Beware The Dark has released one issue so far and it was fantastic. It's second issue is due in January and it will be dedicated to, and feature many articles about and stories from, Tom Piccrilli. It also has some great column features from the likes of Ray Garton and Ramsey Campbell for starters. And, I'll announce it here, I too have a story in Issue 2 called The Black Dress as well as a non-fiction article in it, featuring and reviewing Pale Preachers, one of Pic's least covered works.

Beware The Dark is a high quality Magazine and it is not cheap to produce. The publisher pays pro rates and he is dedicated to exposing newer horror author's in its pages alongside the authors we all know and love. While the reviews were great on Issue One, sales were not huge. Paul, the owner, wrote the following, and I hope more people pick up Issue Two.

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On Dec 28, 2013, at 4:10 PM, Paul Fry - SST Publications wrote:

BIRMINGHAM, UK, December 28, 2013 - Short, Scary Tales Publications (SST Publications) Owner, Paul Fry has some important information regarding Beware the Dark magazine.

Paul said: "Due to recent changes in my financial situation, unless sales and subscriptions to Beware the Dark magazine dramatically increase, Issue #2 will be the last issue.

I always like to be honest with people and I just don't have the money to spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds per issue on Beware the Dark when sales and subscriptions are so poor. I understand that it can take years for a magazine to gain a readership but I just don't have the money to spend on it hoping that it will catch on I'm afraid. To date I've only sold about 53 copies of issue #1 and I've only sold 11 subscriptions. When you take into consideration that those are worldwide sales figures, they're really poor. Obviously I don't expect people to buy or subscribe if the mag isn't their kind of thing, or if they just don't fancy it. But unfortunately if it isn't people's kind of thing or they don't fancy it and buy a copy or subscribe then there's no point in publishing it. I publish people's work because I love it so much, and if I had lots of money to waste I would continue to publish it for years to come whether anyone bought it or not. But I just don't have the huge amount of money to spend on each issue if no one is going to buy it. I at least need to try and recover my costs so I can publish the next issue. I know magazines don't make any money, I don't publish any of my titles to make a profit, I just need to recover most of my costs so I have the cash to publish the next issue. It just looks like Beware the Dark isn't people's kind of mag unfortunately.

People have mentioned Kickstarter and Indiegogo—and this is no disrespect to people that use those kinds of crowd funding platforms to generate cash—but I'm personally not a big fan of them. To me it's a little too much like begging for money. As I said earlier I really don't expect anyone to buy the magazine out of pity. If it's not their kind of thing then that's completely fine, I totally understand. But if people don't buy it then there isn't any point in publishing it I'm afraid.

I feel terrible (if issue #2 is the last one) about the people whose work I've already accepted. But if people aren't buying the mag then their work isn't going to be seen so it doesn't really make any difference if it's published in BTD anyway. The bottom line with anything really is that if people aren't interested then you have to cut your losses.

If you can please share this with everyone hopefully sales may pick up a little, but if they don't Issue #2 will have to be the last issue as I've already spent a serious amount of money and I really can't afford to lose any more.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I'm sorry to be so negative, I just wanted to let everyone know the situation I'm in. I really love Beware the Dark and all the amazing people I've been incredibly lucky to get to be a part of it. But it just seems that not many other people love it like I do. "

SST Publications (www.sstpublications.co.uk) is an independent publisher focusing on publishing the best in horror and erotic horror fiction. We have published several books; our first title, Cold Storage included an introduction by legendary author Graham Masterton. Our most recent books include the erotic horror anthology Peep Show, Volume 2 and the debut dark, thriller novel Don't Stand So Close by screenwriter/director Eric Red. We also published the classic erotic horror magazine Peep Show, and have recently launched our new horror fiction & dark art magazine Beware the Dark, which is a unique size (7.44 x 9.69 in), full-color interior, high-quality produced mag of between 100-130 pages bringing you the best dark and disturbing fiction and artwork. We publish our titles in multiple formats and they are distributed worldwide by Ingram, the world's largest book distributor.
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Short, Scary Tales Publications
Independent publisher of horror & erotic horror

15 North Roundhay, Birmingham, B33 9PE, UK

mailpfry@gmail.com | www.sstpublications.co.uk | @SSTPublications

I would get a subscription but do we get our money back if #2 is the last issue?

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Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

I would think so. You can always ask him, he responds to messages very quickly, but there is a time difference with England you have to keep in account if you email him in the evening. I bought a subscription too to help keep him going.

He did respond Tony and yes, he will refund subscrips. I will order as well.

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Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

I am also in that January issue Tony, a full page illustration for a story other than yours. I would love for this magazine to continue, and would be sad if it died.

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Keith Minnion

I'll probably order this issue and ponder a subscription if he gets to number three.

That's a shame it's not doing so well. The first issue looked very cool.

I enjoyed the first issue, too. I'm not finished reading it yet, but I love all the illustrations and stories so far. I got the email about the magazine closing if sales don't pick up. I can't imagine the cost to produce a slick like that today. I would think a lot of the cost has to be absorbed by advertising revenue, and subscriptions and single sales are the gravy. But to get the advertising bucks you need the sales figures. Kind of a Catch-22. It is a very well done magazine. I hope it doesn't fold.

I ordered a subscription and I asked Paul how the sales push was going. He said he has gotten a few orders and subscrips but not nearly enough to continue the magazine yet.

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Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

Got the first issue and I loved it. Didn't realize Sheri had a story in there.

Man, if a magazine of this quality can't survive what does that say about the horror genre?

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Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

The new one should be out shortly. I heard from Paul yesterday and he's gathering up bio's and putting the finishing touches on it.

Looks as if the first issue is currently on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents. For that lineup it's a bargain, and it might garner some interest.