136 responses so far ↓

• 1 Paul T. Baker // Sep 3, 2003 at 5:08 am

  I never had a subscription, but growing up in the ’80s I used to make my parents buy it for me.
  I only wish I’d kept my stack of back issues. Not since ‘National Geographic’ has there been a mag that deserved stacking in library shelves and garage sales and thrift stores.
  It’s almost a ‘recovered memory’; none of the people I know now have ever heard of OMNI.
  Ah, to be 10 again…

• 2 Paul T. Baker // Sep 3, 2003 at 5:09 am

  I never had a subscription, but growing up in the ’80s I used to make my parents buy it for me.
  I only wish I’d kept my stack of back issues. Not since ‘National Geographic’ has there been a mag that deserved stacking in library shelves and garage sales and thrift stores.
  It’s almost a ‘recovered memory’; none of the people I know now have ever heard of OMNI.
  Ah, to be 10 again…

• 3 Diskmuncher // Sep 28, 2003 at 5:42 pm

  Sitting here watching “The Second Arrival” on SciFi, and the main character said “I’m an Omni reader myself”. The film was made in 1998. Jeez I miss Omni…I was too young to afford a subscription myself, but like a previous poster I asked my parents to buy as many issues as I could get my hands on.

• 4 Christopher // Sep 28, 2003 at 6:11 pm

  Funnily enough, that’s what sent me online looking for the OMNI website–which appears to be down. Rest in peace, OMNI.

• 5 Andrew // Sep 28, 2003 at 7:50 pm

  Omni Magazine was one of the most rewarding reading experience I ever had…too bad the very quirkiness that made it so endearing to me probablt prevented it from making it into the big time. RIP Omni, u will be truly missed

• 6 Rod // Sep 30, 2003 at 6:36 pm

  Does anyone know where on ‘net I could find thumbs of the cover art? There is one artist whose work I’m looking for and do not remember his name.

• 7 David // Oct 4, 2003 at 12:10 am

  Rod,

  I haven’t found copies of Omni Cover art. But there is a list of the fiction authors that were published in Omni at:

  http://www.hycyber.com/SF/omni_index.html

  I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the list. But it’s more than I had before.

• 8 Dwight Larks // Oct 6, 2003 at 4:05 pm

  Hey I used to love to read OMNI Mag in fact my dad used to bring it home and give it to me once he was done reading it. I learned about it because at our local 7-11 there was an advertisement just above the bike rack that was a huge OMNI MAG one. I have a VERY HAUNTING QUESTION ABOUT THE MAG and mabe someone can help me!!! In one of the issues there was a page dedicated to the number 15! and it showed a picture of 15 pool balls racked up so that from the bottom all the way to the tip of the triangle, the balls were stacked so that each ball next to another subtracted from it to add up to the ball directly above both of them ALL THE WAY UP AND I CANT FIGURE IT OUT. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY OLD MAGAZINES THAT THEY COULD LOOK THROUGH TO FIND IT?? MY EMAIL ADRESS IS DWIGHTLARKS@YAHOO.COM

  THANKS YA’LL

• 9 Bryan Day // Oct 7, 2003 at 12:25 am

  I used to have a subscription to Omni in its final days. I remember a big article on cryonics and a series of articles on alien abductions. After the magazine mysteriously vanished, the subscription was changed to Astronomy magazine for the rest of it’s duration.

• 10 Bryan Day // Oct 7, 2003 at 12:28 am

  Also. I remember at the time the magazine disappeared it was produced by the same folks who made Compute, Longevity, and Penthouse. Notice the same style writing on the covers of all four magazines.

• 11 Dustin Huber // Oct 7, 2003 at 4:20 pm

  I’m sad to hear that Omni is no more. We recently moved and I found a couple of old issues from 1987 that I kept, and I felt a real nostalgia for such a great magazine. Now a websearch reveals that it is no more. Damn. Does anyone know which, if any, libraries carry back issues of Omni? I’m really interested in getting some articles referenced to in the issues I found.

• 12 bella // Oct 17, 2003 at 1:33 am

  What is with our joint reflection of Omni???

  I am also looking for cover art. I had found a number to call (which I did) and they gave me some info. on artist. H.R. Giger is one. And Robert Venosa is another. They both have gallerys on the web. I worked in a college library and would pounce on the new Omni and hide in the shelves. It truly did free your mind to everything.

• 13 Roland S. Byrd // Oct 17, 2003 at 1:17 pm

  I loved OMNI when I was growing up! All of the articles and stories, the artwork…….Wow what memories.

  I’d always wanted to be published in OMNI, gues I missed that one :)

• 14 Lauren // Oct 18, 2003 at 12:24 pm

  Back in the late ’70s, early ’80s I read a short story in OMNI about someone who committed suicide or was trying to. The method involved having electrodes plugged to the pleasure centers of the brain and a tube for water, but no food. My students just read “Carcinoma Angels” by Norman Spinrad in class and were wondering how Harrison Wintergreen survived without food or water. I was hoping to excerpt the story, but that’s all I remember. Anybody?

• 15 Joseph // Oct 22, 2003 at 1:33 pm

  OMNI was my favorite magazine when I was growing up - I remember the first issue that I had noticed at the magazine stand in the grocery store had fascinated me - the cover art had a butterfly sitting on a diaper pin.
  I had begged my Dad to buy it for me, but he refused.
  I was more successful a couple of years later, when I had finally talked my Mom into buying me the January, 1981 issue - the cover was amazing, and one of the major articles dealt with fusion power (very disappointing that we still haven’t invested the funding necessary to develop it like we could have..).
  The artwork and photography was first rate and very unusual…
  From then on I’d try to weasel my parents into getting me an issue of OMNI here and there…I guess they finally came around and probably thought it was good for my educational development (it was in the sense that it opened my mind to further technological possiblilites, and expanded my horizons of the future’s potential - not many other kids in my class read OMNI..).
  Each new magazine I received was a huge thrill….I remember the glossy paper (quality stuff, not like the cheap quality magazines you find today…), the terrific artwork, the fascinating stories….the odd but interesting subjects in the Continuum and Anti-Matter sections…the exciting science-fact articles and tantalizing science-fiction stories from such authors as Ben Bova (who was also the editor of OMNI for a while) and William Gibson….OMNI had it all, and there was simply no magazine like it, nor has there been before or since!
  I had a nice little collection of OMNI’s, and could always turn to them whenever I was bored…
  Years later when I joined the Air Force from ‘88 to ‘94, I had to leave them all behind at my Dad’s house, at which point most of them would up missing…
  I managed to find a few of them, but had to resort to old bookstores to find a few more…then, of course, ebay, where I was able to find as many as I wished….
  OMNI’s heyday was from its inception back in 1978 all the way to the end of 1986…then the quality started to drop…it was still fairly good, but things got progressively worse until it reached its most pathetic state around 1994, when it tried to jump on the X-Files bandwagon and dedicate huge sections to investigating UFO abductions (much more than in it’s past).
  The size and quality of the physical magazine had dropped dramatically (nothing like those old, huge issues with the quality paper), and in the end they tried to save themselves by adding “OMNI Comix” (to what, appeal to a “younger and more hip” audience??).
  Now, don’t get me wrong, what few “Comix” they had were actually pretty good, but IMO they had no place in OMNI.
  OMNI disappered for a while in May of ‘95, then came back for two more issues in the fall and winter of ‘95 (they had announced they would be a quarterly publication from then on..), then finally (I think in the last issue), they announced that, since they were a magazine about the future, they were going to be an online magazine only (read: just another webpage, oh boy, whoopde-doo..).
  I’ve visited the OMNI website, and it really doesn’t hold a candle to the real OMNI magazines.
  I tried the site a little while ago and it’s no longer there - no biggie, I won’t miss it because I didn’t like the site anyway, and also because I have stacks and stacks of the REAL OMNI Magazine at home.
  The age of the paper magazine has still not left us - sometimes I dream that Ben Bova and some of the original staff of OMNI from the early 80’s would get together and start it up again, in the old format, a nice, huge, quality magazine for a niche market who’d be willing to pay more for quality (why not? Cinefex magazine goes for $10.00 a pop and has been in publication since the early 80’s..).
  Ahh, well…so long as I have my collection of old OMNI’s, in my mind the mag will never be truly dead….

• 16 Julie // Oct 29, 2003 at 2:48 pm

  Hello, I have all the issues from like 1987 until it was cancelled in semi-pristine condition. I’m still unpacking them and will do a proper count when I’ve found them all. I hate to just throw them away, did an omni magazine search to see if anyone would be interested in them, and found this site. The shipping costs would be spendy, but maybe it would be worth it for you all?

  And BTW, I could not find *any* library interested in taking them because it’s no longer in circulation and they are not properly “archived” for research purposes.

  Please let me know if you’re interested. Julie

• 17 steve // Oct 30, 2003 at 2:25 pm

  I was an avid reader too & miss it a lot. glad to see I’m not alone. it was a GREAT mag…

• 18 Lauri // Nov 3, 2003 at 11:21 am

  I checked the website - still down. Omni was a great magazine, I read it when I was a child, as well. Bummer.

• 19 Jeff // Nov 3, 2003 at 10:24 pm

  Amazing. Tonight, after so many years, I finally decided to look up an old friend, and find so many other’s searching for him too. I read OMNI throughout my teen years and am proud to say that it inspired me more than any other publication, teacher, lover or leader. I was hoping to discover that OMNI had somehow been resurrected after my subscription, which had suddenly become Astronomy, had run out so many years ago. I miss OMNI, the art, the writing, the vision. I feel like an important part of me passed away. Certainly, an important part of history has been lost.

• 20 Gordon // Nov 4, 2003 at 3:58 am

  How odd! I don’t know what made me start looking for OMNI online, and I find the rest of you wondering what happened to it. I too loved the magazine. So quirky. If anyone is interested, there’s a guy on ebay who claims to have the entire printed collection (minus one issue) The photos look real enough. You can find the items here:

  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3563907022&category=1148#ebayphotohosting

• 21 Mark Norman // Nov 12, 2003 at 6:21 pm

  I’m in the UK, I grew up with OMNI too. I’ve still got dozens of issues at my dad’s house - I guess I’d better get hold of them before something happens to them. They tried to launch a UK edition which only lasted a few issues at my newsagent. Not so much a magazine as a work of art I always thought, the future as it was meant to be.
  I remember I leant a few issues to my chemistry teacher, and spent months trying to get them back! I think the world might be ready for a re-launch. How about it?

• 22 Kimbel // Nov 13, 2003 at 3:24 am

  Gid’ay from WA.
  I an all. I just went on-line to see if I could find OMNI because I’ve had this short story idea lurking in the recesses of my mind that I thought they might like to pay me thousands for.
  And they’re gone! RIP OMNI

• 23 Boris // Nov 16, 2003 at 8:10 pm

  I’m looking for a picture from a 70’s (80’s?) Omni magazine of people hanging out at a space lounge. I remeber there being a spaceship flying by the window… Anybody have a scan of this pic from an old issue??

• 24 curtis // Nov 19, 2003 at 4:04 pm

  One of you asked about artists featured in Omni. H R Giger was mentioned but the other one you need to check out is Marshall Arisman. Also, Lauren asked about a story where some one committed electonic suicide. I think I still have an original copy with that story. If I can find it Lauren I’ll post another message letting you know and send it to you.

• 25 John Aspen // Nov 20, 2003 at 8:40 am

  The first time I came across an issue of Omni was back in the early 80’s where my mother worked in a coffee shop. A full-time university student who was working as a donut baker (remember those) gave me an issue to look through…..I WAS HOOKED! The content was truly way ahead of its time and the articles just kept me mesmerized till the last page.

  I wish that they continued publication but I suppose demand or the lack there of, put it in its final resting place.

  Final thought….Omni Magazine was one of the best magazines ever produced.

  What was the University Student taking at the time? Computer Science/Programming…..computer science I said, what’s that?

• 26 Ferrett // Nov 23, 2003 at 12:12 pm

  Omni was definitely great, and I’m sad to hear it’s no more. I was an avid reader in the early- to mid-80s, then restarted again in the early 90s but as mentioned above the quality had fallen through the floor.

  For what it’s worth, in the UK the magazine “Focus” is similar (ish) and always a good read. See “http://www.focusmag.co.uk“ (btw the website is awful but the magazine is excellent!)

• 27 Zubie Zeballos // Dec 3, 2003 at 6:58 pm

  I was actually just thinking about the space art that appeared in the mag and also some of the old Terra Authority Handbooks, and this page came up as a major link. I remember convincing my dad to get the very first issue (which I have to admit I clipped pictures for a shuttle scrap book). I loved the mix of fact and fiction in a large slick, glossy magazine (although its style relationship to Penthouse I think made my mom uneasy). I clipped the spaceships and taped them on the walls and a cartoon of Mona Lisa on the Moon with a space suit that still sits in a box frame in my office.

  I actually had a subscription, but the magazine seemed slowly to drift into more non-science topics, alien abductions, soul energies, ghosts, etc, and that really turned me off and at some point I just didn’t bother to renew it.

  Nobody has mentioned it, but I wonder if “Wired” in a sense didn’t inherit what would have originally been Omni readers (particularly for the early years of Omni): a large format and art heavy publication on non-art subjects. Wired articles on Hal’s Birthday and X Prize are classic Omni topics.

  And I do miss the fiction. I did see some issues of its last years and they were much poorer in comparison. (web site I recall was awful, some remnants stored still at http://www.archive.org)

  For the person asking about the space lounge, I think I recall the picture and was able to trace it down to possibly to this one called “Spaceport” by Jim Burns which was in a little short section that featured a lot of his work (one, a robot in front of what looks like a souped up cross between an F4 and an Apache was in the TV promotion).

  Link for picture at art spot selling prints:
  http://www.artistsuk.net/acatalog/ARTISTS_UK__JIM_BURNS__71.html

  Other artists for spaceship art were Chris Moore and Peter Elson, John Harris, Jonh Berkley
  http://hugues.namur.free.fr/images_autres_HD/vaisseaux/illus/peter-elson_gallery/ThumbnailFrame.htm
  http://members.fortunecity.com/camarila/chrismoore.html
  http://www.konsept.com.tr/serbestdusme/yasam/hobi/bk/resim.htm

  Happy Hunting
  Zubie
  p.s. The Mona Lisa Cartoon was by “Rico” (Rico Schacherl?). I think he was a regular contributor.

• 28 Jef Hutchby. // Dec 8, 2003 at 2:23 am

  I was clearing out the attic at my parents house the other day (I left there about 20 years ago but I’m still moving out) and what should I find? 1st Edition of Omni! Damn how that brough my youth flooding back!. I was 15 at the time and the magazine cost me almost a third the money I earned each week but I wouldn’t have dreamed of giving up my subscription.

  I cant believe how this issue has survived so well at the bottom of a box for 25 years…I just wonder what I did with the rest of the issues. *sigh* …anyway, did a search on the internet regarding the magazine and here was the first place it brought me so… High *wave*.

• 29 FRANKe // Dec 11, 2003 at 2:33 am

  OMNI. Has there ever been another publication since with such vision? I have yet to see one. Ahh the nostalgia. My brother brought home a copy of the magazine for the first time in the early 80’s, I believe it was 81, and I have been an Sci-Fi fan ever since. It’s great to hear of other people’s recollections of the magazine. Just because of the memories of my childhood that I am recollecting because of this page, I am willing to pay 200 dollars to anyone who is willing to sell a complete set of the magazine. Please contact me at the email address posted.

• 30 Jack // Dec 14, 2003 at 9:06 pm

  I too am an avid OMNI reader. I was 14 when I first saw the premier edition at the grocery store and was instantly hooked. It became more of an information source almost than school. The early years were so ahead of their time with expensive paper stock and fancy art and great content. It couldn’t survive in today’s market I suppose. I managed to collect almost every one but 3 or 4. Now through time I have lost maybe 5 or 10 but apart from that, I have most from the beginning. Many good memories are tied into that mag.I wish It was still around but agree that Wired is as close as you can get in likeness.

• 31 Ken O'Toole // Dec 15, 2003 at 3:59 pm

  I have 145 issues of ‘Omni’dating back to Volume 1.Number1.the only problem for most of you guys is that I live in England…….but if you are interested you have my e.mail address[kenotoole123@msn.com]

• 32 cab // Dec 17, 2003 at 4:32 pm

  who was the founder of OMNI mag?

  Thanks

• 33 Annabelle // Dec 22, 2003 at 9:47 pm

  I have isues from the first year if anyone is interested in purchasing. Am about to post on ebay.

• 34 Jennifer // Dec 27, 2003 at 12:42 pm

  It was trying to track down an OMNI article that I remember reading - it was a fiction piece based upon what would happen if Mad Cow ran rampant in the beef industry and only non-beef eating cultures were the inheritors of leadership of the world after first world beef-eaters like the US were crippled by the crisis. This article was wrote at least 10 years before the big recent hoopla a bit ago about the UK’s Mad Cow outbreak. I thought of the article then and our most recent case in the US made me think about it again. I’m glad I don’t eat cow.

• 35 Russ // Dec 29, 2003 at 11:06 am

  I would be interested in any copies that anyone has for sale of just trying to get rid of. I had a subscription for a short time but I lost track and the magazines are long since gone. If you have any magazines that you no longer want please e-mail me at javatherus@si.rr.com Thanks.

• 36 Gordon // Dec 31, 2003 at 7:59 am

  Wow. Talk about deja vu… And it’s not even a glitch in the Matrix….

  I have been looking for a particular story from an old OMNI issue: The Eyes on A Butterfly’s Wings.

  The art for the story is what I’m after. It shows an unusual flat rock in the middle of a field, with a spring in the middle which becomes 4 separate streams. These streams divide the rock’s surface into four sections, which look eerily like a butterfly’s wing.

  Anyone heard of this, or have it?

  Thanks.

• 37 Rusty // Dec 31, 2003 at 12:38 pm

  Will somebody please explain to me when and how and why Omni died and why it is staying dead? I am an Editor of a magazine about magazines and I want to do a special feature on the Omni legend.

  Please contact me.

• 38 S,Jansen // Jan 5, 2004 at 1:18 pm

  Well today I happened to be watching a film and in the frame was a poster on a wall advertising OMNI.
  It bought back the memories of reading the latest issue till late at night. And that’s how I arrived at this site; to see that I was not the only avid fan of the magazine.
  Never found a substitute….

• 39 Tom W // Jan 6, 2004 at 4:34 pm

  Ah yes, I’ve seem to have taken a path and here and found many travellers here of similar nature.

  I too remember being 13 or so when the first issue showed up on the newstands.The cover looked deceptively futuristic. In reality it was a photo of a line of poles (or a guard rail?) at twilight. I had my sister buy it for me until I could afford a subscription. I think that I have every issue except for maybe one or two that vanished during college.

  The stories were great and the artwork was unbelievable. Giger is famous for Alien, but Omni had him first. Equally impressive was the work of Arisman, Venosa, Wunderlich, DeEs, Helnwein, etc. I still page through them when I have a few minutes of idle time.

  It did decline near the end, which came and that they rather abruptly. Without warning, I started receiving Discover. I thought that Wired would be a suitable replacement for a while, but alas it’s too much tech business and not enough tech science for me.

• 40 Wolfbanks // Jan 7, 2004 at 12:46 pm

  I,too, started reading Omni when about 16. Must have been ‘79 or ‘80. read it until I couldn’t find it anymore. R.I.P. Omni, You expanded my world and mind.
  Wolfbanks

• 41 Clinton W Wood IV // Jan 8, 2004 at 10:10 pm

  I read it too. My dad had a subscription to it. I miss the fiction the most. I just want to find one story that I remember reading; “Sand Kings”. It was a great story, I wish I could find a copy of it somewhere.

• 42 Tom W // Jan 14, 2004 at 3:55 pm

  Yes, Sandkings (by George R.R. Martin) was among the best stories that Omni ever published and was adapted for the first episode of showtime’s Outer Limits. It was published in a collection that is out of print, but you should be able to find it through Amazon.

• 43 microserf // Jan 16, 2004 at 5:25 am

  I wonder if enough of folks like us who miss the orginal quality of Omni will get the Guccioni folks to bring it back.

  A short story I read in OMNI magazine directly impacted my choice to get into the conputing/technology industry.. Can’t remember the name, but it was about a young programmer, who dealt w. security.. and it showed a pic of a guy wearing jeans, getting out of a black Porsche 928.. It was the time of having recently seen War Games (hardcore puter user), Tron (hardcore game developer goes into the game), etc., etc.. That story for me, above anything else, showed that technology and the people who knew how to control it, could be a powerful force, and garner riches.. Hey, I was a KID, ok? :) Perhaps Bill Gates read it too, hence his facination w. Porsche 911’s, and his crowning personal car achievement, being able to purchase a Porsche 959.. Does anyone here remember that story?Anyway, here is an excerpt I found on the web about the history of OMNI:

  OMNI Magazine

  ______

  What Wired is to Dr. Dobb’s Journal, OMNI magazine was to Scientific American. OMNI, published by Penthouse’s Bob Guccione, tried to make science sexy. Yeah, no foolin’. Never letting something like hard data verified by double-blind, repeatable experiments get in the way of a good 1,200 word feature, OMNI tried to tackle serious major freaky next-level shit like cryogenics, antimatter, fusion, psychotherapy, artificial intelligence, lucid dreaming, Dyson spheres, and alternative AIDS theories. You name it, OMNI was so there.

  Physically, OMNI was slick. What Wired tries to do with a river of neon orange and green printers ink, OMNI tried to do with muted silver, slate blue, glossy black, and umber. OMNI paid a premium for good art work. H.R. Giger was an early and regular contributor.

  OMNI began publication in November 1978 as a bimonthly magazine. OMNI folded in the mid’90s but was quickly reborn as a web site in September 1996. The web site version ceased publication in 1998.

  The magazine was headed from the beginning by Bob Guccione’s wife Kathy Keeton Guccione (a former stripper from South Africa). After nearly two decades at the helm of OMNI, she died in 1997 of cancer.

  While OMNI delved into a lot of material that people today would recognize as “that bloody new age crap”, OMNI maintained a respectable compliment of hard science writers. For example, NASA golden child and expert on the Soviet space program James Oberg wrote a skeptical column on UFOs.

  For the hard-bitten skeptic, OMNI was science porn. For the wide-eyed, tinfoil-hat-wearing UFO nut who believes an alien implant lies beneath every pimple and scar, OMNI was scientific validation of the truth that was out there. What can be said about OMNI is, regardless of where you stood on issues of UFOs and the paranormal, each issue of OMNI probably had something enjoyable to read by anyone with an interest in science.

  Favorites of many readers were the “Continuum” and “Antimatter” sections. Continuum featured small, gee whiz news item about interesting discoveries in the world of harder science. Antimatter published gee whiz items on the world of the paranormal and cryptozoology.

  And, no, I won’t let this history end without talking about OMNI’s contribution to the world of Science Fiction. OMNI paid one of the highest per-word rates in the world of publishing (possibly exceeded only by Playboy). It’s no consequence that OMNI published short stories and novelette-sized works by many legendary science fiction authors including the ABC of Sci Fi: Isaac Asimov (”Found”, 1978) Alfred Bester (”Galatea Galante”, 1979), and Arthur C. Clarke (”The Songs of Distant Earth”, 1979). (What about Ray Bradbury? He had “Colonel Stonesteel’s Genuine Home-Made Truly Egyptian Mummy” published in 1981! I’m aware of his work!). OMNI also shepherded along today’s giants in their more primordial phase. William Gibson (”Johnny Mnemonic”, 1981), Bruce Sterling (”Sunken Gardens”, 1984), and Orson Scott Card (”A Thousand Deaths”, 1978) all had early short stories and novelettes published in OMNI.

  Of course, who could ever forget reading George R. R. Martin’s “Sandkings”, first published in OMNI.

  The credit for much of OMNI’s groundbreaking Sci Fi in the ’80s can be firmly laid at the feet of its fiction editor Ellen Datlow, who edited the magazine’s fiction section between 1981 and 1998.

  In 1981 OMNI won the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ Magazine of the Year. Nine years later, in 1990, OMNI caused some controversy in the journalistic world when it allowed Motorola to completely take over the front page with an ad. Motorola’s featured the first ever ad to contain a hologram. Guccione felt this was “out there” enough to warrant the front cover. Two of its editors quit in protest. The magazine earned a “dart” from the Columbia Journalism Review.

  Copyright 2003 Karl Mamer

  Free for online distribution as long as

  “Copyright 2003 Karl Mamer (kamamer@yahoo.com)”
  appears on the article.

  Direct comments and questions to mailto:kamamer@yahoo.com

• 44 Dick Australia // Jan 16, 2004 at 11:40 pm

  I too grew up with Omni and was keen to introduce my children to these wonders of illustration and fiction, but it seems it is not to be.
  Is there any thing that is similar,i doubt any thing could be as a single issue but I would be interested what have others found since

• 45 John // Mar 7, 2004 at 9:24 am

  I’m surprised I hadn’t found this forum before. I’ve been searching for a particular book that was originally exerpted in one of the early Omni magazines and maybe you folks could help. THe story was a more modern look at the second coming of Christ. THe scene: ER doctor in NYC is presented with a doa that exhibits all the classic signs, thorn marks on head, holes in hands, etc. The body subsequently dissapears from the morgue and later the docotr is visited in his summer house by a now quite alive and undamaged person. the story continues with lots of conversation over a perpetually full bottle of wine and ends with another version of the final conflict between good and evil.
  If any of you with a stack of the earlier issues wouln’t mind taking a few minutes and seeing if you can find the author and title of this story I would be most grateful.

• 46 David Wagner // Mar 11, 2004 at 5:39 am

  It’s become a minor obsession to find the artist whose work appeared on the cover of the September 1985 Omni, as well as in an Omni catalog of the mid-1980s. This artist painted haunting cyborg-women, a compelling blend of horn, metal, pipes and soft femininity, usually in front of a backdrop of industrial desolation. I’m going nuts trying the usual artist-cataloging sites.
  Can anyone help with this quest?

• 47 Bill // Nov 5, 2004 at 2:58 pm

  I have about 2 years of old OMNI magizines ranging in date from 79 - 87 and I have been wondering what to do with them.Any Ideas besides #@$%^&*(

• 48 jessica // Nov 6, 2004 at 2:49 pm

  my dad used to give me his old omni mags to cut the pics out of. i saved a lot of them, but there is one particular painting by an artest named Di Macchio. it went with an article called Make Believers. if anyone knows where i can find more about this artist that would be awsome, i’ve been looking for a very long time!

• 49 Stoneskimmer // Dec 30, 2004 at 3:06 pm

  As a published writer of short stories and some critiques for trade mags, I knew OMNI had died, but as I’m about to start on another novel with a sort of sci-fi bent to it, I thought to pop in here for noting more sinister than to refresh my mind as to a Mag, so sadly missed RIP OMNI, nope, time for a exhumation, come on Mr Gates, you ran enough ads for people to buy your newly floated company way back early 80s, you got the money, we believed, payback time Bill, launch OMNI again & I’ll forgive that damn purple dinosaur. I hear on the grapevine you have a few bucks, but no need to tell your financial advisers you’re entertaining such an idea :o) & before the accusations of selfpublicity arrive, no it isn’t :o) no names no pack drill nor pseudonyms this time, Ciao Omni, ciao good folk

• 50 sh // Feb 28, 2005 at 3:23 pm

  http://www.noosfere.com/showcase/omni_page_1.htm

• 51 sh // Feb 28, 2005 at 3:26 pm

  http://www.noosfere.com/showcase/omni_page_1.htm

• 52 Prog-Loving Linux Hippie // Mar 23, 2005 at 12:36 am

  Yeah, I don’t know what it means, but when I was reading this page, I started to cry. It’s just sad that something that meant so much to so many people just died out like it never existed. I never had the pleasure of reading Omni myself, me being only 14, but I got hooked on Orson Scott Card for a while, and got referred to it from there. I could not pass this site without also giving my respects to what must have been one of the greatest literary periodicals that ever felt the heat of the press. Rest In Peace, Omni, and know that you are loved.

• 53 mec // Apr 14, 2005 at 4:00 pm

  Okay everyone,

  Why is Omni magazine now defunct? The answer -

  Bob Guccione’s Penthouse circulation went into a tailspin in the mid nineties, no thanks to a variety of factors from explicit adult material now made available on cable tv, to bad management decisions etc. The result? It had to cut back on subsidiary ventures such as Omni.

  It would be difficult to launch another magazine that could match the cutting edge copy and flair that made Omni succeed, as it took alot of gambling and heavy financial resources to keep it spinning in the first place.

  P.S Bob Guccione went bankrupt.

• 54 whitecurve // Apr 22, 2005 at 10:37 am

  for those wanting to sample the joys of the now defunct Omni Website, try http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.omnimag.com/.

  I’d just like to add my voice to those praising the Omni. Long may it rest.

  Enjoy.

• 55 SamNM // Jun 8, 2005 at 10:20 pm

  I just wanna say I love the Omni magazines. I was looking in my closet the other day and I found about 10 in great shape. I thinking about putting them on Ebay, lol
  bye

• 56 James // Dec 21, 2005 at 12:47 am

  I’ve been reminiscing as well. I’m getting The Complete New Yorker for Christmas and wish they’d come up with The Complete Omni. I started collecting them when I was 13, from issue #2 (with the scary Giger painting on the cover) until about 1984.

• 57 Sherry Baker // Dec 23, 2005 at 3:50 pm

  I stumbled over this “Shrine” and had to smile. I wrote for OMNI for over 16 years and I miss it, too — not only because it was great fun to write for but I enjoyed reading it! I’m glad to see people haven’t forgotten it.. it was a great and different ‘zine..

• 58 Anysia Chung // Dec 26, 2005 at 12:41 am

  I was very disappointed when I saw that PENTHOUSE took over the domain name, as I was hoping one day that the Omni Mag Webmaster would set up an archived version of the magazine,which I had subscribed to for many years.

  I would like to thank whitecurve for posting the archive link. It’s brought back all the time I spent back in my AOL days, online with Live Omni Magazine, and the first chatrooms I had ever visited. Guess that well and truly dates me.

• 59 Daniel Joel Pinto // Dec 28, 2005 at 12:21 am

  I painted a cover for OMNI once, well it was an AirBrush Painting. A robot siting on the beach holding a can of CocaCola. Grate page dude…

• 60 GG Force // Jan 8, 2006 at 3:17 am

  Does anyone remember an issue with Skull 444 on the cover? It was one of the most amazing issues and i’ve been looking for it for about a decade with no success? Omni was, in my opinion, one if the only mags worth reading, and now that I’ve found this site i know I’m not alone in thinking that.
  So, if anyone has any recollection or could pass along any clues as to where I might be able to find that particular issue I’d be extremely grateful.
  ~g

• 61 hugh hoyland // Jan 14, 2006 at 12:59 am

  omni comics feb 95. nasa, sagan lies about face on mars cartoon story published. note in last panel announces full expose’ of the face on mars scandal perpetrated by sagan et al which decieved and continues to decieve world public. publisher immediately drops omni. another publisher picked it up fall 95, omni comix repeats nasa sagan smear of face on mars story including promiise of expose’ in next issue. this issue failed to appear. call to omni revealed that omni comixhad been put on indefinite suspension and the promised expose’had been put off for the indefinite future.for confirmation call hugh hoyland 626 357 2132

• 62 hugh hoyland // Jan 14, 2006 at 1:03 am

  omni comics feb 95. nasa, sagan lies about face on mars cartoon story published. note in last panel announces full expose’ of the face on mars scandal perpetrated by sagan et al which decieved and continues to decieve world public. publisher immediately drops omni. another publisher picked it up fall 95, omni comix repeats nasa sagan smear of face on mars story including promiise of expose’ in next issue. this issue failed to appear. call to omni revealed that omni comixhad been put on indefinite suspension and the promised expose’had been put off for the indefinite future.for confirmation call hugh hoyland 626 357 2132 i have never contacted you before, just found your website tonight. maybe by snail mail long ago

• 63 Bartenderpete // Jan 27, 2006 at 3:26 am

  I have found the first issue of OMNI it was published by bob G as a supplement inside a penthouse.
  It is for sale.
  Because it is in penthouse it can not be to a minor.
  great collectors item.
  bartenderpete@hotmail.com

• 64 Jacquie // Feb 1, 2006 at 4:49 am

  My husband had the whole collection, all in perfect condition he was wondering if anyone would know how much the collection might be worth
  October 1978 to January 1981
  thank-you

• 65 Diane // Feb 19, 2006 at 10:12 am

  For David Wagner
  The artist for the September 1985 cover of Omni was “Yugoslavian-born surrealist Rallé”.

• 66 Jay Cornell // Mar 18, 2006 at 11:32 pm

  I’m yet another sci-fi geek who as a young man was enthalled by OMNI when it first hit the news stands.

  The art, the stories (Orson Scott Cards “Sandkings” was great!) the speculation. I loved everything about the magazine.

  I read the first issue cover to cover. There was a “Delphi Poll” that you could answer and send in, and RockWell has an Iron On insert of the Space Shuttle you could use.

  I couldn’t violate it, so they both stayed in. Today it sits securely wrapped up in a closet in my bedroom. I think I will take it out tonight and show it to my kids.

• 67 Mike // Mar 31, 2006 at 4:40 am

  I have the first 5 years in mint condition, orginal owner, all in individual year-boxes. Email me at happy_harrier@yahoo.com if interested in this rare, near-mint condition set.

• 68 Kelvin // Apr 5, 2006 at 12:04 am

  HELP!!!!!

  I am trying to find a story I had read in OMNI but I dont remember the name of the story or year of issue. It was about a group of people trying to find the descendants of the apostles and Jesus. I remember it was in an issue that delt with religion. If any one has or remembers something about theis story please post. Thank You….

• 69 Mike Kingman // Apr 6, 2006 at 3:02 am

  I have a collection of OMNI magazine…I have every issue from their first 9 years, most in mint condition. I am original owner, and they are encased in black yearly boxes with OMNI embossed in gold. Anyone know how much the collection is worth? Anyone want a pic of my collection?

• 70 Gretchen // Apr 7, 2006 at 1:01 pm

  I am trying to locate an old audio tape that we purchased years ago. It was an Arthur C CLark tape, Omni Experience. It was about the sun going supernova, and all the “rocket ships” leaving the planet. The other side was all music. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of that, please let me know at harris426@msn.com .Thanks! Gretchen

• 71 acebaron // Apr 9, 2006 at 6:54 pm

  My grandfather subscribed to OMNI perhaps as early as 1980. He would throw away the magazines after a time but soon figured he would give them to his oldest grandson who was interested in science and technology. I read some of the articles and fiction, skipping the political and other articles that didn’t make much sense to a 10 year old, and then would cut many of the wonderful pictures out to decorate my room. This went on for years and when I got older it led to a gift subscription of OMNI that my grandfather would give to me each Christmas.
  I was trying to find an OMNI pictorial of an artist that really blew my mind when I first saw the paintings/illustrations back in the late 80’s early 90’s. After OMNI went out of print he got me a subscription to Scientific American, and there is a slight chance I am confusing this artist’s work in OMNI when it was actually in SciAm, but SciAm issn’t really known for their pictorials…
  Anyway, the two ‘future visionary’ pictures of this artist that stand out are:
  1. A landscape of a forest or some natural setting, with the ocean on one side. Erosion of the ocean has revealed an ‘ancient’ city under the soil, but it is actually the framework of a sewer system and/or industrial pipes, etc, suggesting this could be 1000 years in the future where civilization has taken a step back and nature has taken over.
  2. A natural setting with trees and small houses. A guitar type instrument is sitting next to a tree. What stands out is an old style 19th century round pocket watch, sitting next to another tree, that is nearly as large as the house, suggesting in the distant future humans or other animal evolve into ‘little people’ and the surreal watch relic-artifact puts things in perspective with regards to size.
  I went through my entire collection of OMNI magazines that I still have but did not find the artist’s pictorial. Every 6 months or so I scour the ‘net looking for this artist. I am still looking but I came across a great site that has the contents of many omni magazines. http://www.btinternet.com/~the.convent/Selling/OMNI_magazine.html
  Unfortunately, I’m thinking this artist’s pictorial was 1989, and only one from that year is listed here. Anyone know this artist?

• 72 stevan Rosenlind // Apr 21, 2006 at 12:05 am

  Does anyone know if copies of the first Omni are worth anything? I have three of them in nearly mint condition. My email is: stevanjr@lookoutpi.com.

• 73 strambinha strambloga » Ambigramas // Apr 21, 2006 at 6:27 pm

  […] O que me lembrou de duas páginas da Omni Magazine, pelos idos de 1981 ou 1982, com vários exemplos de ambigramas. Este aí ao lado, o autor que me desculpe pois não consegui achar seu nome, eu tinha copiado e grudado na minha pasta do colégio (do outro lado da pasta eu pus uma cópia da Madonna de Basil Wolverton). […]

• 74 Cary Robyn // May 24, 2006 at 3:05 pm

  Are there any public or campus libraries with a collection including the early years of the magazine, preferrably in the NYC area?

• 75 Dono // Jun 4, 2006 at 7:41 am

  I was a huge fan of OMNI magazine & I’m so glad to see I wasn’t the only one. With all the other crap they keep bringing back from the 80s it’s hard to believe that no one has resurrected this treasure. A one of a kind magazine. I’m still looking for a story about a piano player in a future world. He gets slowly chopped up as he breaks different laws about his art. He’s outlawed from listening to outside music but he listens to music from a cube someone gives to him. The story was accompanied by a painting of a piano with flowers growing out of it. If anyone knows what I’m talking about & knows the name of the story email me at itzdono@netzero.com . There were great articles about technology, fantastic artwork, slick publishing, & a plethora of great writers. RIP OMNI. Please revive it somebody!

• 76 tim e // Jun 6, 2006 at 11:03 pm

  i wish all of those hords of sci-fi minions, waxing nostalgic for the happier times when their was an OMNI sun in the now dark firmamento, would allow their collective testicles to descend and just start a sister magazine in tribute to Omni…….

• 77 Noel Wood // Jun 12, 2006 at 6:14 am

  I still have the first 12 or so editions of Omni.
  The one short story that still sticks in my mind, is the one when there was a huge grid lock problem somewhere in the USA. The grid lock lasted so long that they had to lower food etc to the people that were stranded. Eventually helicopters arrived and poured concrete over the whole mess people, transport, pets and all. So the only solution was to concrete another highway on top of the old. Talk about mans inhumanity to man. But of course that was all supposed to be in the future. Hey! that means now!!!

  Noel Wood

• 78 Chris J. // Jun 14, 2006 at 8:23 pm

  I loved the OMNI magazine, I had a subscription for a few years and still have all the issues. I’m going to dig them out this weekend and start reading through them again. My favorite ones were about the dreams and how to control them. Lucent dreams. Also like the little games they had on one of the last pages.

• 79 Drew // Jun 17, 2006 at 12:52 pm

  Omni Magazine was great!

  Actually, there was a story published probably sometime between ‘91-’92 about the last human being on earth.

  For some reason, I want to say the story appeared in the Fall of ‘91 because if my memory serves me right, I was taking a study break at my university’s library when I went to the magazine stack and saw the story. I can’t remember the title, but the story line is still imprinted in my head after all these years, as if I just read it the other day.

  Basically, it starts out with the narrator describing the uneventful final extinction of the human race as seen in the last moments of life of the only remaning person–a man–to be alive on earth. It mentions briefly how the terrible days of anarchy, calamity and famine–even cannibal gangs–have long since passed that brought humanity to this point.

  What I found to be really interesting is that the story doesn’t stop here. It then goes on into the far future, offering a glimpse of what the world might be like after the human race is no longer here. For one thing, it shows how lifeforms such as rats prosper with humanity no longer around to keep them at bay. It even shows how humanity will not be the last sentient lifeform on earth as a highly intelligent race of octopus-like creatures will appear in the oceans.

  If anyone knows the author and title of this story and where I can find it, I would be so grateful. Thanks.

  Drew

• 80 Les Lyon // Jun 22, 2006 at 4:03 pm

  I always loved OMNI. Great articles and great comics.
  Does anyone out there know who the artist was that did The manic depressive tour bus, or know where I can get a copy of it?
  Another I’d like to see is The Mariguana. A smoking joint with legs and some very bloodshot eyes.

• 81 Marsha Hill // Jul 1, 2006 at 3:41 am

  Hi all,
  My husband and I discovered Omni in its early days. We loved it, and continued reading it for many years. Unfortunately, we no longer have any copies, and I’m going nuts trying to find an early Endpiece that had to do with an infestation of Giant Flying Vampire Toads at the Valhalla Golf Club in Florida. I’d happily purchase the magazine, if I knew which issue that contained that particular article. Any information leading to the re-discovery of those Giant Flying Vampire Toads would make my day!!!! Thanks

• 82 Thom // Jul 2, 2006 at 7:55 pm

  Marsha,
  I have many of the early editions of OMNI. I was a 23 year old college student in October of 1978 when I bought the “Collector’s Edition”, the first ever issue of OMNI. It was spectacular. The articles and artwork were amazing. I remember Continuum one month had a brief article on large satelite dishes which might one day become commonplace in backyard all over America. They were called “earth stations” back then but soon came to be known as satelite dishes soon after. The cost was around 20K for one earth station but costs soon came down as soon as demand for the product kicked in. We paid 1200 bucks for ours in 1984 so it took just six years for the fantasy to be turned into reality.

  I remember an article on Jaques Vallee who I’d met that fall as the hysteria over ET’s was raging due to the popularity of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was amazed to be meeting Vallee as his dopplleganger, Claude Lacombe (played by Francois Truffaut) made him a household word.

  Marsha, I remember the article on the Giant Flying Vampire Toads and as soon as I find the article I’ll let you know what issue it was in. Great idea for this shrine by the way!

• 83 Thom // Jul 3, 2006 at 7:15 pm

  Marsha, I found the article on the Giant Flying Vampire Toad. It’s in the Last Word section of the June 1980 issue and was written by Norman Spinrad. Funny article.

• 84 Pam Brown // Jul 8, 2006 at 1:56 pm

  I was a little young when Omni first came out, but loved it. I remember a story about a man who has a bunch of beings in a glass case. They divide into opposing groups who wage war on each other. In the end the collector or observer realizes that they are waging a religious war against each other and his face is on the banner that each side carries into battle. (or something like that) I would like to get a copy for my English class to read. Does anyone know the story??Pam

• 85 ed poe // Jul 10, 2006 at 3:48 pm

  Perhaps someone should publish a book, The Best of OMNI.

• 86 alternity // Jul 13, 2006 at 4:24 pm

  I have almost every edition. I found this site from a google search. I remember the old days of AOL and Omni chat. I used to look foward each month to getting my newest edition and then holeing up and reading every page. Yes Wired mag has somewhat quenched my thirst for a similar publication but nothing ever has nor will come close to Omni. The internet is my answer to Omni nowadays. Long live Omni and also this shrine!

• 87 James Lowe // Aug 4, 2006 at 9:59 am

  Hi, I am looking for a book. The cover of this book had a young girl holding up a cup to lucifer. The book was the story of a young witch.
  The magazine featured this picture, i thought on one of its covers but looking at the archives it sems i am mistaken. Does anyone know which magazine edition this was in and what the books name was.
  The magazine edition must have been from 1985 onwards
  Thanks

• 88 Tiffany // Aug 28, 2006 at 12:35 pm

  Hi, I am looking for a story that I think was published in the November 1979 edition of Omni Magazine. The Story is about 2 people who meet and fall in love and if they are touching time stands still. Does anyone have a copy of this edition of Omni to sell?
  Thanks!

• 89 Tiffany // Aug 28, 2006 at 1:06 pm

  I sent the above message…. actually I think it was November of 1978. Sorry. :)

• 90 Judy Katan // Aug 29, 2006 at 9:02 pm

  Eric Sahm, an east German artist did the cover of one of the issues of Omni.I would be interested in seeing mor of his art.

• 91 Helene // Sep 7, 2006 at 12:32 am

  Hi everyone;
  I am looking to buy a complete set of the omni magazines in good condition. You can email me at: helenew9@hotmail.com.
  Thanks!!!!

• 92 James Keller // Sep 15, 2006 at 1:00 am

  Ah, I remember fondly going to the B. Dalton and Walden books at the mall and wanting this magazine (that and Heavy Metal). I finally saved up and got a copy back in ‘84. I subscribed shortly there after and kept it up even thru the bad years when the size shrunk and all X-Files’ness infused the mag. This magaznine really changed me. I will miss this magazine sorely… (I’ll always have my back issues!) -James

• 93 Mario Tur // Sep 20, 2006 at 6:41 am

  I was involved in a project circa 1986 and due to the scientific-spiritual nature of the project I received a call from one of its writers who requested a phone interview. I foolishly accepted that request and although I was not mis-quoted, I realized later that the whole object of the news coverage was to ridicule the spiritual aspects of the human experience … to believe we are not alone, that we are part of creation by a single superior entity and not the unplanned evolutionist process that says something came from nothing, we just happened freaks of a natural process. I still believe today as I belived back then that there is a God who loves and cares for us. Faced with that reality, how would you respond to such love and universal power? Too bad OMNI is not around to search the truth any longer. Maybe they found the truth and decided they could not report it in counter to their own bias…
  Regards,
  Mario

• 94 Matt // Sep 22, 2006 at 11:34 pm

  GRID LOCK HELP ! Noel, are you still there? I’ve been on Google all night searching for the Omni article you mentioned. Yeah, the gridlock, traffic, helicopters, all of it made an amzing story. I can’t believe there’s someone else out there who remembers that article, especially now, in late 2006 at the same time I’m looking for it. Do you know the article, author or issue? Wow, I’m trying to find that issue for Christmas. Hope someone can help! Thanks!

• 95 Chip Howell // Oct 12, 2006 at 4:12 am

  WOW…on a whim, I googled OMNI Magazine and found a link here after reading a bit about it at wikipedia. Oh, what memories I have of that magazine, especially the fiction! I was a wee kid when I saw (and acquired) my first issue of that magazine. I’ve become a science fiction writer (though not yet famous) in part becuase of it, and though it’s sleek and snazzy presence is no longer a part of my daily existence, I have fond memories of a time when the world seemed…well…smarter, or at least willing to BECOME smart, and OMNI (along with Carl Sagan) seemed to be such a huge part of that. I’m glad I was there to experience it and then pop up here to say something about it.

• 96 mike // Oct 23, 2006 at 6:15 pm

  Hey, I have a bunch of old issues of OMNI if anybody wants to buy them?

  email me and lets talks

• 97 Helene // Nov 6, 2006 at 1:24 am

  Hi there Mike:

  Can you post your email address up so we can email you? Thanks a bunch!!
  Regards,
  Helene

• 98 Wilson da Silva // Nov 6, 2006 at 4:06 am

  I was inspired by OMNI in my youth, and have set up a quality science magazine in Australia that I consider to be its homage. It also carries science fiction every isuse, and has some of the same approach to lush design and illustration.

  It’s called COSMOS, and I recommend you check it out.

  See http://www.cosmosmagazine.com

  Cheers

  Wilson da Silva
  Editor, COSMOS

• 99 Brendan // Nov 16, 2006 at 8:13 pm

  To Pam Brown, the short story you’re referring to was called “Sandkings”. I forget the author’s name, but it won awards. I remember it as one of my favorite stories from Omni too.

  I used to read Omni in the mid to late 80’s, from late high school up through most of college. I hadn’t thought about it for a long time but I miss it. Things like laser eye surgery I first heard about in Omni months or years before it made the evening news. Definitely cutting edge. I remember reading an interview with Dr. Heimlich (of the Heimlich maneuver) and thinking “what a crackpot”. His Heimlich maneuver might have worked but the man was wacky.

• 100 Ron // Nov 20, 2006 at 4:21 pm

  Wow!! I went back to my parents’ house and dug up my old collection!!
  Sure enough, “Sand Kings” and the gridlock story!!
  There was an article about longevity that mentioned caloric restriction…
  27 years before all the recent hubbub about reserveratrol!!!
  If you guys want to buy my collection, post here and I’ll get back to ya!!
  (Does anybody remember a short story about a future Olympics with
  genetically modified athletes?)

• 101 Shaelyn // Nov 20, 2006 at 10:35 pm

  Does anybody have the Omni that has a “science fiction” version of Twas the night before Christmas poem? I have been trying to find a copy for years. I memorized this poem for class, but after all these years I cannot remember much more than the fact it was hilarious.

  email me at cvd_dragon@yahoo.com if you have this.

  Thanks…

• 102 Steve // Dec 19, 2006 at 9:04 pm

  Does anyone know of an article called “The Baile Cypher” (or something like that)? If so please e-mail me at s_kinder@hotmail.com

  Thanks

• 103 Vicki // Jan 13, 2007 at 6:54 pm

  I too enjoyed Omni. I too have a stack of issues that I can’t bear to throw away but don’t have the time it would take to go thru them. If anyone is interested in them please let me know. I’m not even looking to make a lot of money on these, I just would like to see them find a good home! I have: 79–Aug, Oct, Nov and Dec
  82–entire year except May Sept Nov
  83–all but Dec
  84–Aug thru Dec
  85–Jan thru April
  These magazines are in practically new condition. The covers are all attached and are hardly worn at atll You can email me at vickster17@gmail.com

• 104 Phillip // Jan 14, 2007 at 7:03 pm

  I loved Omin. They had some of the best sci-fi and fantasy art ever. The stories and articles were also interesting and even educational. I learned what quarks are and that I was right that UFO people are in one of two catagories. Those that soak up all the UFO crap literatue and those that get rich off their gullibility. Lol!!

• 105 inkblurt » Blog Archive » OmniShrine Wiki // Jan 24, 2007 at 6:33 pm

  […] Using the wonderful tools available over at WetPaint, I have now set up the OmniShrine Wiki For years I’ve had a post here about Omni Magazine, something I used to love to read when I was growing up. Over those years, many people have added comments on that post, explaining particular stories or art they had enjoyed, asking if people remembered or had available particular issues or excerpts, and even offering back-issues for sale. Since then I nicknamed it the Omni Magazine Shrine. But nobody ever answers those comments because it’s not set up for discussion or sharing, just commenting. So I figured I’d make a community spot for people to share. Who knows, it could turn into something? Do you have a personal remembrance about the magazine in general? A question? A topic to discuss? Maybe you have a favorite story, article or illustration you want to share with others or ask about? Go for it. […]

• 106 Bill // Feb 6, 2007 at 10:53 pm

  I have enjoyed reading all your posts. I too enjoyed Omni Magazine. Does anyone remember when it was only a couple of pages at the back of Penthouse? There were other spinn off publications also; Games and Penthouse comics and Longevity.

  I have all of you trumped though. I actually knew Bob and Kathy (Keaton)Guccioni and spent a lot of time in their New York home. Kathy was the real driving force behind Longevity and Omni.

  Unfortunately she passed away about 8 years ago and now Bob has gone into seclusion.

  They were really wonderful people and good friends.

• 107 Noel Wood // Feb 14, 2007 at 11:41 am

  Matt on Blog Number 94
  Sorry that you might not have found the “Grid Lock” article by Christmas 06.
  I will have a look through my old copies to try and find what you want. I will keep you posted. Hey if you leave your Email address I can scan the article and emial it to you.

• 108 Becky // Feb 14, 2007 at 5:21 pm

  Wow, this wiki might just be the answer to my dilemma! I remember reading a short story or novella in Omni that left such a huge impression, I’m still thinking about it decades later. It was about a man from contemporary time (the 1980s) who was accidentally placed in an anesthetic coma, only to awaken centuries later. In this new time, the world was being overrun by less than average people (read “stupid”), and he helped the remaining intelligencia come up with a plan to restore the balance between the smart and not so smart–they convinced people they were going on a ship ride to Mars, and then incinerated them.

  If this story rings a bell with any of you other Omni fans, and you can tell me either the title or author, I would be SO appreciative!

  Thanks, and long live the Omni wiki!

• 109 Dawn // Feb 25, 2007 at 8:45 pm

  I have been trying to remember the title of an Omni story from the 80’s in which people record experiences on rings and sell the rings so others can relive the experience. The main problem was that once they recorded the experience on the ring, it was erased from their memories. This eventually caused the main character to be killed because he forgot he’d done something to make a guy want to kill him.

  Thanks!

• 110 Donald // May 16, 2007 at 9:14 pm

  Like so many others Iisted, when I talk of OMNI no one knows of that wonderful magazine. I have almost the complete collection and after numerous moves I am now tired of having to find room for my collection of thousands of magazines.Omni being, sadly, among those to go. I would prefer to sell as a whole and not to seperate. I am open to offers.

• 111 qulatan // May 23, 2007 at 1:22 pm

  I’m pretty sure the story about the traffic tie-up was called “The Great Moveway Jam.” It may have been in the same issue with “Unaccompanied Sonata,” “Down and Out on Ellfive Prime,” and one other I don’t remember, but maybe I’m making that up. That issue came out fairly early on, some time in ‘79 I think. I remember reading all four stories on the floor of the bathroom in my grandparents’ house in Florida, so I wouldn’t keep anyone awake.

  I actually maintain a collection which includes all but about two issues from the late 80s or so. Right up until the end. Can’t bear to part with them. Of course, if someone is interested in the set, drop me a line at qulatan at compuserve.com. Ha ha, before I finally dump my Compuserve account–I really am old school ;-)

• 112 Kevin // May 25, 2007 at 6:50 pm

  I found the Omni issue with the Norman Spinrad Last Word article regarding the attack of the Giant Flying Vampire Toads. June 1980. There were two copies on Ebay, one left still.

• 113 Ellen Datlow // Jun 8, 2007 at 12:16 am

  It’s very nice to see that readers still remember OMNI. It was a wonderful magazine and webzine and I had a terrific time editing the fiction for 17 years.
  I can answer some of the questions above but since most were asked years ago, there doesn’t seem any point unless the askers are still around…

• 114 John Mitchell // Jul 6, 2007 at 10:53 pm

  There was a short story that I believe was published in Omni, must have been near the beginning as I only read it into the early 80s. The story was about a man (scientist?) who invented a room that he thought could attract ‘Death’ so he could literally catch death. As I recall, he did catch a ‘death’ creature, with the story ending with him clutching the creature and no one going to die as long as he did. Does anyone remember this story? I cannot say for sure it was Omni, but I believe so. Thanks

• 115 Jeff // Jul 9, 2007 at 8:48 pm

  It’s fascinating that people still remember Omni, and that this thread is still getting readers. If anyone has issues they want to get rid of (I’ll pay postage), let me know at XMinusOne@gmail.com Thanks. Jeff

• 116 Ellen Datlow // Jul 30, 2007 at 9:45 pm

  John,
  I remember that story-I believe it was published just about when I started and it was “A Cage for Death” by Ian Watson (January 1981)

• 117 david // Aug 10, 2007 at 7:59 am

  Response to comment #75: I believe the story was “Unaccompanied Sonata” by Orson Scott-Card, published in Omni in March 1979. And I agree that it was an outstanding piece of fiction.

• 118 dee // Aug 12, 2007 at 9:03 am

  Hi all,
  it’s amazing that there are still people talking about OMNI. I still have some old copies including a couple of specials. There is one special missing though - same old story - lent to someone and mever returned. I remember a story in it which was about a man and woman (old I think) who decided to stay in bed all the time and that became their whole world. I’m not sure exactly how it went now but I think they drifted off into some sort of permanent waking dream and stayed there forever. It was one of those stories that can really touch you.Does anyone know the name of the story, author or issue? I don’t think there will ever be another mag quite like OMNI. It was pure genius.

• 119 dee // Aug 12, 2007 at 9:05 am

  Hi all,
  it’s amazing that there are still people talking about OMNI. I don’t think there will ever be another mag quite like OMNI. It was pure genius.
  I still have some old copies including a couple of specials. There is one special missing though, (anniversary, I think) - same old story - lent to someone and mever returned. I remember a story in it which was about a man and woman (old I think) who decided to stay in bed all the time and that became their whole world. I’m not sure exactly how it went now but I think they drifted off into some sort of permanent waking dream and stayed there forever. It was one of those stories that can really touch you. Does anyone know the name of the story, author or issue? I’d love to find it again.
  Dee

• 120 Ellen Datlow // Aug 14, 2007 at 10:55 pm

  That’s “Rent Control” by Walter Tevis, published in October 1979. Except the couple wasn’t old. They basically lost their minds.

• 121 Ellen Datlow // Aug 14, 2007 at 10:56 pm

  It’s in Tevis’s collection FAR FROM HOME.

• 122 Jerry // Dec 9, 2007 at 6:33 pm

  I have some magazines I found in a box at home. I’m waiting to give them a good home. I most have some from the late 80s. Let me know if you want to see pictures and interested in them. Contact me soon before they go somewhere not appreciated.
  Thanks
  Jerry
  jerry_villa AT hotmail .com

• 123 Art // Jan 4, 2008 at 9:39 am

  Anyone know if there’s a compilation of the games section of OMNI or an e-mail link to the games? That may have been the most interesting part of the magazine, from an intellectual mentally challenging aspect.

• 124 danthebatchelor // Jan 16, 2008 at 10:27 pm

  Just came accross this website surfing my favorites. I pulled out my wallet & saw that I still have the two little articles I saved from OMNI Magazine back in the 70’s I think. The first one starts with CHUCKLE: Despite all of our accomplishments, man owes his existence to a 6-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.
  The second one states:
  In orbiting the sun, the earth departs from a straight line by only one-ninth of an inch every 18 miles–a very straight line in human terms. If the orbit changed by one-tenth of an inch every 18 miles, our orbit would be vastly larger and we would all freeze to death. One eighth of an inch? We would all be incinerated.
  These are coppied word for word to you. Been carrying them around for around forty ears. I use them for shock purposes whenever we are trying to solve the world’s problems. It’s enough to make you believe in God. I miss Omni Magazine. Here’s a problem to solve. Why does good stuff go away and disapear and crap stays? It’s a mystery. I miss The Far Side. I miss Ren & Stempy. Hell, I miss Roswell. That’s my 2 cents. Hope I didn’t miss anything doing my own spellchecking. Vote for Pedro. Wish I could print this.

• 125 esruoseno // Feb 12, 2008 at 4:46 am

  I grew up as a child in the 70’s Omni magizine made me so intrested in science and space. The mysteries of life evolving.
  It was a catalyst in my making. And it stories have never been forgetten in my childs eye. Though I cant remember when I seen it last. The alien worlds the artistic views. Made me so intrested in the feilds technology. I could have never of accomplished my life dreams without it.

• 126 Tarasdad // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:53 am

  Omni was one of the very first magazines I ever purchased a subscription for. At one time I had several years worth, from the very first issue onward. I can’t recall for sure now, but I think it was either four or five years in all. Unfortunately all were lost to water damage when my roof sprung a leak during a particularly violent series of thunderstorms many years ago.

  If more magazines today were like Omni was then the world would be a far, far better place.

• 127 Janet Clarke // Feb 17, 2008 at 7:19 am

  Anyone know if old issues of Omni are worth anything anymore? I used to be a *huge* fun myself, and still have about 20 of the early issues (in “okay” condition). I’ve been cleaning out the apartment, but would hate to throw away something that’s valuable. (Myself, I was in it for the SF…loved the fiction pieces…) Thanks (feel free to email me if you know anything re: the Omni market…)

• 128 JO Luna // Mar 2, 2008 at 11:22 am

  I, too, am seeking info/a copy of the Manic-Depressive Tours cartoon/ the issue that contains it. I was a fan of the mag- and had almost all of them until my house burned down. Thanks. o2luna@juno.com (that’s letter o, #2)

• 129 ragvette // Mar 30, 2008 at 8:14 pm

  Onmi miss it too I looked forward to every issue I love science fiction( my only retreat from insanity) I have searched in vain for a short storie that was written in the early eighties about a retired space engineer who dabled in holograms and installed a set of holographic lights on a sports car then raced the car with a school bus that he had modified with a old town clock spring that wrapped atound the driveshaft that catapulted it to rediculous speeds I think it may have been titled “big spring” as there were several references to it in the story itself. Does anyone remeber this story?
  Thanks in advance
  Andy

• 130 Erin Murphy // Apr 14, 2008 at 2:24 am

  Like Ellen Datlow, I’m a former staffer who’s pleased to see that so many remember OMNI so fondly. I was an editor for the print magazine, overseeing Continuum as well as other columns and features, and I ran the OMNI Magazine Online area on AOL from 1993 (when we launched) through 1996. If there are any former OMNI AOL volunteers out there, please drop me a line: erinmtoo@aol.com.

• 131 Tom Steemson // May 13, 2008 at 11:05 am

  I was looking over some old trade magazines when I found a story about bio-molecular computers (http://www.hpcwire.com/features/17871344.html) today. That in turn reminded me of the short story, Johnny Mnemonic that I read in Omni all those years ago. I’ve been a William Gibson fan ever since. Two big disappointments that stand out in an otherwise pretty fun life are the disappointment of seeing the Johnny Mnemonic story completely car-crashed by Robert Longo in the 1995 film version of the story and the sad demise of Omni, which was THE most inspirational periodical publication of my generation IMHO.

  OMNI -RIP ~sad!~

• 132 Dale Allen Pfeiffer // May 17, 2008 at 8:03 pm

  Is The Great Moveway Jam to be found in any of the Omni anthology books? Perhaps Ellen or Erin could answer this for me. I know Ellen is listed as the editor for all the anthologies.

• 133 Steve Johnston // May 24, 2008 at 7:15 am

  I have 65 back issues in excellent shape that I am ready to sell. There are 3 anniversary issues(October 79,80,86) Anyone interested post your request here & I will respond

• 134 Ray // May 26, 2008 at 1:12 pm

  I have a bunch of Omni in mint condition from the first issue, to the mid-80’s.

  If an