Horror Magazine Covers Analysis

By: Natercia Faria

This magazine is a great example of the use of the rule of third. The masthead being the first thing is we see, the main cover line ‘the shinning’ being the second and lastly the main characters face expression.

This magazine does not have a lot of cover lines on other movies. Even though it mentions ‘the 500 greatest movies of all time’ it is not specific as it does not mention any movies names. This will make the audience think of what to them are one of the 500 greatest movies of all time and possibly buy the magazine to check. This is known as the mode of address, the way a media producer ‘speaks’ to its audience. This is what they believe the audience wants to read and is interested in.

The number is also bigger than the text in order to be distinct. This was also done in the cover line of ‘100 covers to choose from’.

Both the main image and quote are iconic. The Iconic actor will draw attention to the magazine cover as the use of the recognisable image means that people will be interested because they know about it. The same applies to a memorable quote.

When looking at the main image the audience will focus on the character’s face expressions (anger) as it is a close up.

This magazine also breaks some conventions as the main image usually takes up the whole front cover rather than being small with a border around it. It is also quite simple as it does not have many cover lines, and also the does not have the date/price.

The name/ masthead of the magazine is big, bold and red like in most empire magazines. It has become their trademark as it has been used with the same colours/size repeatedly.

The main image is a close up photo of the villain however we can only see half of his faces. This connotes that this man has two sides to him. On side of him is very dark and evil, he holds many secrets. He is staring directly into the camera and the reader can see one of his eyes clearly which may be telling us that this man is ready to reveal his secrets. The man has a very serious look on his face which creates tension for the readers. Also the editing done on his red eye makes it the main focus as the colour scheme is fitting with the character's eye.

The other cover lines include words such as 'exclusive‘ this is a good way to draw attention to the cover because it makes the reader feel like they are going to know the information first. However, the cover must be careful not to be too revealing so it ruins the film for the audience.

The main cover line is a question in quotation marks, this will leave the audience thinking in two ways. Firstly, they would think of an answer to this question or wonder why it has been asked . Secondly they would wonder who asked this question since it is in quotation marks. This is negotiated reading, a text and the reader’s own assumptions and interpretations.

A question in a magazine cover is usually done to intrigue the audience and make them feel involved. I believe this was done successfully as it intrigued me as a reader.

The masthead is the same as most empire magazine, this has become their trademark. Even if/when the audience does not see the whole word the audience will recognize it with only a few visible words. It was positioned in a smart way as it links well with the character’s eye.

This informs the audience that the magazine has articles on other actor and possibly other movies. This might be essential on the audience’s decision making (whether to buy the magazine or not). As even though the reader might not be interested in the movie used for the cover, they might buy it because of the articles about other actors/movies.

Fangoria is a film magazine specializing in the genres of horror and slasher. If the audience is familiar with this magazine they will know that this magazine will not have articles on other genres.

The font used in the masthead was also created creatively to connote the horror genre. As the the long ends of ‘F’ and ’A’ give an illusion of claws with blood (the red outline).

This makes it clear that the articles included in this magazine are only based on horror movies. So even if the audience is not familiar with this magazine, this will inform them about what type of movies will be included.

The main image is a typical iconography, the audience doesn’t need any texts to know what genre the picture is trying to represent. In this case horror is automatically recognisable through its characteristic iconography which is, its low-key lighting, face expressions and the props (the candle)

The ideology/beliefs of the candle is also important. The white candle symbolize spiritual enlightenment, cleansing, healing and truth seeking. This links well with the horror genre, more specifically with the supernatural.

This phrase shows that this magazine is suitable for worldwide audience.

Even though there isn't many cover lines, the strip of other horror films at the bottom is enough to create curiosity. As this is the second (after the main image) point of focus in this cover.

The blood splatter is a convention of horror movies therefore this is a key element, specially with the yellow text on top standing on out. The yellow stands out as the colour scheme is mainly white, black and red. The common colours used on horror film magazine covers.

The main cover line is usually about the movie of the main picture and usually has more than just the name of the movie. However here, they’ve only put the name as this will perhaps create more curiosity. As sometimes cover lines give too much information about the article.

This is negotiated reading, a text and the reader’s own assumptions and interpretations. A question is also the best way to attract the audience that may not be familiar with this movie. Furthermore, this question is asked almost in a ‘tempting’ or ‘daring’ manner, influencing the audience’s decision.

This magazine has a wide variety of fonts, sizes and colours, which is my only criticism. As I believe that a smaller verity would bring order and create a simple structure to the cover. Since the main image speaks for itself, I believe that the different fonts and colours made the cover look too busy.

The words used here are important as they were strategically chosen to intrigue its target audience. For example the word ‘special’ indicates that it has more articles on the newest movies that cannot be found on other magazines. Also the word ‘extreme’ horror shows that this special issue will have more horror than usual.

The main image is the overriding focus due to the lighting and editing done in the post production.

Lighting- chiaroscuro lighting is used here to highlight certain parts of the person’s body. For example, his neck and mouth are not visible due to the low key lighting. This automatically makes the eyes and chest/shoulders stand out, highlighting his scars and the different colour eyes.

Editing-editing was done to exaggerate his scars, therefore creating a frightening atmosphere. Lighting was possibly also manipulates to emphasize his face expressions. Face expressions are a key element in horror images as it is the main part that influences the way the audience feels when they look at the image. The eyes were also possibly edited as they two different coloured eyes add a disturbing and sinister feel to the image.

The colour scheme is mainly red, black and white. The black symbolizes blood, anger and Satan. These are all generic conventions of the horror genre. The white was used as a contrast technique, represent purity and an angelic element. So the magazine front page editor has made designed the cover to re-represent horror and make it easily identifiable to the reader as to what the genre is.

Here, ‘Entertainment weekly’ is not a magazine based around the horror genre this can be seen above the masthead where it has some sell lines which has information on articles completely irrelevant to the horror genre.

There are sell lines but they are very small and compact, they can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of the magazine. This breaks conventions because the sell lines are usually big and bold and spread out over the magazine to cover any blank space that maybe showing.

However the main cover line ‘Scream Returns’ is distinct.The word ‘returns’ is in a completely different colour which gives it more significance and the reader is able to tell that it is an important piece of information and they are able to read more inside.

The main image is an image of the ‘villain’ from the movie ‘Scream'. The dominant image takes up around 90% of the page leaving very little blank space. This helps draw the reader in because there is only one thing for them to look at and focus. Furthermore, the camera shot is a ‘close-up’ shot, which I believe to be very suitable as the magazine is not based on horror. Therefore this image automatically informs the audience about the genre of the movie used for the cover.

The edited background gives an almost 3D effect and adds colour to the cover. These elements make the cover more attractive.