Auction Could Kill ‘Monsters’

Just in time for Halloween, fans of this ghoulish glossy are getting a real scare.

Famous Monsters of Filmland, a North Hills-based magazine that dates to 1958, will soon be put up for a court-ordered sale. The auction could either breathe new life into the publication or, readers fear, spell its doom.

“This may be the final nail in the coffin of Famous Monsters,” said Joe Meadows, publisher of the Web-based magazine Horror-Wood. “I can’t think of any other magazine in the monster world that has lasted as long.”

An attorney representing a bankruptcy trustee said he will look for a buyer to continue publishing Famous Monsters. But if no one wants the whole business, the magazine will suffer death by dismemberment--its assets sold off piece by piece.

Famous Monsters is in jeopardy because U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur M. Greenwald has declared that publisher Ray Ferry fraudulently transferred ownership of the magazine to his housemate, Gene Reynolds. After the judge’s order becomes final, expected sometime this week, the magazine will go on the block.

“The sale of the magazine will be a treat for Mr. Ferry’s creditors, and I hope Mr. Ferry won’t be up to any more tricks!” said Wesley H. Avery, the attorney for Bankruptcy Court Trustee David Gottlieb, who is administering the case.

Reynolds declined to comment, and Ferry could not reached.

Famous Monsters has had a cult following since its early years. Some of its young readers grew up to become authors and filmmakers famous in their own right.

Director John Landis counts Famous Monsters as an important influence, saying the magazine was unique in how it transported readers behind the scenes.

“It not only dealt with actors, but it had articles on writers, articles on directors and technicians,” Landis said.

Longtime fans note that Famous Monsters is not about the ax-wielding Jasons and Freddy Kruegers of modern gore cinema. Its pages, rather, paid homage to classic science-fiction and horror movies, whose subjects--such as Frankenstein’s monster, King Kong, Wolf Man or Dracula--were often sympathetic, complicated creatures whose stories had broad moral themes.

“It was more about a sense of wonder rather than a sense of disgust,” said Landis, whose works include “An American Werewolf in London” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

The magazine has been credited with inspiring other luminaries such as Stephen King, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Some recent covers include a sneering horned Cyclops, an ashen-faced zombie and the Invisible Man in round sunglasses.

Famous Monsters dropped dead once before, in 1984, when its then-publisher suddenly quit. It was resurrected in the early 1990s when founding editor Forrest Ackerman joined forces with Ferry.

But the partnership soon soured, Ackerman left and the two men tormented each other with years of litigation.

Last year, after a trial during which Landis and author Ray Bradbury testified for Ackerman, a Van Nuys jury found Ferry liable for breach of contract, libel and trademark infringement. Ackerman won a judgment of about $500,000 and rights to the pen name “Dr. Acula.” Ferry has appealed.

Shortly after the verdict, Ferry transferred his assets to his housemate, declared himself broke and filed for bankruptcy protection, court documents show. The judge found the asset transfers to be fraudulent because Ferry was trying to keep them out of the hands of creditors such as Ackerman, Avery said.

In court documents, Ferry said Reynolds had helped him run the magazine for years on a deferred compensation basis.

“I owed Gene several thousand dollars in back pay,” Ferry said in a declaration.

After Ferry filed for bankruptcy, his name still topped the magazine’s masthead. But instead of publisher, he was listed as editor, art director and publication manager, court files show. That suggested that Ferry continued to run and earn money from the magazine despite claims he no longer owned it, which was also evidence that the transfer was fraudulent, Avery said.

“I have been donating my time and equipment to Gene,” Ferry declared.

Reynolds, in another declaration, echoed Ferry’s statements.

Ackerman, 84, said he hopes Famous Monsters’ liquidation will finally allow him to collect his judgment. Though he wanted nothing to do with the magazine while Ferry was publisher, the former editor said, he would hate to see its demise.

“I don’t have any children . . . it was my baby,” Ackerman said.

He added that even if Famous Monsters succumbs, fans should not give up hope: “Maybe there will be another reincarnation.”