Farewell to Grindhouse Purgatory?

It comes with a heavy heart to announce that the twentieth issue of Grindhouse Purgatory, published by Pete Chiarella, will be its last... for now, anyway.

I first became aware of Pete back in the 2010s, when he still hosted a program on Jackalope Radio, using his alias of 42nd Street Pete. He would regale his listeners with tales of the wild and crazy films he had seen at the notorious New York City grindhouses back in their heyday. He is a veritable authority on the films, but he also established ties with many people who made them, having done business with them over the years in the convention circuit, for example. His show's guests included such luminaries from the grindhouse days as Herschell Gordon Lewis, Ted V. Mikels, Tura Satana, Gary Kent, John "Bud" Cardos, and Sid Haig, to name only a few.

After that show wrapped, Pete had taken part in the mid-2010s renaissance of film zine publishing, with Grindhouse Purgatory. As per its namesake, it offers articles and reviews of genre films (and their makers) from the Golden Age of drive-ins and grindhouses. He also self-published an autobiography, entitled A Whole Bag of Crazy, with wild stories of his life in the Deuce and beyond. What is more, he created a YouTube channel, where he shares more movie reviews and reminisces. (I haven't even mentioned his DVD line, with the 42nd St. Pete byline, which released vintage adult fare.)

For all that, what I most admire about Pete is his honesty. He shoots from the hip, and takes no bullshit from anyone. On the radio, and in print, he has pointed to a lot of hypocrisy that exists in fandom. Additionally, he accents the word con in conventions, as their promoters are often overpriced entities that rip off a lot of the fans that they couldn't care less about. While this scene should be about sharing, much of it is venal oneupmanship. To be certain, this viewpoint has ruffled some feathers, but I greatly applaud him for telling it like it is.

His radio show, and by extension, his publications, are of inestimable historical value, as many of these filmmakers have since passed away, and their stories will continue to live in these media. Which is why, I hope this will be a temporary decision. Chiefly, as alluded to on a recent YouTube video, his choice to end the run of Grindhouse Purgatory with his latest issue, that you can purchase here, was financial. (Not least, because a lot of his sales came through Amazon, he didn't want to fund any more of Jeff Bezos' space trips.) Pete was never in this for the money- as long as he kept breaking even on this venture, and that he was still getting support for it, he would continue publishing- however, he had lost money on the past few issues. Further, on his YouTube video, he had lamented that few people who had read the magazine had bothered to post any online reviews to increase its word of mouth. (Guilty as charged, but to be fair, I'm only now beginning to write full-time again after a nine-year hiatus.) Still, he had left the door open for a possible comeback. After discovering his work ten years ago, I can say that above all, Pete is a survivor, and the great grindhouse can rise again.