Immediate Media is to launch Horrible Histories magazine on 18th October 2012, a humorous and fact-filled title aimed at curious 7 to 10 year olds.

With art from Martin Brown for initial issues, the new monthly magazine is based on the bestselling books by Terry Deary, and joins the successful Horrible Histories brand that includes the award-winning BBC television series and national stage show.

As the only comedy magazine based on fact for the primary market, Immediate tell us Horrible Histories is designed to engage children by concentrating on the wicked, weird and woeful things that have happened in history, with an underlying factual accuracy that will appeal to parents. The title is being produced by Immediate Media’s award-winning youth and children’s editorial team under licence from Scholastic Children’s Books.

Combining the style and humour of the books, the monthly title will offer young readers a fun mix of jokes, cartoons, posters, competitions and games. Each issue will carry a high-quality, exclusive Horrible Histories covermount and around 50 fun Horrible Histories stickers.

In keeping with the brand’s vile vision of history, Issue 1 comes with a free ‘disgusting peasant pack’ containing a fake nose, warts, boils and rotten teeth!

“We have really enjoyed working with Horrible Histories‘ publishers, Scholastic Children’s Books, to develop this energetic magazine to extend the brand to appeal to existing fans and new readers alike,” says Martin Stahel, publisher of Immediate Media’s Pre-teen titles. “Children, both boys and girls, love the brand because it’s funny and gory. Parents love the brand because it engages even the most reluctant readers whilst imparting accurate facts. This unique combination will expand the primary magazine category and offers retailers and advertisers a great opportunity to engage with this valuable audience.”

Kevin Pettman, editor of Horrible Histories magazine, adds: “The fantastic Horrible Histories brand has massive support from kids and parents, so it has been exciting to produce this hilariously horrid magazine. It has everything kids love: foul facts, scary quizzes and putrid pictures all backed up with factual accuracy which we know parents will enjoy too.”

“We are delighted to partner with one of the UK’s leading magazine publishers on this hugely exciting venture,” added Lisa Edwards, Publishing & Commercial Director at Scholastic Children’s Books. “We will have a wonderful new offering for the legions of fans of the books, just as we are about to enter the 20th anniversary of their first publication.”

Horrible Histories magazine will be out every four weeks, priced at £2.99 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK.

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Tags: Horrible Histories, Immediate Media