The FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards began as so many things do — over a meal with friends. In the late summer or early fall of 1991, former FANGORIA publisher Norman Jacobs sat down for lunch at Mendy’s diner downstairs from the Fango offices at 475 Park Avenue South. Jacobs was joined by Fango’s Tony Timpone and convention partner Adam Malin. Norm came up with the name; he also coined FANGORIA, GOREZONE, and TOXIC HORROR.
In April 1992, FANGORIA Vol 1 #111 announced the first annual FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards. The nominees were announced via a single page in the magazine devoted to the inaugural ballot featuring 11 categories (on page 11, as it were) with instructions for readers to mail their ballot to the Fango offices in New York. (You can read the issue in its entirety for free in our online archives.)
But the inaugural awards were not confined to the pages of Fango! The first annual Chainsaw Awards ceremony took place in person May 16-17 at the 1992 LA Weekend of Horrors. The whole thing was hosted by none other than Bruce Campbell. Winners were then announced in the December 1992 issue #119 for those not in attendance.
That year’s big winners were The Silence of the Lambs, Bride of Re-Animator, The Addams Family, Body Parts, and Terminator 2. Lance Henriksen and Jeffrey Combs were the two inductees to the FANGORIA Hall of Fame, and they were both on hand to be welcomed to the fold by a director they had each collaborated with: Stuart Gordon. (Can you imagine!?) Well, I suppose some of you don’t have to imagine, because you were there— living it.
Check out this sweet spread in the issue, which includes some of the Chainsaw Awards highlights and a list of the winners.
Fango legend Michael Gingold wrote the original article recapping the inaugural Chainsaw Awards, and previously gave us a rundown of the highlights from that ceremony on the site. There’s no summing it up better than Gingold, so you can read that right here.
In fact, we have a collection of Gingold’s Chainsaw Awards flashbacks spanning 1992-1996. Get lost in the Chainsauce (is that a thing?) and take a trip through time with Gingold as your guide.
We’re going to flash forward a few years because, in October 2006, FANGORIA held the first-ever televised “Fuse FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards” at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The Chainsaw Awards aired exclusively on Fuse on Sunday, October 22nd at 10 pm ET, it was a big to-do and a major milestone.
Hosted by Jamie Kennedy, “the night’s festivities were kicked off by masked rockers Slipknot and a chainsaw-wielding Leatherface who presented the honor for “Most Thrilling Killing (Best Death Scene)” to SAW II’s Emmanuelle Vaugier. The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Anthony Kiedis accepted the “Killer Video” award for “Dani California,” while musician turned director Rob Zombie walked away with “Killer Movie” for The Devil’s Rejects.
The Hills Have Eyes was the big winner that year, taking home the trophy for “Looks That Kill (Best Makeup)” and “Bloodiest Beatdown.” 30 Seconds to Mars, Chingy and Avenged Sevenfold all performed live during the two-hour event. Award presenters included Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund, Avril Lavigne, Jada Pinkett Smith and her band Wicked Wisdom, KORN’s Jonathan Davis, Linkin Park, Sum 41, Fall Out Boy, Samaire Armstrong, Brande Roderick, Regina Hall, Jenna Jameson and “The Girls Next Door.”
2021 marked the beginning of a fitting partnership between FANGORIA and Shudder, with Monster Kid host David Dastmalchian presiding over the festivities. The lockdown edition featured presenters and winners sending in their presentations and acceptance speeches with plenty of very familiar faces. (You can watch the full show on YouTube, and read a full list of the 2021 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards winners right here.)
The Chainsaw Awards returned to Shudder in 2022, again with host David Dastmalchian, this time pushing the envelope, building an even bigger and better beast coming out of lockdown.
If you want to see the full list of 2022 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards winners, we’ve got you covered.
And that brings us to our most recent 2023 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards. Last year’s ceremony boasted loads of in-person guests presenting and winning! Complete with Muppet Show-style backstage antics, this time, host David Dastmalchian was joined by co-host Peaches Christ.
What do we have in store for the 2024 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards? Well, we can tell you that we’ve made the shift to October, which extends the eligible nomination window. There’s a new category in town (Best Video Game), and we will once again be airing on Shudder. As for the rest, stay tuned, and we’ll do our best to add some interesting history to the Chainsaw Awards’ legacy.
