"[citation needed] The magazine began as a photocopied publication featuring interviews with punk and "alternative" rock bands of the era (including then up-and-comers as Ethyl Meatplow, Nirvana and Hole) alongside the confessional and often shocking writing of Romeo, editors Mikki Halpin and Kerin Morataya, and her many contributors (which included colorful personalities Vaginal Davis, Ron Athey and Lisa Crystal Carver).
which the zine's writers would explore in exhaustive detail, freely recounting their own suicide attempts, kinky sexual adventures, addictions or family horror stories.
As the zine continued, its tone became increasingly erratic as Romeo mixed the dark, confessional material with more light-hearted pop culture commentary, including articles about her fascination with Beverly Hills, 90210.
Romeo's 90210 obsession eventually resulted in her and Morataya creating The I Hate Brenda Newsletter, a one-shot publication which was widely covered by the mainstream press.
Today Ben Is Dead is perhaps best known for the three-part series of "Retro" issues, in which dozens of writers looked back at the trends and fads of their childhoods with a mix of nostalgia and horror.