A Print-First Era Staple: Naughty Neighbors
In the late '90s and early 2000s, Naughty Neighbors gained significant traction on newsstands and in adult bookstores. It benefited from a time when the internet was still growing and print erotica held considerable sway. For many, it offered a blend of erotic storytelling and visual stimulation that the early internet couldn't quite replicate in quality or curation.
Naughty Neighbors is an American pornographic magazine published by Playboy Enterprises since October 1987. The title was originally intended to compete with Hustler Magazine's Barely Legal series but eventually became its own distinct brand. Each issue featured a mix of fiction and nonfiction stories about young women who get involved in sexual situations with their neighbors. It also had photosets featuring models in various states of undress. Some issues included explicit photos and videos taken during shoots for other publications.
The magazine was known for its edgy content and high production values. Its covers often featured nude models posing provocatively or engaging in sex acts. Inside, the pages were filled with detailed descriptions of steamy encounters between attractive people living next door to each other. Readers could expect plenty of graphic language and imagery, including vivid depictions of oral, anal, and group sex.
While Playboy Enterprises has never revealed circulation figures for Naughty Neighbors, industry observers estimate that it sold well over one million copies per month at its peak. This made it one of the top-selling magazines in America alongside Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and Maxim. However, as digital media grew more popular and accessible, print sales declined sharply. By 2015, Naughty Neighbors was no longer being published regularly and was instead sold sporadically via specialty retailers like eBay and Amazon Marketplace.
In recent years, however, there have been signs that Naughty Neighbors may be making a comeback. In 2020, Playboy announced that it would relaunch the title as an online subscription service with exclusive content from its archives. The new version promises to offer readers even more erotic stories and images than ever before. Whether this effort will succeed remains to be seen, but for now, it shows that even though the internet has changed how we consume pornography, some print publications can still thrive in their own way.
Overall, Naughty Neighbors is a fascinating glimpse into the past when erotica dominated physical media rather than digital platforms. It proved that audiences were willing to pay good money for high-quality, visually stimulating pornography in a format they could hold in their hands. While the magazine's future is uncertain, its legacy lives on as a reminder of how far we've come since those glory days.