A FESTIVE 400th
We’re not sure that any of us expected to one day be looking at a continuous 400-issue run of Fortean Times, but here we are, at the end of what has been a difficult year for everyone, at just such a landmark. If there’s one thing we can offer thanks for at this point, it’s the incredible loyalty and support of FT readers, who have not only got us to the 400-issue line but have helped keep us sane throughout 2020 with encouraging messages, cheering Tweets, kind words and, of course, some of the best letters to be found in any magazine anywhere. So to celebrate our 400th issue, we’ve chosen to focus on some of these; for our cover feature (p.34), we present a (necessarily small) selection of the letters we have received offering personal accounts of often bafflingly strange, and sometimes spooky, experiences. There’s nothing we enjoy more than receiving these first-hand accounts from the frontline of high strangeness – please, keep them coming in 2021! (As an aside, we note that three of the letters included here refer to bizarre eight-foot tall figures – it leads us to wonder if there is some sort of minimum height requirement for otherwordly entities).
We also look back at another major contribution by FT readers – the Fortean Times Message Board, delivering high strangeness and simpatico chat since 2001. Turn to p.46, where longtime FTMB admin Stu Neville offers a brief history of this much-loved fortean institution, which while no longer hosted by us continues to thrive at forums.forteana.org/.
Meanwhile, as we face a strange Christmas in a world turned upside down by Covid-19, Therese Taylor takes us back to a largely forgotten and explicitly carnivalesque festive tradition in which the upending of the everyday order was precisely the point – is it time we revived the brief reign of the Lord of Misrule, she asks (p.48). One consequence of 2020 being so comprehensively upside-downed has been the cancellation of virtually all fortean public events. Rob Gandy is currently collating new dates for postponed events (send details of any you are aware of to rob. gandy@ntlworld.com) and we’ll be bringing you the latest updates next issue... where Lisa Gledhill will also be offering advice to the ‘Armchair Fortean Traveller’ on the best online experiences to be had in 2021. Until then – we wish you a Happy Christmas and a fortean New Year.
GETTING COPIES OF FT
Despite current lockdown measures, you should be able to buy FT from your usual stockist. If you are experiencing difficulties, or cannot go out, then copies for home delivery, including recent issues you may have missed, can be ordered here: https:// magsdirect.co.uk/magazine-category/ entertainment/fortean/. Taking out a subscription is the best way to guarantee your regular FT fix; if you are able to support us in this way, then turn to p.58 for the latest offers.