The Year of Fearless Cultural Education and Other Horrors

On the occasion of the one decade of existence of this multicultural and subcultural media celebrated on October 1st, 2020, we had already set ourselves three years ago the stage with a certain level of “maturity”. As for 2021 and onwards, we will attempt to go with “unpredictable sustained maturity”.

A few months ago, it was an honour to announce that we have crossed a significant milestone in Atmostfear Entertainment’s history — one decade of existence full of accomplishments. Indeed, what began as a pilot venture in Portugal, grew exponentially into a global success among alternative cultures and researchers, with events throughout the year, including several contests held this past October.

Current fellows from across the country and around the world came together to support us by sharing their experiences through a series of community surveys designed to collect feedback and strengthen our online presence on different fronts.

Although celebrating the past ten successful years has been at the forefront last year, thinking about the next decade is already underway.

Our media is continually looking at ways to expand its reach in the alternative community and outside it, with possibilities ranging from an annual event to a global leadership community, collaborating more closely with alternative subcultures and proposing online, a series of educational courses.

The alternative academic environment is so much more than a standard sociological pattern that has a bound between the lifestyle industry and research academia unique in the semiconductor ecosystem. In truth, countless fruitful long-term relationships have been forged with scholars and cultures because we value the benefits of a collaborative environment.

On October 1st, 2020, we hosted a celebration to acknowledge our loyal readers and supporters in Bogotá, Colombia.

Over the past decade, more than six hundred scholars have worked together and separately to educate their fellow readers and the public in general about the truth behind fears.

Through our surveys, many immeasurable opinions were generated in a lively discussion of strengthening and increasing the program’s educational to impact our media.

Going back at our inception in 2010, we could only imagine what the future would bring. As we look forward to the next decade, we will strive to develop and improve the program to equip pioneering scholars with the resources they need to achieve greatness. We will continue to be a pivotal contributor to the intellectual and scholastic community for many years to come.

When we first circulated among groups to explain why we worked independently to launch a new online media and encourage articles submission, we shortly after released the website.

The first issue was published on October 1st, 2010, with an introductory editorial, few articles related to Heavy Metal, and an interview to the infamous Norwegian act, Dimmu Borgir.

Since then, with the support of our readers and content researchers worldwide, our media has grown remarkably. Significantly, and as the years went by, we have added new categories. We recognise the complexity of views on different social and cultural aspects of heavy metal as a means of interlinked discussion in this area.

It is noteworthy that every medium has remoulded gothic tropes for a new generation from film to television to the Internet and social media. We do not wish to stay behind the natural evolution of things.

More than 1,000 articles were published in the past three years, adding to the numerous articles that appeared in the first years of our existence, commutating a compelling resource of archived content freely open for deliberation, research, and further investigation.

The articles published show continued diversity in terms of the topics addressed — ranging from fear related issues and internationalisation to research studies related to alternative subcultures. Simultaneously, the authors’ geographical focus and background laced with sociological research designs and different, approachable methods.

Throughout this year, we will analyse the contents of the past year’s contributions and compare this with the past.

Here we will take the opportunity to look back and forward in the articles we have published and be thoughtfully reevaluating our publishing approach while aiming for better quality and more diversity, expanding our range of topics yet, keeping the essence which makes us unique.

We are grateful to all the individuals who have contributed to this growth, including the excellent editorial board and our readers’ support. We encourage continued submissions of articles and perspectives that support our media’s original mission — to contribute to advances in cultural fears’ thinking and practice.

We are excited to see the next decade unfold as we move further into the next generation to continue to educate and raise awareness about fears, be it mythological or folklorish, interconnected with cultural beliefs and alternative lifestyles in some context.

Thank you to all our contributors, reviewers, customers and fellow supporters. This is your alternative, independent media, a horror experience initially devised as an “alternative fearless medium”, now expanding as the gothic experience seems alive and thriving than ever before.

We welcome 2021 as the “year of fearless cultural education and other horrors”, and we invite your input today and in the future.