VOODOO BABY #3

TITLE -  VOODOO BABY #3 

CREATED BY - PHILIP NEIL 

GENRE - B-MOVIES / SCHLOCK /HORROR FILMS / CULT TV / CULT MOVIES

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - UNITED KINGDOM

A5/36 PAGES/FULL COLOUR/PAMPHLET

PRICE - £4.50 + SHIPPING FROM THE VOODOO BABY ETSY STORE

“Voodoo Baby” is described as being a zine “packed full of weird stuff that’s just not healthy for you”, and that pretty much sums it up.

With wonderfully bonkers stuff on every page, “Voodoo Baby” is the risqué zine I wish I’d had when I was a teenager. Highlights include - Strange Deaths, the return of discount Nostradamus “Criswell” and his rubbish predictions, nightmare-fuel photos in the “Wall of Voodoo”, reviews of horror B-movies, (the schlockier the better - the movies of Russ Meyer are a frequent subject), features on medical curiosities and classic Scream Queens, “Zombiesaurus” and crap Amityville movies, Lurch from The Addams Family, a clown word-search (solution at the back if you’re struggling) and some very nude, very busty ladies. There’s also (sort of) serious stuff with bios of actors Richard Carlson, Yvonne Romain and well-endowed Russ Meyer favourite, Raven De La Croix. “When Stuff Happened!”, which is a two-page spread of notable dates in horror with satisfyingly minimal effort having gone into its title, is a very interesting feature. It’s actually a very educational mag: stuff I’ve learned reading “Voodoo Baby #3 - Fay Wray turned down the part of Old Kate Winslet in “Titanic” and Abe Vigoda nearly played Lurch.

But seriously, despite what appears to be a concerted effort on the part of the editorial team to make “Voodoo Baby” seem like a lowest common denominator publication, it’s actually bloody brilliant, with genuine love for the source material clearly evident and high production values, including original art by Philip Neil, and many photos and film stills throughout. (There is an excellent piece on the soundtrack saga of The Wicker Man in issue 2 which is well worth picking up). Guardian readers probably shouldn’t apply, but there is no hate in the zine, it’s all good clean fun.

No prizes for guessing that “Voodoo Baby” is very definitely an adults-only production with a lot of nudity and swearing, and those adults will generally need to be of the male persuasion. If you can imagine the editorial team at Empire magazine getting drunk and saying “Bugger it, let’s just fill it with boobs”, then you’d be some way towards picturing what “Voodoo Baby” is like. It’s Tod Browning’s freaks let loose with a typewriter and an Epson. I read it cover to cover with a humongous grin on my face, which probably says a lot about me. I’m gonna buy the heck out of the next one…