In the transitional phase of Kyonsi Online over a year ago I interviewed Mark Moran from Weird New Jersey Magazine, Weird NJ has been a favorite read of mine for over 5 years. I was first introduced to Weird NJ Issue # 11 by my wife back in 1998, and have been a fan ever since. I was living in California at that time before my move to NYC. My friends were infatuated with the magazine as we all knew our local spooky Californian "roads less traveled". Now living in the NYC metro area for over 5 years, I have been to a few of the sites that are in the pages of Weird NJ. Two of the sites I have been to were covering Metal Festivals in NJ for my old website, I had gone to the old Drive-In behind the site of the now South Jersey Convention Center and have attended 4 Metal Festivals in Asbury Park, NJ. The best thing about Weird NJ is you can live anywhere in the world and still be amused by the articles of oddities in their magazine. I highly recommend WNJ and they now have a full hardback book available entitled, Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets and the book is available directly from them for $25.00 (Includes Postage). Also at their content heavy website resides alot of great stories and images from the Garden States lesser know locales. Get ready to witness the oddities in Weird NJ you will then be hooked and become a fan also. Please read on and enjoy a look into Weird New Jersey Magazine. One of my favorite magazines.

Interview By: Allen F. (Kyonsi Editor) © 2004 Kyonsi

1. Please give me a description of how WNJ came to be?

It all started with a small homemade fanzine Mark Sceurman was putting together for his own amusement and the amusement of his friends. It was just a xeroxed sheet of legal paper in the beginning, with no photos and no intention of being a bona fide magazine. Over the years so many people reacted so strongly to the subject matter of Weird NJ that it just snowballed into the titan it is today!

2. Has this led to travels to the strangest places in the regional NJ area?

Yes, we have seen some of the strangest, scariest, and silliest spots New Jersey has to offer. It seems like these days we can't turn around without finding a new weird spot right in front of our noses.

3. Approximately how many WEIRD places have you guys researched and visited?

Hundreds upon hundreds, if not thousands. We get so many emails and letters with leads to stories. They're all so interesting that we can't stop ourselves from getting out there on the roads ourselves and checking them out.

4. Has your successful magazine led to a bigger interest in the weird and abandoned sites in NJ?

We'd certainly like to think so. Some of the most flattering responses we get are from people who started out going to Weird NJ spots simply for their own thrills and kicks who are now genuinely interested in the history and folklore of the Garden State. It's great to know that what we might help people find more love for New Jersey in general.

5. What is the weirdest place that you have been to in NJ?

That's an impossible question to answer! I mean, there's so many different categories. There are scary spots, funny spots, and downright bewildering spots out there. We can't compare them - they're all wonderful and weird to us.

6. Are people always finding new and exciting strange and weird places and reporting them to you ?

They most definitely are. People are always asking us the same question - "Do you really think that this won't exhaust itself? There can only be so many weird spots in NJ!" And we are always quick to say that it won't exhaust itself, not by a long shot! We get dozens of e-mail's each day with new spots we haven't heard of previously. New Jersey is just a treasure trove of strange stuff. That's probably the best part of the job - interacting with new people each day who all have their own stories to tell.

7. How well has the magazine grown over the past years as far as readership and circulation?

The magazine has grown exponentially with each issue. It started out as a photocopy for a few friends to joke around about. These days it's distributed all over this state (as well as in Philadelphia and New York) and has a mailing list which numbers in the tens of thousands.

8. Are there alot of weird places in NY state also that you are aware of?

We do get a fair amount of stories from NY. Two of our famous non-NJ stories deal with NY. One is an abandoned set of tunnels known as Tweed in the Orangeburg mountain region. Another is the infamous abandoned monastery of Staten Island. We've featured numerous stories on both sites in our magazine. Both of those sites have generated a ton of interest amongst our readers.

9. Have you ever had an encounter or met someone that has come face to face with the legendary Jersey Devil?

We have never seen the good ole' Jersey Devil ourselves. We do get emails left and right from people who claim to have run into him out there in the Pine Barrens. You can't keep a good Devil down!

10. What are some of the goals of WNJ as a magazine ? Do you ever see it becoming wider spread than just NJ state?

As far as our goals go, I think the major one is to chronicle this stuff before it's gone. If we don't get these sites down in writing and print photos of them, no one's going to. And with condos, golf courses, strip malls, and the sort springing up every day in New Jersey, the weird spot is a vanishing institution. It's a real shame that we're basically paving over our whole state with this suburban sprawl and costing ourselves that unique sense of culture at the same time. As for becoming wider spread beyond the borders of Jersey, we are making that effort currently! We recently established www.weirdus.com as a companion site for our magazine and website. We are trying to amass a national database of sorts in regards to weird stuff. Right now it's starting out small, but growing feature?

11. What type of people read Weird NJ Magazine?

We get readers of all types - from infants to the elderly, from housewives to convicted murderers. We get letters from all of these people, and some of them are definitely weird. Just due to the nature of the magazine - we are willing to listen to anyone's story - we often get people approaching us who know that we are willing to listen to tales of their strange lives. It can be a bit disconcerting to realize that our readers can be total oddballs, but we're total oddballs too, so we can't throw stones within that particular glass house.

12. Any upcoming new special issues of the magazine in store for us?

We recently reissued the elusive #7 of Weird NJ. That was our most recent special project. The first seven issues of the magazine have been out of print for a long, long time, and many readers have begged us to reprint them... Well their wish is our command! They can purchase issue 7, as well as all the rest of our issues and products, at www.weirdnj.com

13. Do you have any closing comments for our readers and where can they get Weird NJ Magazine other than on your website?

Besides the website, Weird NJ is available at most bookstores in NJ.

14. Do you have any closing comments for our readers to ponder upon?

As for closing comments, I offer you this: Weirdness is right in your own backyard. There's always a strange building, a haunted road, or a kooky character right underneath your nose. All you have to do is really open your eyes and look to find it.

Editors Note: Since this Interview was done the Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park NJ seen in the interview header lmage I created up top for this interview was sadly demolished. Special Thanks to Mark Moran for the Interview. Be sure to check 'em out online as well as in print and they do have subscriptions available. Tell them Kyonsi Online sent you.

Images courtesy of Weird NJ Magazine / Custom Image header Collage created by Allen F. (Editor Kyonsi Online)