"The Rack" (written under the pseud of "J. Emily Vance" and published in CONTACT #4 in 1977) created quite a stir, for its premise, its characterization, and its ending. The story prompted sequels--both their own ("All the King's Horses, All the King's Men") and stories by other fans (both authorized and unauthorized).
Eventually they reprinted the original stories in a collected volume. As explained in the editorial for that publication, the story was written "to show the danger of rumor--whatever the reason, of bigotry and personal prejudices, especially if they occur in places of authority."
Of course, authors' intentions and readers' conclusions often are miles apart, so maybe some fans did take it as anti-slash. I never got that from it, myself.
Interestingly, the editorial for #4 states, "CONTACT seems to have become known as the 'get-em' zine of fandom. It abounds with pain and the hurt/comfort syndrome. This was never our original intention. Granted, we all have that masochistic streak that loves to see our heroes suffer . . . but four issues of ONLY this may have run its course."
They go on to encourage potential contributors to explore other facets of the relationship, in hopes of generating enough material for another issue (in fact, they published through #8, with two special Christmas issues as well).
no subject
Eventually they reprinted the original stories in a collected volume. As explained in the editorial for that publication, the story was written "to show the danger of rumor--whatever the reason, of bigotry and personal prejudices, especially if they occur in places of authority."
Of course, authors' intentions and readers' conclusions often are miles apart, so maybe some fans did take it as anti-slash. I never got that from it, myself.
Interestingly, the editorial for #4 states, "CONTACT seems to have become known as the 'get-em' zine of fandom. It abounds with pain and the hurt/comfort syndrome. This was never our original intention. Granted, we all have that masochistic streak that loves to see our heroes suffer . . . but four issues of ONLY this may have run its course."
They go on to encourage potential contributors to explore other facets of the relationship, in hopes of generating enough material for another issue (in fact, they published through #8, with two special Christmas issues as well).