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Petrol-grey clouds tighten their grip around the full moon, mist rolls in across the marshes and an icy wind curls its way down your spine. Nights draw closer, the delicate line between real and unreal, between clarity and distortion begins to hum and vibrate. It’s here that the most vivid, visceral experiences manifest. Only on the verge of the unknown, through eyes otherwise attuned to harsh sunlight, do we see the real shape of things.

In March, cover star Ansel Elgort appeared in Divergent, lighting the touch paper on a film series that will dominate the box office for the next few years. In June, his second major role in The Fault in Our Stars became a global overnight phenomenon. Both were among the biggest grossing movies of 2014 and shaped Elgort as a breakout acting force to be reckoned with. For this issue, Ansel is shot in sculptural black and white by Hedi Slimane.

Dries Van Noten reflects on how it feels to become an idol and the importance of embracing the darker side of life. Murray Blewett, head of archive at Vivienne Westwood, chooses seminal pieces from an unparalleled 30-plus years of menswear for our Worlds End shoot and interview.

Godfather of horror Wes Craven muses the constant right-wing backlash to his films and the psychological cleansing power of horror. Singer-songwriter Christopher Owens rides the wave of a new album release and shares thoughts on God, Dolly Parton and his soft spot for Mandy Moore. Australian actor Xavier Samuel (Twilight, Adore) balances pleasing Hollywood with keeping his passion for indie-Aussie film alive.

Rock legend Jennifer Herrema has been surfing the rad times xpress for three decades, and now talks to us on the cusp of her new European tour. Pre-eminent curator and critic Hans-Ulrich Obrist is in conversation with artist Philippe Parreno and writer/curator/artist Beatriz Preciado. 

Design provocateur Solange Azagury-Partridge discusses her first fine jewellery collection for men. We take an exclusive look at five music acts defining a moment in time in the English North-West, including By The Sea, Sunstack Jones, The Levons, Hooton Tennis Club and Minnetonka.

We profile emerging young actors Cameron Monaghan (Amityville: The Awakening), Iain De Caestecker (Lost River) Gabriel Basso (Kings of Summer, Barely Lethal) and Jonny Weston (Kelly and Cal) who each lit up the silver screen with outstanding performances in 2014. Our special essay, Watch Us Wreck The Mic charts the rise and mutation of Psych, and Scottish poet Michael Pedersen shares a new work, Beneath the Current.

Plus photographer Hugh Lippe’s unsettling story And The Night Crept In, Hedi Slimane’s Dark – an unseen archive portfolio. We delve into the drawers of NYC collector David Casavant, and Sebastian Kim takes us upstate New York for a haunting 30 pages of unnerving cult following in Father.

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