Scarlet Street (magazine)

History

Scarlet Street spawned from a limited-distribution newsletter created by community-theater actor, playwright and Sherlock Holmes devotee Richard Valley,

The 1991 premiere issue of Scarlet Street was a black-and-white photo offset publication with a print run of about 500. Like many fanzines, it contained a combination of genre essays and articles, photos and original artwork. Articles were written by Valley, his friends and fellow film fans. Issues were sold by mail order and at movie conventions, and sold out quickly. Encouraged by the response, Valley (as editor, with colleague Jessie Lilley as publisher) continued producing issues on a semi-regular basis.

With articles and interviews by respected genre authors, and increased circulation through nationwide distributors, Scarlet Street arguably transcended the fanzine appellation into magazine status, adding color covers and glossier interior content.

Scarlet Street has been criticized by some for having a "gay agenda," due to gay-friendly content and articles that have included discussion of the sexual orientation of genre filmmakers and its possible relationship to their work. Valley (in latter years holding the position of both editor and publisher) stated that, "Scarlet Street isn't a gay magazine, but it isn't a straight magazine, either. It's a magazine for all genre lovers who are mature enough and smart enough to consider a different perspective on some old favorites."

The magazine’s final issue was #55, published in June 2006. Editor Richard Valley died after a two-year battle with cancer on October 12, 2007.

In January 2008, several of the magazine's staffers announced their intention to publish a new magazine "in the tradition of Scarlet Street", entitled Scarlet: The Film Magazine. The new magazine debuted in June 2008.

References

Bibliography

• Cornett, Mike. "Richard Valley, 1949-2007 – A Remembrance". Lambda Sci-Fi Newsletter, Issue #212, November 2007
• Coutros, Evonne E. “Terror Never Dies in Scarlet Street – Publisher Revives Gothic Mystery". The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey); 11 August 1993

References

1. who was inspired to publish his views on the [[Granada television]] series ''[[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (TV series). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]''—in particular, the [[home video]] releases of the program, which began distribution by [[MPI Home Video. MPI]] in 1990. His contact with MPI and their enthusiasm regarding Holmsian fandom led to a decision to change the format from newsletter to full-fledged [[fanzine]] (years later, Valley would be contracted by MPI to compose liner notes for their DVD collection of the Granada series, as well as for their releases of the [[Basil Rathbone]] Sherlock Holmes film series).[http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/DVD.html "Baker Street Dozen" Guide to Sherlock Holmes on DVD]
2. ''[http://www.moviemags.com/main.php?etos=%25&title=SCARLET%20STREET Scarlet Street]'' at [http://www.moviemags.com/index.php The Site of Movie Magazines]
3. (June 27, 2010). "A Gay Pride Parade Goes Down SCARLET STREET: Remembering Richard Valley 1949-2007".
4. ''[http://www.lambdascifi.org/club/200711NL.pdf Lambda Sci-Fi Newsletter]'', Issue #212, November 2007
5. [http://www.mondocult.com/Richard%20Valley.htm Mondo Cult Magazine] {{webarchive. link. (2008-08-20)
6. [http://web.mac.com/johndods/John_Dods_Studio/SCARLET_.html] [[John Dods]] Studio website
7. [http://www.creepyclassics.com/scripts/shopplus.cgi?DN=creepyclassics.com&cartid=6323556&FILE=/dealers.html 2008 "Monster Bash" convention dealers list]