About the Lonely Outlet

Welcome. In this small, northern town, the darkness overwhelms… The darkness permeates everything. This is a place where the sun never rises, the moon never falls.

What exactly is the Lonely Outlet?

Translated into English for the first time (originally founded in 1986), the Lonely Outlet is a Durénnmørker* variety-culture magazine with a heavy focus on the personalities of the writers themselves. Often, the personalities are more important than the news content itself. Storytelling plays a big part here and the magazine should be considered more entertainment than a purely objective, or factual news source. Readers may initially come for the news, reviews or features, but they stay for the people.

At the same time, if one wants to, they certainly can still use the Outlet as a more run-of-the-mill information resource. We still cover most of the usual reports that other sites do, but we like to feel as though ours generally have a bit more character to them.

The Lonely Outlet covers a plethora of different topics including, but not limited to: gaming, film, TV, books, comics, food and anime. There’s surely something for almost everyone! We also post original cartoons and fiction, as well as general musing from our staff writers.
The Outlet is one big family and we encourage our readers to comment and interact as much as possible. Our staff also comment and join in the discussions – this is our home away from home. We hope it can be yours too!

Give the Outlet a go, there’s a secret to uncover at every turn!

* From the small, northern European town of Durénnmørk.

Okay, but what is the Lonely Outlet, really?

The Lonely Outlet is a fictional magazine from the writings of fictional author, E. V. Wane. While his books never really took off, the few fans he did have seemed to be drawn to the Lonely Outlet, its somewhat mysterious background and oddly endearing cast of characters. Wane decided to create a “real-life” news and review site for the Outlet, finally allowing a much broader audience to experience his writing.

Why do your “reviews” talk so little about the actual product being reviewed?

This is simultaneously the best and worst aspect of our “reviews”. It makes them both special and relatively inaccessible compared to other, more conventional pieces. When the Lonely Outlet first started in 1986, it actually did focus more on the items actually being reviewed. However, as time went on and the magazine grew, more opinions – more personal tidbits were included. This proved fairly popular with the readers and with time, there became a much heavier slant on the personal and less on the objective.

Especially nowadays, when you can find dozens of reviews on any particular item in a matter of seconds, we think that the older, more focused and objective Lonely Outlet reviews wouldn’t have much of a place. Why pick us over anyone else? Our reviews (and articles in general) aim to connect to the reader on a more personal level. Ultimately, pretty much any “reviewable” material is open to opinion. Our experiences, what was happening in our lives at the time – they impact our opinions. Instead of simply stating that we liked something, but never really being able to fully convey why, we chose to talk about those very experiences that shaped us. Yes, we could state things like “the graphics are good”, “the story is well written”, etc. but those points alone never really get to the heart of the matter. There have been some absolutely terrible things that we’ve loved (and vice versa). But why did we love them? If we look at it as objectively as possible, we can tell you why it is bad, but not necessarily why it’s ‘good’. Our reviews attempt to explore that. You may not share our opinions, you almost certainly haven’t shared exactly the same experiences, but we hope that you can at least see where we’re coming from in our comments and can relate, at least on some level.

Keep in mind, we usually do still try to talk about some of the more objective aspects, so that if you are legitimately interested in experiencing the product yourself, you’ll be better informed and can more easily decide if you think it’s worth it for you personally.

What/Who is your mascot?

That’s Ida. She was originally created by the Outlet’s co-founder Agnes Mülman for use in comic books. As Mülman started contributing more content to the magazine, the character appeared frequently inside its pages and on the cover, until she was eventually made the official mascot in 1988.

Who are these “staff” members?

The staff is made up of an odd crew of individuals, all originating from Durénnmørk. Most members are sad, lonely people who use Lonely Outlet as well… an outlet for all their griefs, sadness… and joy. To learn more about each staff member specifically, check out our STAFF PAGE.

Is there a real, print magazine?

The short answer is, there will be. Ultimately, the Lonely Outlet has always been envisioned as a physical magazine, but naturally, it’s a hard industry to break into. Without a larger publisher, or widespread distribution, it would be difficult to ever make the magazine work. With the Lonely Outlet also being a pretty niche idea, it’s honestly a tough sell (“a culture magazine that focuses more on storytelling and personalities than actual news… or culture”).

Even though the internet is saturated with gaming, film and pop-culture blogs, it’s easier to attract an audience online and move onto print magazines, once the brand is established. After enough daily content has been produced to fill an average-sized magazine, we will be printing, selling and distributing full ‘zines ourselves. It is as of yet, undecided if we will run a Kickstarter, or other crowdfunding campaign, when the time comes.

How does the Lonely Outlet make money?

We currently make money almost exclusively from our fans and readers through PATREON. It’s kind people like you that make this all possible. We have made the conscious decision to avoid putting advertising on the site (other than for our own products), or in the magazine, for as long as we can. We generally dislike being bombarded with GEICO banners and Google popups as much as the next person, so we want to keep the Outlet free from such annoyances. It is only with your help that we can keep the site and magazine running, and without pesky ads.

If you can’t support us monetarily, that’s okay! We certainly understand and appreciate you even reading this! If you’d still like to help us out a bit more (non-monetarily), please consider checking out the SUPPORT page to find out how else you can help us.

Will you review or cover my product?

If you send us a copy of your project (digital or physical), there is a good chance that we will review it, or at least cover it in some capacity (e.g. news post). We generally try to cover all products sent to us in a timely manner, though due to the large number of things we may have to review, we can’t always guarantee it. We review things honestly and ethically, and provide unbiased opinions. If we do not like your product, we will say so. Do not send us something if you are afraid of criticism.

We may choose not to review some items submitted, though we will try as much as possible to let you know if this is the case. It is generally not because we don’t want to cover it, but simply because we already have a large number of other items slated to be covered. Very occasionally, we may receive things that we won’t review due to subject matter (pure pornography – we will still review products that contain sex, nudity or ‘porn’, if that is not the entire point – e.g. visual novels with sex scenes are okay). Or, if it’s simply something that doesn’t interest us and we feel like we wouldn’t do it justice, or have much to write about. When in doubt, simply ask! We are usually more accepting, understanding and tolerant than other sites.