Owner to close Shock magazine

Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. says it will close Shock, the magazine it launched earlier this year with eye-catching and often repellent photos that promised to give readers a taste of “the real world.”

The final issue will be the February edition scheduled to hit newsstands today, Hachette said. The company will maintain the website ShockU.com.

Shock is the U.S. version of Hachette’s popular Choc magazine in France.

“We wanted to test the French magazine’s concept in the U.S.,” Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Chief Executive Jack Kliger said. “However, after six months in the marketplace, Shock’s performance at newsstands has not produced trends that indicate that we will get the returns that we are looking for.”