Cthulhu Libria used to be a small text-based newsletter on fantastic literature in German language – but the first time I saw it, I have already been surprised how much effort has been put into it.
But what drives a young man like the editor Eric Hantsch to the point of making huge lists on new publications of speculative fiction, many of them the opposite of mainstream? – Well, I later found out that the complete passion for new books and especially the dread to miss a real masterwork that is probably simply not advertised well enough, let him start around 2008 with that collection of all new publications in this field.
So I made some suggestions to reach a broader readership by offering it as e-zine, as it was a pity that only such a small number of fans received it. The artist Johann Peterka – he had been illustrator for big publishing houses like Bastei – could be persuaded to provide one of his marvellous ink drawings as a cover picture for each issue and he also started to contribute short graphic novels.
Meanwhile there is a whole team who writes book reviews and articles. Also excerpts from books (of course with the permission of the publisher only!) and interviews make a part of the content. The focus is still on books of small publishing houses, used to be mostly horror, but is meanwhile on all works on speculative fiction, including science-fiction. Though, Cthulhu Libria tries to avoid reporting about the huge pile of new books in the field of romantic and erotic fantasy that is certainly referring to another target audience.
The zine has reached its 53th issue until now (February 2013), comes out monthly and is available for free download: Click here.