OPENS: Currently playing the art-house circuit and expected on DVD for Halloween 2009.
GENRE: Horror, Gay, Indie

CHILD FRIENDLY: NO
PARENTAL WARNING: This is a film for adults. It has graphic gore, violence, same-sex sexual situations, full frontal nudity . This is not a film you’d want to watch with any of your family members in the room – let alone children.

This film is not for the faint of heart – or the easily offended. It is full of gore, violence, seedy graphic sex (both heterosexual and homosexual) and language that would make a sailor blush.

But if that kind of stuff doesn’t bother you, Scab offers an original take on the vampire mythos.

Throughout the literary and filmed history of movies, the line between vampirism and sexuality has been blurred – at best. In Scab, the debut film by writer-director Thomas Jason Davis, who explains his own film’s matter-of-fact take on sexuality:

In my twisted little geek-boy fantasy, the lusted-for slut-boy Ajay finally admits that he loves the geek. It’s like Sixteen Candles with cockrings. Say Anything with fangs and lube and a touch more self-loathing.

- Thomas Jason Davis, Director

The Plot

The movie starts with a rather graphic and violent gay one-night stand where Ajay learns “no” doesn’t always mean no at the hands of a vampire.

We have our initial assessment confirmed in the following scene through his two friends, Teague and Floor, talk – unknowing what happened to Ajay – discussing how their good friend Ajay is a slut who is living an empty life. We also learn that nerdy Teague has an unrequited crush on Ajay and the hunky and straight Floor is a heterosexual version of Ajay who is not above flirting with anyone – men or women – to get advantage of a situation.

Needless to say, the next time we see Ajay, he’s woken up undead and is dealing with his new hunger for neck tartar and loses touch with Teague and Floor, who come over to check in on their friend.

This leads to a road trip to Las Vegas for the three, where their journey brings about some much-needed self discovery – with a body count. This is a vampire movie, after all.

The film crates yet another mythos of what vampirism is and how it spreads. In doing so, it eliminated the already blurred line between vampires and sex.

WATCH THE TRAILER

WARNING: Course language

Opens:

What do you get when you re-make a classic landmark of science fiction film history like the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Better yet, throw in box-office favorite Keanu Reeves as the alien with the warning to humanity and replace the cold war message with one dealing with today’s obsession about environmental catastrophe.

Sound like a good idea?

Well, according to most of the mainstream critics, the result is an unqualified mess that may not appeal to anyone with a mental age over 12. And critics make a special note to point out to fans of the original film to skip this version altogether.

Of the few good comments on this update, critics point to a winning performance by Kathy Bates in a supporting role as a tough-as-nails politician. Also, the use of special effects and computer-generated imagery also got high marks.

But the lowest marks went to the story and script. More than one critic called the dialogue unintentionally laughable.

So, for those in fandom, this version it either destined for cult comedy status – or is headed to the dustbin alongside atrocities such as the remake of Planet of the Apes and the film version of Battlefield Earth.

WATCH THE TRAILER

{for=”San Jose Mercury News” value=”1″}

“… will probably resonate best with the preteens in the crowd, who might not necessarily care about the sluggish direction or the considerable gaps in logic. Everyone else would be much better off staying home and revisiting Armageddon or Deep Impact, which — compared to this movie — are models of intelligence, wit and complexity.” – Christopher Kelly

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{for=”MSNBC” value=”1″}

“… Klaatu barada stinko. Pointless remake of the sci-fi classic is loaded with unintentional laughs.” – Alonso Duralde

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{for=”CNN” value=”3″}

“… The original movie is beginning to show its age, but at least it holds up as a story. That’s more than you can say for a preachy, draggy blockbuster that espouses a radical message of Luddite technophobia at the same time as it conspicuously plugs Honda and LG Electronics, and dresses up its half-baked thinking in blinding (but not that brilliant) CGI wizardry.” – Tom Charity

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{for=”Hollywood Reporter” value=”4″}

“… the best science fiction has always been about innovative ideas and challenging issues. In this regard, the updated The Day the Earth Stood Still falls far short of the original.” – Tom Charity

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Opens

“He sees dead people … and they annoy him,” or so goes the tag line to the new light fantasy romantic comedy, Ghost Town, starring British comedic sensation Ricky Gervais and American actors Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni.

By and large the critics either like or love this film – which treads on all-too-familiar terrain of romantic fantasy comedies about the living communicating with the dead.

There is near unanimous praise for Gervais – in his ability to breathe a new life and energy into a concept as familiar in Hollywood as the action movie chase scene.

Also praised are the comedic skills for Leoni, once called the next Lucille Ball, with the ability to elicit a laugh or a grimace in the audience with a tilt of the head – or less.

IN the era of gross-out comedies where subtlety describes the differences in the color of various bodily functions, critics were quick to praise Ghost Town for always choosing the more witty and intelligent option rather than the easy laugh of a gross out shot below the belt.

Of the negative concepts, critics were no impressed with the plot of the film – which is so familiar as to have become a cliche. But, most of them say Gervais’ original take on a familiar theme saved the movies from mediocrity and raised the film to near greatness.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Talented cast
• Star-making American role for Ricky Gervais
• Gorgeous cinematography of urban landscapes

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• Not an original concept
• Choppy plot development

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{for="Salt Lake Tribune" value="9"}

"Gervais is lethally funny.” – Kyle Smith

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{for=”New York Post” value=”9″}

“… a bubbly and delightful comedy.” – Sean P. Means

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{for=”Vancouver Sun” value=”7″}

“Ghost Town nails some forgotten truisms with a lightness of spirit and a generosity of heart that’s downright moving without being sloppy.” - Katherine Monk

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{for=”CNN” value=”7″}

“Ghost Town doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does goose the formula romantic comedy clichés.” – Tom Charity

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{for=”San Jose Mercury News” value=”7″}

“Striking just the right balance between sarcastic and sweet, Ghost Town breathes new life into supernatural comedy..” – Bob Strauss

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{for=”Washington Post” value=”8″}

“… heart and intelligence that too often are missing at the multiplex.” – Ann Hornaday

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{for=”Washington Post” value=”8″}

“…  is both very funny and a bit of a tearjerker….” – Walter Addiego

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1. Fan Speak: A to Z now available
2. Top 12 Genre TV: War of the Worlds takes top spot
3. Review of Reviews: ‘Mirrors’ made for gore fans
4. Review of Reviews: Fly Me to the Moon a so-so historical kiddie flick
5. Top 10 Genre Movies: Dark Knight 3-peats atop box office
6. Why we love Roger Ebert? Cuz he’s one of us.
7. The Dark Knight: A Fan’s Review
8. Top 10 Genre Movies: Dark Knight dethroned by Ben Stiller
9. Review of Reviews: ‘Henry Poole is Here’ a modern Christian fantasy
10. Fan Speak: X – Y – Z

OPENS: August 29, 2008
Rating: PG-13 (Intense violence, Language)
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia
Starring: Vin Diesel, Gerard Depardieu

“Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah,” or so say the studio teasers.

“Ugh,” or so say the critics – well those who saw it. The studio refused to have advance screenings for film critics – usually a sign a film is a dud.

The movie’s director, Mathieu Kassovitz agrees. as reported by the Reelz Channel:

 ”I’m very unhappy with the film,” Kassovitz ranted to AMC. “I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn’t respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience.”

Kassovitz, who described parts of the movie as “like a bad episode of 24,” places the blame squarely on the shoulder of studio backer 20th Century Fox. Fox, ironically, also happens to produce TV’s 24.

Look on the bright side, sci-fi fans: Babylon A.D. may not be the second coming of Blade Runner, but it should provide for the best DVD director’s commentary ever.

 Mainstream film critics agree.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Great well-known and loved cast.

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• The movie’s director has trashed the film, saying the studio hacked the heart out of it.
• Disjointed characters and plot.

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{for="FilmCritics.com" value="2"}

"More inert than argon gas and given over to obvious directorial hissy fits, Babylon A.D. is like a bad dream a cyberpunk once had” – Bill Gibron

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{for=”IGN” value=”2″}

“French director Kassiovitz himself has decried the theatrical cut of Babylon A.D., and watching the film it’s easy to understand why: whole chunks of plot, much less their explanation, have clearly been excised.” – Todd Gilchrist

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{for=”Variety” value=”3″}

“Fans of Pitch Black, hoping Diesel would reprise the stone-faced Richard Riddick role here will be disappointed.” – Jordan Mintzer

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What happens when Executive Producer Tom Cruise hires a cast and crew to re-make the schocky 1970s grindhouse drive-in film, Death Race 2000 for a modern audience? Why, 2008′s ultra-violent dytopic sci fi bloodbath, Death Race, of course. And the ciritcs are loving it, believe it or not.

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OPENS: August 22, 2008
RATING: R (Bloody deaths, Extreme profanity, Violence against women)
GENRE: Grindhouse, Car racing, Action, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Among the negative comments from critics on the excessive violence and the way the film treats women – as sexy objects, cold-hearted bitches or other B-movie sexploitation clichés.

Other critics say, “hold on a minute … the film is a spoof of those types of films.” Here, the women are in on the joke and the dark commentary the film has on American society and the way women are still treated by men in general.

Furthermore, the action scenes are praised as outstanding. Death Race knows how to “blow things up real good,” so to speak.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Great action scenes
• Quality cast

{/rw_good} –>

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• Nature of film’s sexist remarks and acts may offend some
• R-rated for a reason;  bloody gore is a staple of this film

{/rw_bad} –>

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{for="Globe and Mail" value="7"}

"Yes, Death Race is as brutal as a punch in the face. If you have a hankering for B-movie grime and gore, it can also be a lot of fun.” – Stephen Cole

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{for=”Winnipeg Sun” value=”6″}

“There’s no pretense here — even the satire [Death Race] is as sophisticated as an Alabama bumper sticker — but if I’m forking over my gas money to see chases, crashes, booby-traps and body counts, I probably wasn’t in the mood for Pride and Prejudice anyway.” – Kevin Williamson

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{for=”Newsday” value=”6″}

“Filled with weaponized vehicles, pyrotechnics, exploding skulls and some mesmerizingly enormous female breasts – but no sex or love-stuff – “Death Race” seems almost scientifically designed to trigger every boy’s prepubescent pleasure-centers.” – Rafer Guzman

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{for=”Boston Globe” value=”6″}

“Thanks to its character interplay, the movie doesn’t drag despite taking a good 40 minutes to really rev its engines. And the racing that ensues is as loud, fast, hyper-edited, and pulverizingly destructive as the gladiatorially minded would hope.” – Tom Russo

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{for=”Kansas City Star” value=”8″}

“And while steel-plated cars bristling with firepower are guaranteed to get adolescent hearts stirring, the movie offers myriad pleasures for adults.” – Jason Heck

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{for=”San Francisco Chronicle” value=”3″}

“One more reason why Joan Allen is the most underrated actress of her generation: While Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton are fine, multifaceted talents, neither one could pull off the line “Activate the Death Heads!” or “Release the Dreadnaught!” without looking completely ridiculous.” – Peter Hartlaub

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{for=”Chicago Tribune” value=”8″}

“It’s one of those vicious larks that just plain hit the spot. It hits the spot, throws ‘er into reverse and hits the spot again, before machine-gunning it and ramming it head-on for the fun of it.” – Michael Phillips

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{for=”Fresno Bee” value=”7″}

“Briskly paced and art-directed with the look of grim decay that you associate with an obsolete but still cranking oil refinery, the film knows when to pile on the clichés and when to include a few surprising twists.” – Donald Munro

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{for=”New York Post” value=”8″}

“The car chases and most of the characters are thrillingly executed, with 5,000-horse-power smash-’em-ups shredding the screen.” – Kyle Smith

{/for}

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From the director of The Hills Have Eyes. Kiefer Sutherland stars as an ex-cop turned night security guard at a long-closed department store ravaged by fire, discovers that the store’s mirrors harbor a horrific secret that threatens him and his family.

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OPENS: August 15, 2008
RATED: R (Bloody violence, Gore, Blood, Burn wounds)
GENRE: Demons, Horror, Thriller, Asian Horror Remake

Based on the 2003 Korean horror flick, Into the Mirror, the American version, named Mirrors and starring Keifer Sutherland is a pill-popping, booze-swilling supernatural gore fest of the highest caliber. Fans of supernatural gore and slasher films will love this film, according to critics. Others? Not so much.

The 20th Century Fox film studio, in a sure-tell sign that it does not have faith in this movie, did not pre-screen it for critics. This usually means the studio thinks the film is a stinker and doesn’t want critical word-of-mouth to keep folks away from the theatres.

Among the biggest complaints by critics is that Mirrors relies more on shockingly bloody footage rather than suspenseful writing to create fear in the audience. There are scenes of bloody violence, bloody self mutilation and bloody death.

On the positive side. Other critics say this is exactly the type of film that fans of the Hellraiser and early Freddie Kruger movies have been craving – for a bloody good time.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Gore fans get their 2008 summer big budget movie

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• Bloody violence may be a big turn off for non-gore fans
• Not very scary for a horror film

{/rw_bad} –>

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{for="New York TImes" value="4"}

"Offers several cringe-worthy set pieces and a sneakily nasty ending." – Jeanette Catsoulis

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{for=”Boston Globe” value=”3″}

“The money scene in Mirrors – the one the gore morons will lap up while the rest of us cringe in appalled disbelief – involves the hero’s sister ripping her own jaw off until it flops obscenely beneath her face, spurting blood everywhere. But wait, there’s more!” – Ty Burr

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{for=”Orlando Sentinel” value=”3″}

“It’s not laughably bad. It’s just not scary, a generally pointless thriller with motiveless murders at its heart and a most unsatisfactory resolution.” – Roger Moore

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{for=”Chicago Sun-TImes” value=”3″}

“By the time the mirrors go after the watchman’s young family in the overwrought climax, the movie has gone from being harmlessly silly to inexcusably sadistic.” – Josh Larsen

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{for=”Buffalo News” value=”7″}

“It’s a hellish version of the British comedy “Are You Being Served?” set ravaged by fire and neglect, complete with charred mannequins but pristine mirrors.” – Joseph Popiolkowski

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{for=”IGN” value=”5″}

“Mirrors offers nothing new, but that’s not why it can’t be recommended since not every horror film can or should be expected to cover new ground. ” – Jim Vejvoda

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{/rw_score} –>

OPENS: AUgust 15, 2008
RATING: PG (Violence, Smoking, Adult Situations)
GENRE: Space Opera, Animation

A new Star Wars cartoon will debut on the Cartoon Network this fall.

Somebody at Lucasfilm got the bright idea to make a 90-minute introduction movie to kick the series off. That’s good.

Somebody (or somebodies) else at Warner Brothers in paring up with Lucasfilm got the bright idea of taking that made-for-TV film and dumping it out in theatres this weekend. That’s not-so-good.

The result? A hybrid computer animated film that is not up to par with what a movie-going audience expects when plopping over $8 to $10 a pop to see a film these days.

Among those panning the film, most noted a boring storyline and painful dialogue that insults fans of the Star Wars saga. Others called it a blatant money grab for George Lucas that insults the legacy of the franchise. Others said this film marks the death of Star Wars as a popular culture touchstone.

But others were not do fast to dismiss this film. As a kid’s film its fast pace and not-too-complicated story is perfect mindless last weekend before back-to-school fun for the pre-teen set.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Squarely aimed for the middle school audience.
• Good preview of the upcoming TV series.

{/rw_good} –>

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• Poor writing
• Animation is stiff

{/rw_bad} –>

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{for="Newsday" value="1"}

"A money-making spin-off from the Lucas franchise, "Clone Wars" has all the magic and heart of a cereal commercial." – Rafer Guzman

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{for=”Space.com” value=”6″}

“If you’re looking for some solid action, that’s one thing this film will give you in spades. Just don’t look too closely at the characters themselves, and you’ll do fine.” – Steve Fritz

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{for=”New York Times” value=”6″}

“The Clone Warshas an uncluttered look and furious pace that make it more or less as satisfying as its wildly overdesigned predecessors.” – Nathan Lee

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{for=”Chicago Tribune” value=”1″}

“The film’s purpose is clear. It is a full-length teaser for the forthcoming TV series of the same name.” – Michael Phillips

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{for=”Chicago Sun-Times” value=”3″}

“You know you’re in trouble when the most interesting new character is Jabba the Hutt’s uncle.” – Roger Ebert

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{for=”San Francisco Chronicle” value=”6″}

“The movie’s tone will probably send original-trilogy loyalists over the edge, the final shove that sends their Hoth Ice Planet action play sets into exile on eBay. Meanwhile, children will thrill at the notion that the latest part of the saga was made especially for them.” – Peter Hartlaub

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{for=”Los Angeles Daily News” value=”3″}

“Big disaster, this Star Wars cartoon is… The ugly-looking movie is a straightforward, unapologetic cash grab, taking footage intended to be part of Cartoon Network’s upcoming Clone Wars TV series and slapping it together to lure in those few who haven’t already torn up their fan club membership cards in disgust.” – Glenn Whipp

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{for=”Washington Post” value=”1″}

“Lucas fulfills his lifelong dream of completely dehumanizing his space opera, replacing it with a digitally animated style that is somewhere between cartoons, Christmas specials and panoramic paintings on the side of a van.” – Hank Stuever

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Brendan Fraser is back, reprising his role in The Mummy franchise in the new film, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

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OPENS: August 1, 2008
RATING: PG-13 (Violence)
GENRES: Horror Comedy, Action-Adventure, Fantasy

The heroes of The Mummy franchise returns — well not all of them, Rachel Weiss decided to forego this film, replaced by Maria Bello.

Film reviews are mixed. Many film critics hated The Mummy 3, citing that the film is dumb, violent and doesn’t take tell the audience a new story..

Other critics loved the film for those same reasons. Film Critic Roger Ebert says audiences comprised of fans fo this series will not be disappointed.

Sometimes people want mindless escapist adventure wit great special effects. Here, the film delivers.

Other critics say audiences should follow the example of the lead actress of the first two Mummy films – and skip this one as unneeded and unwatchable.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Great special effects
• Film made for fans of the series

{/rw_good} –>

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• Not much original; the plot is similar to the first film
• Fraser is only 13 years older than the actor who plays his son, making the father/son dynamic awkward
• Barrage of violence too scary for very small children. Adolescent boys, on the other hand, will love it.

{/rw_bad} –>

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{for="Wired" value="6"}

"A poor third installment to the Mummy series." – Ken Denmead

{/for}

{for=”Chicago Tribune” value=”3″}

“One Wow cancels out the last Wow, until the Wows start looking more like lowercase wows and soon the wows become merely eh, or worse, a string of low-grade, minimally inventive aggravations that fail even to hit the level of eh. They’re more like bleh.” – Michael Phillips

{/for}

{for=”Christian Science Monitor” value=”3″}

“This third “Mummy” movie takes us on a guided tour of the catacombs of ancient China and the peaks of the Himalayas, with a pit stop in postwar Shanghai. Anyone looking for a terrific summer popcorn movie should not hop on board.” – Peter Rainer

{/for}

{for=”San Jose Mercury News” value=”7″}

“Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is as stupid as it gets, with spear-carrying undead soldiers fighting men with 1946-era guns, yetis coming to the aid of humans and the phoniest-looking movie snow of all time. There’s also a trumped-up father-son schism that Rick and Luke must overcome.” – Betsy Pickle

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{for=”San Francisco Chronicle” value=”2″}

“The new installment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, fails despite being given the best possible chance of success.” – Mick LaSalle

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{for=”Chicago Sun-Times” value=”8″}

“Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why. It is absurd and preposterous, and proud of it. ” – Roger Ebert

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{for=”Chicago Sun-Times” value=”6″}

“The film has its flaws: There’s plenty of lame dialogue, including a stomach-turning exchange in which archaeological terms such as “excavation” are applied to sexually desirable women. And the talents of two exceptional Chinese actors and martial artists, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, go underappreciated.” – Christy De Smith

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{/rw_score} –>

There are many words and abbreviations of special relevance to science fiction. In addition, over the years science fiction fandom has created many new terms. A list of some of these words and abbreviations is provided here for N3F members and for any others who are interested in the history of science fiction and science fiction fandom. Additions and/or corrections are invited.

T

• Tabloid – A magazine approximately 11 by 16 inches in size. The British magazine Science Fiction Monthly was this size.
• TAFF – Transatlantic Fan Fund (see Fan Funds).
• TANSTAAFL – Abbreviation for There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (a fannish dictum coined by author Robert Heinlein).
• TAPA – Abbreviation for the APA Terran Amateur Press Association.
• TAPS – Abbreviation for the Terran Amateur Press Society, an APA characterized by a rotating Official Editor, in which each member takes a turn at sending out the mailing.
• TASFIC – Short for Tenth Anniversary Science Fiction Convention, held in Chicago in 1952 and popularly known as Chicon II. Hugo Gernsback was Guest of Honor; Julian C. May was Con Chair.
• TATS – Abbreviation for Tentacles Across the Sea, which see.
• TAWF – The Tenth Anniversary Willis Fund, a special fund set up to transport British SF fans Walt and Madeleine Willis to Chicago in 1962.
• TC – Short for The Circle.
• Techie – A member of General Technics, a Midwestern fan club whose members are interested in do-it-yourself technology and rocketry, or to anyone in fandom with such interests. The term has also come into mundane use to describe computer engineers and other technical professionals.
• Television Tie-In – A book issued in conjunction with a television feature or series.
• Tentacles Across the Sea – Organization formed in the 1950s to exchange dollar and sterling currencies, in order to facilitate payment of FAPA dues, etc.
• Texas SF Inquirer – Hugo-award winning (1987) SF fanzine, edited by Pat Mueller.
• TFS – Abbreviation for the Toledo Fantasy Society.
• TFSC – Abbreviation for the Teen’s Fantascience Club.
• “That crazy Buck Rogers stuff” – Public perception of science fiction, especially in the early pulp magazine days, the reference being to the Buck Rogers comic strip.
• “That REAL Old-Time Religion” – A filk song with over 650 verses, sung to the familiar revival tune, chronicling the lives of mythological gods/goddesses with outrageous puns.
• Thingie – An item, or any item. See Flange.
• Third Fandom – The historical stage of SF fandom from 1940 to 1944.
• Third Retch – An aborted plan of LAFandom to take over SF fandom. A parody of World War II.
• Thish/Thisish – Contractions of “This Issue”. See Ish.
• Thnx – Short for “Thanks” or “Thank You.”
• Thomas D. Clareson Award – The Clareson Award for Distinguished Service has been presented since 1996 for outstanding service activities: promotion of SF teaching/study, editing, reviewing, editorial writing, publishing, organizing meetings, mentoring, and leadership in SF/fantasy organizations. The first recipient was Frederik Pohl.
• Thought variants - An idea of pulp editor/writer F. Orlin Tremaine, intended to get original elements (ideas, plots, treatment, etc.) into SF stories. As editor of ASF in the 1930s, he featured at least one “thought variant” story in each issue.
• Thrust — Science Fiction in Review. A genzine that began as the organ of the University of Maryland Science Fiction Society early in 1972. Editor D. Douglas Fratz made it an independent publication in 1977, emphasizing critical comments on current SF. Several well-known SF writers/personalities contributed columns to the publication, including Michael Bishop, Charles Sheffield, and Ted White. Thrust was a Hugo finalist for best fanzine in 1980, and for best semi-professional magazine in 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991 (the last year under its new title Quantum).
• Thud and Blunder – Action stories in SF prozines that feature space opera.
• Th-v – Abbreviation for thought variants, which see.
• Tie-ins – Comic books that contain stories relating to other stories in other comic books. The term also refers to novelizations that are published to coincide with the release date of a film or TV program.
• Tightbeam – A fanzine of N3F. See National Fantasy Fan Federation.
• Timebinders – An organization of fans, established in 1994 as the Society for the Preservation of the History of Science Fiction Fandom; it is interested in the preservation of old fanzines and the promotion of research on fandom.
• Timebinding – A term/concept originated by semanticist Alfred Korzybski. In fandom it refers to the uniquely human quality of appreciating/passing on information to future generations through communication, thus allowing the future to build on the past. See Timebinders.
• Timebinding Day – August 9th honors the birthday of John B. (Jack) Speer, author of Up To Now (1939), the first history of SF fandom, and Fancyclopedia (1944).
• The Time Traveller – Early SF fanzine produced by Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz, with Allen Glasser as editor, premier issue dated January 9, 1932. It ran for nine issues — until November 1932. Often abbreviated as TTT.
• Tiptree Award – The James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award recognizes “gender bending” SF or fantasy from the previous year. The name honors the SF writer James Tiptree, Jr. (1915-1987), the pseudonym of Dr. Alice B. Sheldon, an experimental psychologist.
• TLC – Abbreviation for The London Circle, a British SF club.
• TNFF – Abbreviation for The National Fantasy Fan, a fanzine of N3F. See National Fantasy Fan Federation.
• TNO - Abbreviation for The Nameless Ones, which see.
• TOC/ToC/toc – Abbreviations for Table of Contents.
• Tolkien Society – A British fan group devoted to fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien and his work.
• Tolkienzine – A fanzine featuring the life and work of J. R. R. Tolkien.
• Tomoro – Fan spelling of tomorrow.
• Torcon – The 1948 Worldcon, held in Toronto, Canada. Robert Bloch was GoH; Bob Tucker was fan GoH; Ned McKeown was Con Chair.
• Torcon 2 – The 1973 Worldcon, held in Toronto, Canada. Robert Bloch was GoH; William Rotsler was fan GoH; Lester del Rey was toastmaster; John Millard was Con Chair.
• Trade – Method of obtaining fanzines by fan editors (i.e., one fanzine is traded for another rather than obtained by buying or by a LOC, which see).
• Trap Door – An annual genzine, edited by Robert Lichtman.
• Trekfan – Name for the more serious Star Trek fan.
• Trekker – Another name for a fan of Star Trek.
• Trekkie – Another name for a fan of Star Trek.
• Tribe X – A British fantasy world, related to PADS, in which living fans are used as characters.
• Tricon – The 1966 World SF Convention, held in Cleveland, OH. L. Sprague de Camp was GoH; Isaac Asimov was toastmaster; Ben Jason was Con Chair.
• Trimbled – Lost under a pile of kipple, never to be found again. See Kipple.
• Tripoli – Nickname of SF personality E. Everett Evans (Triple E).
• True fan/Trufan – One who is seriously immersed in various forms of fan-ac. See Actifan. See FIAWOL.
• Trufandom – The body of trufans who make up the core of fandom.
• Tru fen/Trufen – Plural of True fan/Trufan, which see.
• Trumpet – A fanzine once published by SF fan Tom Reamy.
• TS – Short for the Tolkien Society, which see.
• TSR – Role playing game company in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, publisher of Dungeons and Dragons.
• TT – Short for the The Terrean.
• TTT – Short for The Time Traveller.
• Tubby – Nickname of SF fan T. Bruce Yerke.
• Tucker, Bob – Name by which SF fan Arthur Wilson Tucker was known in fandom. He published his professional work as Wilson Tucker.
• Tucker Hotel – A fan’s dream con hotel, complete with every desirable feature and none of the undesirable ones.
• Tuckerism – Long-time SF fan/author Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker made a habit of using the names of fans and writers for characters in his SF and mystery stories. Some members of fandom liked this practice, some did not.
• Tuckerize – To place the names of friends into one’s stories. See Tuckerism.
• TVTI – Abbreviation for Television Tie-In, which see.
• Twiddlepop – Sheer crud, garbage.
• The Twilight Zone Magazine – Slick genre magazine published during the 1980s, also known as Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine. Despite the title (Serling had died in 1975), the editor was T. E. D. Klein.
• Twil-tone – A brand name for an obsolete type of mimeograph paper once commonly used for fanzine reproduction.
• Twippledop – An individual zine made into a department of another zine.
• Twonk’s Disease – The ultimate in afflictions of any nature, possibly synonymous with falling of the armpits.
• Type 15 fan – A dangerous maniac who is to be avoided at all costs (from Joe Gilbert’s graphology article that described several types of fans).
• Typer – Short for typewriter.
• Typo – Short for typographical error.
• Typover – A method of ignoring typos by simply typing over them.