The Man Who Replaced Forry Ackerman

No matter what they tell you, it really is a small world, after all. Case in point: In recent months, I've been making my modest living picking up freelance projects here and there. And this week, courtesy of a worthy comrade from my WWE days, I had the pleasure of doing some work for Wine Enthusiast magazine in beautiful Westchester County.

The gentleman who contacted me about the job, and to whom I reported during my scant two days in their offices, was one Tim Moriarty, managing editor. Well, if I had been more of a student of the venerable Warren Publishing Company and the legendary Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, I probably would've determined right away that Mr. Moriarty was one of Warren's editors, and in fact the man who took over for Forrest J. Ackerman as editor-in-chief of Famous Monsters (albeit for its final issue, pictured).

Being the boob that I am, I didn't discover this fact till I was almost out the door after completing my last day of work for Wine Enthusiast, mere hours ago. It's probably for the best--I don't know how much work I would've been able to get done if I had known earlier.

It started when one of the members of the staff was engaged in a conversation with Tim about old-school TV "horror hosts". Naturally, this drew me into the conversation. Then Tim casually mentioned that he worked for the company that published the Vampirella comics. Yes folks, Warren Publishing, the great horror comics house best known for its Eerie and Creepy titles of the '60s and '70s.

Little did Tim realize that he was speaking to the man behind The Vault of Horror--a fact of which I soon informed him. And as the day wound down, and we both were ready to hit the highway, we took a few minutes to chat about our love of the old Universal flicks, the classic giant monster movies, Hammer stuff (well, my love of the Hammer stuff), you name it.

So there I had been, for two days, working unknowingly for the last editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland--a bona fide "monster kid" from the golden era of monster fandom. And one who actually got to be a part of it all.