Paul Sieveking
Paul Sieveking

Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
 (#28-) and Valerie Thomas (#31-32). Issue #20 announced that Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson

Kay Thompson was an United States author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books....
 (a staff member of Ley Hunter magazine, then under the editorship of Paul Devereux
Paul Devereux

Paul Devereux is an author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the Cotswolds, England. Devereux is a Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories group at Princeton University....
, with whom FT shared an address for several issues) would be helping to type parts of subsequent issues to further delegate the burden from Rickard. He, Moore and Sieveking were also later joined editorially by author Mike Dash
Mike Dash

Mike Dash is a Wales writer, journalist and researcher. Born in London, he attended the University of Cambridge and King's College London, and holds a PhD in naval history for the thesis British Submarine Policy 1853?1918....
 (who is mentioned as particularly overseeing the publication of scholarly occasional papers), before Moore moved from full editorial to largely correspondent duties for a dozen issues after #42, returning as a contributing editor in Autumn 1990 (#55). The four - Rickard, Sieveking, Dash and Moore - are often collectively referred to as "The Gang of Fort," after the Gang of Four.

Issue #21 saw the debut of FT semi-regular column "Strange Deaths" (later descriptively subtitled "Unusual ways of shuffling off this mortal coil"), while issue #22 updated FT's to include (Ivan T. Sanderson
Ivan T. Sanderson

Ivan Terence Sanderson was a naturalist and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who became a naturalized citizen of the United States.Sanderson is remembered for his nature writing and his interest in cryptozoology and paranormal subjects....
's)
The Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained (SITU), alongside INFO. Issue #23 featured an article by Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson

Robert Anton Wilson or RAW was an United States novelist, essayist, philosopher, psychonaut, futurologist and libertarian.Wilson described his writing as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations?to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps and no one model elevated to the Truth." ... ...
 on, aptly, "The 23 Phenomenon
23 (numerology)

The 23 Enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23 , some permutation of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23, given enough ingenuity on the part of the interpreter....
", made available a second Index (1975, to The News #8-13) and included a 12-page 'Review Supplement', issued as a separately bound supplement since the-then printers had difficulty binding more than 40 pages. With #24, the printers were changed to Windhorse Press to overcome this difficulty, and FT became officially 52-pages in length, the changes cemented in issue #25 with a new font for the title and a change of address - c/o London-based "SF and cosmic" bookshop Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed, run by Derek Stokes (who had sold Rickard the four Fort books ten years previously). The same issue ran an obituary for Eric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell

Eric Frank Russell was a United Kingdom author best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W....
, of whom Rickard was a considerable fan. He writes that Russell turned down an invitation to contribute material to The News back in 1973, having "earned his rest" after 40 years as an active Fortean. Rickard further states that Russell was one of the key Fortean-fiction writers he read in Campbell
John W. Campbell

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction....
's Astounding Science Fiction and Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an United States science fiction magazine. As of 2007, it is the longest continually published magazine of that genre....
, and the author of "the first Fortean book I [Rickard] ever read": Russell's Great World Mysteries. Issue #26 trailed "a special series of 'Occasional Papers' in Fortean subjects" to be edited by Steve Moore, and #27 - the 5th Anniversary issue - welcomed Michigan-native David Fideler (whose Anomaly Research Bulletin was then due to cease publication, although its subscribers, FT promised, would be absorbed by them) as FT's "man in the New World".

Paul Sieveking and FT's format change
In 1978, mutual friend Ion Will introduced Rickard to Paul Sieveking
Paul Sieveking

Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
, who recalls that "the Forteans used to meet every Tuesday afternoon above the science-fiction bookshop Dark They Were And Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s.Started by Derek 'Bram' Stokes, who previously ran the Gothique fanzine but had left to start a science fiction mail order book service.Diane Lister joined him in 1969....
 in Soho, a shop run by Derek Stokes, to open post and interact. (Indeed, this was the semi-official address of FT until that shop closed. With #35, Summer '81 the address was changed.) Sieveking joined the FT team with #28 as co-associate editor, and writes, highlighting the intrinsic early difficulties in printing FT that that issue "was printed by an Israeli entrepreneur in northern Greece and shipped to London." That issue (#28), bearing a cover blurb of "Strange Phenomena", featured an early advert for the bookshop Dark They Were And Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s.Started by Derek 'Bram' Stokes, who previously ran the Gothique fanzine but had left to start a science fiction mail order book service.Diane Lister joined him in 1969....
, drawn by Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot

Bryan Talbot is a British comic book artist and writer. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its recent sequel Heart of Empire....
, while the editorial promised that the next issue would not only see the availability of Index 1976, but be in a "larger and more professional format, typeset throughout, [with] better graphics, layout and legibility."

Indeed #29, under a cover by Hunt Emerson, was printed fully typeset in A4 (thanks to art director Richard Adams of AdCo and, according to Rickard's preface to Yesterday's News Tomorrow, Dick Gwynn) and even distributed on a limited basis through WH Smiths. The move away from production on Rickard's typewriter gave "The Journal of Strange Phenomena," (as it was now subtitled) greater ability to produce longer, better laid-out articles. These opened with a seven-page guide to "Charles Fort and Fortean Times" by Bob Rickard, explaining the background and philosophy of FT as well as outlining the influence of Fort "who", writes Rickard, "is still largely unknown", and also included the first of Nigel Watson's "Enigma Variations" columns and Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman is an author of books on a number of topics, including cryptozoology, born in Norfolk, Virginia....
's "Devil Names and Fortean Places" article sat alongside comments by Colin Bord, Tim Dinsdale
Tim Dinsdale

Timothy Dinsdale, Royal Aeronautical Society was famous as a seeker of the Loch Ness Monster. He attended The King's School, Worcester, served in the Royal Air Force and worked as an aeronautical engineer....
, VGW Harrison
Vernon Harrison

Dr. Vernon George Wentworth Harrison, PhD. is a former president of the Royal Photographic Society, and a professional "research worker of disputed documents"....
 and Rickard on Anthony 'Doc' Shiels' 1977 "Nessie
Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster is a creature alleged to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
" photographs. The magazine itself dropped the description 'non-profitmaking' from its publication information, and ceased to name its stated-affiliations to INFO and SITU and 'other Fortean journals' in favour the more general aim to be a "friend to all groups and magazines continuing the work of Charles Fort". It also contained a considerably higher number of adverts, including both inside covers - making the page count slightly higher than previous issues, which had previously counted the cover as page 1 - and an early advert by Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland

Brian Bolland is a United Kingdom comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. He is particularly known as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comic 2000 AD , and as one of the foremost cover artists for DC Comics....
 for Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet (bookstore)

Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and Horror fiction bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film Forbidden Planet....
 (which would ironically begin to take off only after the closure of Stokes' Dark They Were And Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s.Started by Derek 'Bram' Stokes, who previously ran the Gothique fanzine but had left to start a science fiction mail order book service.Diane Lister joined him in 1969....
).

Issue #30 announced that while "over the last couple of issues [the] subscriber list... nearly doubled," so too had the "printing, production and postage bill," necessitating a price rise to 95p/$2.50 - albeit softened by another length increase, to 68 pages. Now published not merely by Rickard, but by 'Fortean Times Ltd', it was typeset by Warpsmith Graphics and printed by Bija Press. The cover was painted by Una Woodruff (whose Inventorum Natura was reviewed within) to illustrate John Michell
John Michell

John Michell was an England natural philosopher and geologist whose work spanned a wide range of subjects from astronomy to geology, optics, and gravitation....
's article on "Spontaneous Images and Acheropites," drawing on his 1979 Thames & Hudson
Thames & Hudson

Thames & Hudson is one of the world?s leading publishers of illustrated books on art, architecture, design and visual culture. With its headquarters in London, it has a sister company in New York and subsidiaries in Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong....
 book dealing with - and titled - "Simulacra". Bob Rickard produced an article on one "Clemente Dominguez: Pope, Heretic
Heretic

A heretic is a person who expresses or acts on opinions considered to be heresy.Heretic may also refer to:*Heretic , 1994 game from Raven Software...
, Stigmatic
Stigmata

Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus. The term originates from the line at the end of Paul of Tarsus's Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the st?gmata of Jesus" - stigmata is the plural of the Greek_language word st???a, st?gma,...
;" Michael Hoffman
Michael A. Hoffman II

Michael Anthony Hoffman II, , is an American conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denial.Hoffman is the managing editor of the newsletter Revisionist History , and describes himself as a "Heresy writer." He has produced many books and articles....
 speculated on the occult aspects of a serial killer in "The Sun of Sam;" Robert J. Schadewald wrote about "The Great Fish Fall
Raining animals

Raining animals is a relatively rare meteorology phenomenon, although occurrences have been reported from many countries throughout history. One hypothesis that has been furthered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds travelling over water sometimes pick up debris such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles....
 of 1859" while Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson

Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....
 produced the first cartoon strip under the title "Phenomenomix".

Sieveking took over full editorial duties from Rickard with #43, helming the subsequent four quarterly issues (to #46) to give Rickard a chance to "revitalize", which he did, returning with #46 to the position of co-editor. Moore, Dash and Ian Simmons (and others) variously edited the magazine for the next 18+ years, and although main editorship passed from Rickard and Sieveking to David Sutton
David Sutton

David Sutton is the current editor of the Fortean Times magazine. Sutton was educated at the University of East Anglia, University College London, Birkbeck, University of London and the British Film Institute....
 in 2002, they both continue to contribute - Sieveking focuses his editorial efforts largely on the letters page as well as some specialist topics (while Sieveking's wife edits the "Reviews" section).

During the 30 years of its publication, Fortean Times has changed both format and publishers on a couple of occasions. Early issues (particularly of The News) were produced in black & white (for ease of photocopying), and the whole was largely produced by typewriter
Typewriter

A typewriter is a Machine or electromechanical device with a set of "keys" that, when pressed, cause Typeface to be printed on a medium, usually paper....
 until #29. Colour, professional printing (and wider distribution) followed and a 6.5 x 4.5in size held sway for several years before the magazine settled into it's "normal" A4 (magazine) size in the 1980s, after which glossy covers followed. Several changes of logo and font have occurred throughout its life.

General content

The identification of correct original sources by contributors is a defining feature of the magazine, as it was for Charles Fort himself. However, the "objective reality" of these reports is not as important. The magazine "maintains a position of benevolent scepticism towards both the orthodox and the unorthodox" and "toes no party line
Toe the line

"Toe the line" is an idiomatic expression meaning to conform to a rule or a standard.The term has disputed origins. Perhaps its longest-running use is from the British House of Commons where sword-strapped members were instructed to stand behind lines that were better than a sword?s length from their political rivals in order to restore dec...
". The range of subject matter is extremely broad, including but not limited to the following:

  • General Forteana
  • Anomalous phenomena
  • Apparition
    Apparition

    An apparition is an act or instance of appearing, including:*a Vision such as a Marian apparition; or*certain ostensibly paranormal experiences such as ghost, doppelg?nger or bilocation; or...
    s
  • Bizarre deaths
  • Conspiracy theories
    Conspiracy theory

    A conspiracy theory alleges a coordinated group is, or was, secretly working to commit illegal or wrongful actions, including attempting to hide the existence of the group and its activities....
  • Crop circle
    Crop circle

    Crop circles are patterns created by the flattening of Crop such as wheat, barley, rapeseed , rye, maize, linseed and soy.The term was first used by researcher Colin Andrews to describe simple circles he was researching....
    s
  • Cryptozoology
    Cryptozoology

    Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience focused on the search for animals which are considered to be fictional or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology....
  • Cult
    Cult (religious practice)

    In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or mythologys, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety....
    s and would-be
    List of messiah claimants

    This is a list of people who have been said to be a messiah either by themselves, or by their followers. The list is divided into categories, which are sorted according to date of birth ....
     Messiah
    Messiah

    Messiah literally means "anointed ".In Jewish messiah tradition and Jewish eschatology, messiah refers to a future monarch of United Monarchy from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israelite#The Twelve Tribes, and herald the Messianic Age of global peace....
    s
  • Fringe science
    Fringe science

    Fringe science is science inquiry in an established field of study which departs significantly from mainstream or Orthodoxy theory, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream List of academic disciplines....
  • Hoax
    Hoax

    A hoax is a deliberate attempt to dupe, deceive or deception an audience into believing, or accepting, that something is real, when in fact it is not; or that something is true, when in fact it is false....
    es
  • Mutant
    Mutant

    A mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or Trait not found in the wild type....
    s (human and animal)
  • Parapsychology
    Parapsychology

    Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and Survivalism using the scientific method....
  • Religious phenomena (stigmata
    Stigmata

    Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus. The term originates from the line at the end of Paul of Tarsus's Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the st?gmata of Jesus" - stigmata is the plural of the Greek_language word st???a, st?gma,...
    , appearances and simulacra and miracles, etc.)
  • Natural simulacra
    Simulacrum

    Simulacrum , from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image...
  • UFOs
    Unidentified flying object

    An unidentified flying object is any aerial phenomenon whose cause can not be easily or immediately determined. Both military and civilian research show that a significant majority of UFO sightings are identified after further investigation, either explicitly or indirectly The USAF, who coined the term in 1952, initially defined UFOs as thos...
  • Urban legend
    Urban legend

    An urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them....
    s


Current content

The magazine's current regular contents includes:
  • Three or four feature articles
  • Strange Days, a wide-ranging overview of odd and interesting stories mostly culled from the world's newspapers. Some feature in particular sections, including:
    • Science
      Science

      In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
      ,
    • Archaeology
      Archaeology

      Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
       (usually by Pauls Sieveking
      Paul Sieveking

      Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
       and Devereux
      Paul Devereux

      Paul Devereux is an author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the Cotswolds, England. Devereux is a Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories group at Princeton University....
      ),
    • Ghosts, in a column titled Ghostwatch
    • Alien Zoo, Dr. Karl Shuker
      Karl Shuker

      Karl P. N. Shuker is a United Kingdom zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author living in the West Midlands , England. He works as a full-time freelance zoological consultant, media consultant, and noted author specializing in cryptozoology....
      's regular discussion of cryptozoological
      Cryptozoology

      Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience focused on the search for animals which are considered to be fictional or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology....
       matters
    • Necrolog, obituaries
      Obituary

      An obituary is an attempt to give an account of the texture and significance of the life of someone who has recently died. It is to be distinguished from a death notice , which is a paid advertisement written by family members and placed in the newspaper either by the family or the funeral home....
       of Fortean-relevant individuals
    • Strange deaths, a long-running round-up of the odd manners in which some people meet their ends
    • The UFO Files: "Flying Saucery", is Andy J. Roberts and Dr. David Clarke
      David Clarke

      David Clarke or Dave Clarke may refer to:* Dave Clarke, techno DJ from England* David Clarke , motion picture and Broadway actor* David Clarke Australian businessman, director of several large companies...
      's "regular survey of the latest fads and flaps from the world of ufology
      Ufology

      Ufology is a neologism coined to describe the collective efforts of those who study unidentified flying object reports and associated evidence....
      "; "UFOcal Points" is Jenny Randles
      Jenny Randles

      "Oz Factor" redirects here. For the album by Unwritten Law, see Oz Factor .Jenny Randles is a United Kingdom author and former director of investigations with the British UFO Research Association , serving in that role from 1982 through to 1994 ...
      ' "round-up of sightings and hot-spots from around the world"
Clippings for most of Strange Days' stories are requested from, and supplied by, the readers of FT
  • Mythconceptions, which debunks
    Debunker

    A debunker is an individual who discredits and exposes claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with scientific skepticism of topics such as Unidentified flying objects, claimed paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, research outside mainstream science or pseudoscie...
     modern myths, Old wives' tale
    Old wives' tale

    An old wives' tale or old wives' saws is a type of urban legend, similar to a proverb, which is generally passed down by old wives to a younger generation....
    s, etc. (in a similar manner to, among others )
  • Classical Corner, in which Barry Baldwin reviews Fortean events from ancient times
  • Fortean Bureau of Investigation, which typically revisits and reassesses older Fortean cases
  • Forum, featuring three or four shorter articles on diverse topics
  • Reviews of Fortean
    Fortean

    Fortean refers to:*Charles Fort's ideas and philosophy and the people and things inspired by it*Fortean Society, formed by New York's literati led by Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, Ben Hecht...
    , science fiction
    Science fiction

    Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
    /fantasy
    Fantasy

    Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of Plot , Theme , and/or Setting . Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three ....
     and related Book
    Book

    A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side....
    s, film
    Film

    Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
    s and computer games
  • A letters page, incorporating:
    • Simulacra
      Simulacrum

      Simulacrum , from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image...
       Corner
      , photographs submitted by readers of (typically) naturally-occurring objects which appear to be in the shape of something else
    • "it happened to me...", readers stories of strange personal occurrences
  • Fortean Traveller, a guide to various sites of interest to the travelling Fortean
  • Phenomenomix, a comic strip
    Comic strip

    A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story.Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many such strips are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet....
     by Hunt Emerson
    Hunt Emerson

    Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....


Praise and criticism

Most of the articles in Fortean Times are written in the style of objective journalism
Objectivity (journalism)

Objectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualities....
, but this is not a mandatory requirement and some articles focus on a specific theory or point of view. Although such articles are presented as the opinion of the author and not the editors (who claim to have no opinions), this has occasionally led to controversy. One of the most famous examples occurred in January 1997, when the magazine ran an article by David Percy under the screaming headline "FAKE! Did NASA hoax the moon landing
Apollo Moon Landing hoax accusations

Apollo Moon Landing hoax Conspiracy theory are claims that some or all elements of the Project Apollo Moon landings were faked by NASA and possibly members of other involved organizations....
 photos?"
. The article outraged many readers and led to the magazine's "most vigorous postbag" up to that time. If the Percy article upset the "skeptics" among FTs readership, it was the turn of the "believers" in August 2000, when the magazine's cover boasted what must have seemed to them at first sight a very promising headline: "UFO? The shocking truth about the first flying saucers". However, the article in question, by James Easton
James Easton

James Andrew Easton, OBE is a former British diplomat and Foreign Service officer.He is also music composer and performer. He has also been a Feature Writer of the Accordion Times since 1992....
, proposed an extremely mundane explanation for Kenneth Arnold
Kenneth Arnold

Kenneth A. Arnold was an American businessman and pilot.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 see nine unusual objects flying in a chain near Mount Rainier, Washington on June 24, 1947....
's sighting — American White Pelican
American White Pelican

The American White Pelican or Rough-billed Pelican is a large aquatic bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, up to Central America, in winter....
s. This suggestion so outraged ufolgists that many of them still use the term "pelican" or "pelicanist" as a pejorative term for a debunker
Debunker

A debunker is an individual who discredits and exposes claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with scientific skepticism of topics such as Unidentified flying objects, claimed paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, research outside mainstream science or pseudoscie...
.

Praise from within the various Fortean communities almost goes without saying, and most Fortean researchers contribute articles, criticism and/or letters to the magazine. It has also attracted more widespread coverage and praise at times, however, too.
Fortean Times #69 claims that "extracts from FT have featured in at least three publications used for teaching English as a foreign language," perhaps in part because (as the editors also quote) Lynn Barber of The Independent on Sunday newspaper calls FT:
"a model of elegant English."


Related projects

Most years, the magazine has held an annual convention in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 called the Fortean Times UnConvention (UnCon). The first convention was held on the 18-19 June 1994.

Fortean Studies, the magazines more-academic sister-publication published yearly volumes in the late 1990s, and is still nominally on-going, although when future volumes might see print is unknown. Publication stalled after the sale of FT in 2000.

Its official tracks Fortean news stories, holds a small archive of articles and photographs, and supports a busy forum
Internet forum

An , or 'message board', is an online discussion site. It is the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system....
 for discussion of Fortean topics.

The magazine has also occasionally published both academic and light-hearted books on various aspects of Forteana (see below).

Collections and spin-off books

Many of the earliest issues of
FT were collected in book format in the early 1990s. In recent years, the print volumes have been overtaken by digital files, available on CD. In addition, several smaller collections have been compiled on various themes and sold, or given away as 'free gifts' with the magazine. A more academic journal ("Fortean Studies") has also seen print, and is still technically an on-going venture.

Fortean Tomes (Chronological collections)

Starting in the very early 1990s,
Fortean Times produced a number of facsimile editions collecting - in their entirety, adverts and all - the earliest issues of the magazine. These collections, prepared and edited for print by Paul Sieveking (including hand-corrections to early typographic errors) are now out-of-print. It further appears that although demand was such to warrant reprints of several volumes, after collecting up to #77 it was decided that the previous volumes had not sold well enough to continue completely up to date. (Concern over the likely cost of reprinting issues in the new full colour format led to a publishing decision to stockpile 500 unbound run-on copies of each number to provide the basis of future reprint editions, and this project resulted in one further collection - "Snakes Alive!", collecting #93-97 - but the in-between issues #78-92 have not yet been collected in trade format.)

(The early collections, like the earliest magazines, were published in smaller, 6.5 x 4.5in format)
  • Yesterday's News Tomorrow: Fortean Times Issues 1-15 (John Brown Publishing
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1992 2nd ed. 1995) ISBN 1-870870-26-3
  • Diary of a Mad Planet: Fortean Times Issues 16-25 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 2nd ed. 1995) ISBN 1-870021-25-8
  • Seeing Out the Seventies: Fortean Times Issues 26-30 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1990) ISBN 1-870021-20-7
  • Gateways to Mystery: Fortean Times Issues 31-36 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1993) ISBN 1-870870-37-9
  • Heaven's Reprimands: Fortean Times Issues 37-41 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1994) ISBN 1-870870-52-2
  • If Pigs Could Fly: Fortean Times Issues 42-46 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1994) ISBN 1-870870-47-6
  • Fishy Yarns: Fortean Times Issues 47-51 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1994) ISBN 1-870870-48-4
  • Bonfire of the Oddities: Fortean Times Issues 52-56 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1995) ISBN 1-870870-61-1
  • Strange Attractors: Fortean Times Issues 57-62 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1996) ISBN 1-870870-73-5
(The later collections were of a larger - A4 - size)
  • Plumber from Lhasa: Fortean Times Issues 63-67 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1996) ISBN 1-870870-79-4
  • Memories of Hell: Fortean Times Issues 68-72 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1997) ISBN 1-870870-90-5
  • Mouthful of Mysteries: Fortean Times Issues 73-77 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1998) ISBN 1-870870-66-2
  • Snakes Alive!: Fortean Times Issues 93-97 (John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing

    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
    , 1998) ISBN 1-902212-04-5


    • "Fortean Times" Index by Steve Moore
      Steve Moore (comics)

      Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
       (John Brown Publishing Ltd
      John Brown Publishing

      John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world?s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines, children?s content and brand comms....
      , Oct 1997) ISBN 1-870870-68-9

CDs
In the mid 2000s,
FT began to release a series of digital archives. Beginning with more recent issues (presumably for reasons of ease - more recent issues would be more readily available as digital files), they have also begun to re-release the earliest issues - it appears that the digital archive CD format has taken over from print collections.
  • Issues 1-15 CD (The complete The News)
  • Issues 16-25 CD
  • Issues 26-30 CD
    • Issues 1-30 3CD Boxset


  • 2001 CD Archive (Issues 142-153)
  • 2002 CD Archive (Issues 154-165)
  • 2003 CD Archive (Issues 166-178)
  • 2004 CD Archive (Issues 179-191)
  • 2005 CD Archive (Issues 192-204)
  • 2006 CD Archive (Issues 205-217)
    • 2002 - 2005 4CD Archive


Fortean Studies

A sister-publication Fortean Studies began in the mid-1990s and was edited by Steve Moore
Steve Moore (comics)

Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
. In the words of frequent-contributor Neil Nixon, it "compiled serious research and opinion on a range of paranormal and conspiracy related issues," as was a more academic counterpart to
FT.
  • Rickard, Bob
    Bob Rickard

    Robert "Bob" J M Rickard is the founder and editor of the UK magazine Fortean Times, which debuted in 1973 under its original title The News....
     (producer) & Moore, Steve
    Steve Moore (comics)

    Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
     (ed.)
    Fortean Studies: Volume 1 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1994) ISBN 1-870870-55-7
  • Rickard, Bob (producer) & Moore, Steve (ed.) Fortean Studies: Volume 2 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1995) ISBN 1-870870-70-0
  • Rickard, Bob (producer) & Moore, Steve (ed.) Fortean Studies: Volume 3 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1996) ISBN 1-870870-82-4
  • Rickard, Bob (producer) & Moore, Steve (ed.) Fortean Studies: Volume 4 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1998) ISBN 1-870870-96-4
  • Rickard, Bob (producer) & Moore, Steve (ed.) Fortean Studies: Volume 5 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1998) ISBN 1-902212-14-2
  • Rickard, Bob (producer) & Moore, Steve (ed.) Fortean Studies: Volume 6 (John Brown Publishing Ltd, 1998) ISBN 1-902212-20-7


Other titles

  • The World's Most Incredible Stories: The Best of Fortean Times by Adam Sisman and Hunt Emerson
    Hunt Emerson

    Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....
     (May 1992)
  • Fortean Times 1993 Diary by Paul Sieveking
    Paul Sieveking

    Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
     (Dec 1992)


  • "Fortean Times" Book of Strange Deaths compiled by Steve Moore
    Steve Moore (comics)

    Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
    , illustrated by Etienne (John Brown Publishing Ltd 1994) ISBN 1-870870-50-6
    • US edition: The Comedian Who Choked to Death on a Pie-- and the Man Who Quit Smoking at 116: A Collection of Incredible Lives and Unbelievable Deaths (Nov 1996)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Weird Sex (Sep 1995)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Life's Losers by Ian Stuart Simmons, illustrated by Geoff Coupland (Oct 1996)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Inept Crime compiled by Steve Moore
    Steve Moore (comics)

    Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
    , illustrated by Geoff Coupland (Oct 1996)
    • US edition: The World's Stupidest Criminals (Jun 1998)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Exploding Pigs and Other Strange Animal Stories by Ian Stuart Simmons (Oct 1997)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Bizarre Behaviour by Ian Simmons (Oct 1998)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of More Strange Deaths by Paul Sieveking
    Paul Sieveking

    Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
     (Oct 1998)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Unconventional Wisdom (1999)
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Close Shaves by Steve Moore
    Steve Moore (comics)

    Steve Moore is a prolific British comics writer.He is credited with showing Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts....
     (John Brown Publishing Ltd Oct 1999) ISBN 1-902212-18-5
  • "Fortean Times" Book of Medical Mayhem by Paul Sieveking
    Paul Sieveking

    Paul Sieveking was, until 2002, co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times, the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained", a magazine he joined in 1978....
     and Ian Stuart Simmons (Oct 1999)


  • "Fortean Times" Book of the Millennium by Kevin McClure (Sep 1996)
  • "Fortean Times" Presents UFO: 1947-1997 - 50 Years of Flying Saucers by Dennis Stacy and Hilary Evans
    Hilary Evans

    Hilary Evans is a British pictorial archivist, author, and researcher into Paranormal phenomena.With his wife he founded the Mary Evans Picture Library, an archive of historical illustrations....
      (May 1997)
  • Aliens Ate My Trousers: Crazy Comics from the Pages of "Fortean Times" by Hunt Emerson
    Hunt Emerson

    Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s....
     (Mar 1998)


  • Weird Year 1996: The Best of Strange Days by James Wallis
    James Wallis

    James Wallis may refer to:*Jim Wallis, Christian writer and activist*Jimmy Wallis, English field hockey playerSee also*James Wallace ...
     and Joe McNally (Nov 1995)
  • Weird World 1999 by Mark Pilkington and Joe McNally (Nov 1998)


    • (Barmy Sutra by David Sutton
      David Sutton

      David Sutton is the current editor of the Fortean Times magazine. Sutton was educated at the University of East Anglia, University College London, Birkbeck, University of London and the British Film Institute....
       -
      planned for 2001; unpublished)


See also

  • List of magazines of anomalous phenomena
    List of magazines of anomalous phenomena

    This is a list of magazines on anomalous and Charles Fort phenomena....
  • Mystery
    Mystery

    A mystery or mysteries are something secret, unexplainable, obscure or puzzling.It can refer to:...


External links