13th Hour Magazine

[stafford]

I attended MHC over the weekend and picked up the new issue of 13th Hour. In my last post I said I thought that their next issue would be much smaller, well it wasn't, so I was wrong in my assumption, and figured I needed to say so. They also seem to have addressed the content issue - kinda. I still feel the other mags have them beat on content, but it appears as though they are listiening and moving in the right direction. I did notice a lot of new advertisers, not a lot of repeats. I still haven't gotten through the whole thing, but like the first issue, it is very impressive looking. Will it have longevity, I guess we'll see. I wish them luck, and stand corrected on my statements.

Chris

[drfrightner]

I would have to say about their new magazine it is not for the professional haunted house owners...there are stories about making food or something, spooky lighting, and lots of stories on vendors. I guess I'm confused as to what the magazines focus is all about.

It appears to be nothing but tons of ads from vendors, make it seem like they have all this support, put in one story after another about the vendors. That is what it seems like to me.

Rick told me and others told me around he's mailing out 7,000 magazine or has 7000 subscribers, I don't know ONE person who has had one mailed to them, as far as I know they are merely handing them out at shows these same vendors are already exhibiting at. If he has mailed out magazines like he told me he was doing then have him show someone. I personally know of no one has been mailed a magazine only has been handed out at tradeshows.

As for as content if you own a haunted house and are looking to improve your business I don't think this the magazine for that or at least from the two issues I viewed unless endless stories about vendors counts. Maybe it does.

I guess it is just what you are looking for... but I still don't know why people would trade product for an ad in a magazine that has no subscribers or not many subscribers. I guess I'm confused some people are saying they are saying to them they have 7000 subscribers, then one person says he's sending them out free, but if you look in this magazine he's charging for subscriptions. I guess I'm confused here, if they have 7000 subscribers are those paid or non-paid, and where did they come from like nearly over night? If they indeed have 7,000 subscribers or whatever people are saying, I'd sure like to know how to accomplish that in such a short period of time. I need some tips! LOL.

I don't know if you saw this in that magazine, they are asking haunts to pay them to be featured in their top 50 attractions to get PR. I would like for them to explain how your attraction will get PR, are they going to mail the magazine out to someone that will then do national stories. I don't get it. They should provide more details on how that works before I personally would EVER pay them to feature my haunt. If I read what they're asking wrong, I apologize but that is how I read what they're offering.

I will give them credit on a couple things...I liked their new product pages, that was cool.

To each their own I guess. I will say the layout is nice, nice pictures, but NO CONTENT for the professional haunted house owner in my opinion or should I say myself, not what I'm looking for. If they want to provide content to advance your business they need more insight from the industry. Maybe they will seek this I don't know.

Larry

[stafford]

Larry,

I don't totally disagree with you, let me restate what I said in my last post "I still feel the other mags have them beat on content" I made this post as I mis spoke in my last post, so I didn't think that was right. Is there a lot of fluff in the magazine sure, but it appears as though this issue is moving in a better direction. Here are the articles, some pretty short, in this issue:

Guest Ghost Writer, John Hawkins – Oak Island
13th Hour Magazine – Just in time for an exciting new future
Creature Feature – The Grudge Animatronic
Crypt Keeper – haunt guru Leonard Pickel (we already know you're feeling on the relevance of this article)
Scare Safe – IAHA CHAOS
Tour of Terror – Netherworld
Haunted City Spotlight – Columbus, Ohio
Phobia – Spiders
You’re never too old to play dress up
Sculpting with Light
Gadgets – The right light to scare
Totally Twisted – Dee Snider
Behind the Scenes – Van Helsing’s Curse
It’s in their eyes
Time Flies when you’re having fun – Que Lines
Dark Secrets – The Bottomless Pit How To
Hollywood’s Influence on the Industry – The Mummy
Scary Recipes – Erupting Volcano
New Ventures – Grossparts
Fear Feature – Haunted Legends Art & Film Museum

So, my opinion, excluding the Scary Recipe article, everything else was relevant to the haunt industry. Do I think the articles were chock full of substance, no, hopefully this will get better.

I signed up for a "subscription" at Transworld and haven't received this new issue yet in the mail, will I, I don't know. So you're absolutely right, it's a tough sell to advertisers at this point where you pick up a magazine with ads for products you're they're seeing in person.

I assume you're addressing everyone when you say "if you like just reading about nothing" or "unless you want a recipe for cup cakes" I personally would like more in depth articles and substance, but all in all, it's entertaining so take it for what it is. I personally think Hauntworld is a better magazine at this point.

If 13th Hour fails, well, at least everyone got a couple attractive coffee table books.

Chris

[scareshack]

I have been watching this whole 13 hr thing for a while. At first I thought it was bs just from the avert. price'in. Anyways, I dont understand the how or why its a businness mag. as, as said it all vendors and peeps in the industry.
Yes I ramble.....but who would spen that kinda bucks to advertise in a mag. that is offered to just people in the industry? Makes zero sense to me. I will say as I havnt seen it in person....I get to see it finally this weekend i cant wait......sounds like a suck dry kinda antict to myself.(meaning they sucking you out of your dollors)

As far as CupCakes? are they halloween cupcakes?....lol
Yes, im trying to get Home haunter news and reviews going, but, I wont knock anything anyone does, but this just sounds crazy to me. I love the food idea and ever idea based on halloween for our stuff), yes different, not haunted house stuff.

I have to agree, I have researched a lot and such and compared it to our e'zine for the numbers and then took into considertaion the print aspect(yes we are going soon), and the circulation they claim......................... not knowing anything on them I going on hearsay but...........

any Vendor or advertiser.....check ur options where u put ur money....as said maybe Hauntworld mag. or one of the others.

-sorry for the ramble

[MonsterGuts]

OK, ok. I've been reading this forum for a long time and always enjoyed the topics but never felt compelled to post, as you can see from my post count. But I just have to break my anonymity on this one. Please forgive me if this is long winded.

As for 13th Hour, I had a hell of a time with them. They called me about two weeks before MHC. They gave me the sales pitch and wanted to know if I wanted to advertise. It sounded like a good mag (mind you, I didn't know the cost at this time) but I wanted to see for myself. So they sent me a pdf of some of the articles, which seemed decent. So they called me back and I said I may be interested. How much?
$5000.
You could hear a pin drop just before you heard my jaw dropping to the floor.
I asked if they had smaller ad space. Nope, full page or nothing. So I kindly told them I declined, explaining to them that my advertising budget was already spent for the year. They wouldn't take no for an answer.
"What's your budget?" he said.
I was pretty taken aback by this. It really isn't anyone's business but my own how much anything is concerning my business.
"Not five grand." I said.
"Well, maybe we can offer it in trade. $5000 worth of your merchandise for an ad."
"No, I'm sorry." silly me, trying to be polite. Whether its 5K in cash or merchandise, it's still 5K.

Needless to say, over the course of about five days, he called me 4 or 5 times, and kept me on the line for a total of 4 hours trying to get me to buy in. Not only did he take me away from actual work, he just wouldn't take no for an answer. I should have hung up on him long before, but I'm guilty of being too nice and polite, and worried if I was inappropriate it would be a bad reflection of my business if word ever got out into the industry. Eventually, my patience came to an end and threw all inhibitions aside and told them to leave us alone and not call again. That seemed to work.

During one of his many sales pitch onslaughts, I learned a few things. A) He claims a 7000 subscriber circulation, with a target of 10,000 for '09. B) It is a business to business mag and though non business subscribers are not rejected, neither are they sought after to sign up. Which may explain why people have such a difficult time trying to find it on-line. C) 13th Hour is part of a publishing house, meaning this is just one of many different magazines they have. I'm not citing this as a fault, but while HW and HA focus on Halloween and have a viable interest in it, to me, it seems this is just another market for them (the publishing house) to tap into.

Now, with that all being said, I have to say I was a bit disheartened to learn my booth would be smack dab right across from them. I guess as punishment for not advertising with them, I was forced to listen to their infomercial loop endlessly all day Sat. and Sunday. I think I can recite it in my sleep now. Maybe that was their plan all along.

One last thing, we did manage to get a copy and look it over. Here's my thoughts, though they may be bias due to my experience with them: A lot of pictures, which is OK, but I prefer content. Content was ok, but needs improving. I see a lot of pages that have a big photo and a small paragraph below as some of their content. I'm a reader, and I like full pages of text to read. To have to read small paragraphs found around large pics is irritating to me. And they're a little to heavy on the self promotion, IMHO. And if you look at the staff page, look close to the numbers. One journalist, something like 9 salesmen and like 8 or 10 marketers (going on memory, so the numbers may be a bit off). To me, it just seems their motive isn't for all things orange and black, but rather the mighty greenback. But hey, what do I know?

Well, there's my rant. I apologize for making my debut post a negative one. Anyone on here who knows me knows I'm not really a bitter person, I'm really easy going, but this experience with 13th Hour really gotten under my skin. Thanks for listening.

[stafford]

Man, I try to correct myself, and end up having to do it again right away.

Larry started out the statements that there may be some "funny business" going on and Monsterguts confirmed it.

I was under the impression that nobody was probably paying for any advertising, yet. Being a new publication that they were trying to gain support for, not necessarily a horrible idea. But if they're going around trying to see what they can get, and essentially taking whatever that may be, probably not a great idea in the long run, and not something I would condone.

As the vendors find out thesed different "stories" probably not gonna work well for them.

I stand by my statement that "content wise" they seem to be moving in the right direction. Other things they may be doing, may lead to some big problems.

[gadget-evilusions]

I have the exact same story as Monster guts, but then they did it in person at MHC. They came by my booth about a dozen times. By the end of the show they were trying to get me and my business partner to make a descision on the spot about giving them product for ad space. I do not like be pressured, so the answer is no. The answer was no anyways. He wanted a ridiculous amount of product for a couple two page ads. I would rather advertise in Hauntworld, which i finally plan on doing, a magazine that actually goes to haunt owners. Everytime I asked the 13th hour people about how many haunt owners there magainze reaches it was the same thing "We print up 8,000 copies and mail them to every haunt owner in america". Really? How come none of my customers have received them? All I can say is scam.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

My experience wasn't as bad as Dean's and Brian's.
We did have several conversations a couple of months ago.
The gentleman that I spoke with was polite.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I think they do have a haunt, trying to remember.....?

[drfrightner]

He set up something in his basement for a party and now wants to open a haunt in town somewhere something like 4,000 square feet. This is why he wants products from the vendors for ads in his magazine. Keep in mind I don't know all the facts, I only know what he told me (Rick) or others have told me. But I think that is the case.

Larry