Fanthorpe's Quarterly Digest of the Paranormal

Another obscurity dug out of my modest collection of old magazines.  Fanthorpe's Quarterly Digest of the Paranormal, as the title implies, was a small circulation, subscription only, publication trading on the name of the Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, clergyman and former prolific pulp novelist, who had gained wider popularity presenting the Fortean TV television series. (I should add here that I never actually subscribed to the magazine - the first issue was a promotional giveaway as I recall).  The Rev himself is listed as an 'editorial consultant', with the publication actually being edited by Philip Carr.  Quite obviously a semi-professional publication, Fanthorpe's was clearly intended to cash in on the popularity of Fortean Times, covering much the same ground as that celebrated 'crackpot nutrag', (as it was once described by its then stablemate, Viz Comic). 

Fanthorpe's was, if anything, even more crackpot that Fortean Times.  Certainly the contents of this first issue give the impression that they were items that even the latter publication had passed on.  They cover the full spectrum of the most popular paranormal subjects: ghosts, apparitions, life after death, electronic voice phenomena, UFOs and aliens.  The Loch Ness Monster also gets a brief look-in, so cryptozoology can be included, too.  Fanthorpe's ran to at least eight issues (that I'm aware of), with this first issue dated Autumn 2001.  Barely remembered now, even in 2001 Fanthorpe's seemed something of a curiosity, an attempt to break into a narrow niche already dominated (in the UK) by Fortean Times.  With its low production values and reliance upon subscriptions, it was always unlikely to succeed, in spite of the iconic Lionel Fanthorpe's endorsement.