Paperback Parlour
A bimonthly fanzine of the BSFA devoted to reviews of British paperback books, launched in February 1977 as Paperback Parlour. From issue #19 (April 1980) the title was changed to Paperback Inferno, since #66 (June/July 1987) with the subtitle The Review of paperback SF on the cover. After issue #97 (actually 93rd, see below) in summer 1992 it was incorporated into the quarterly Vector. It had ISSN 0260-0595.
Especially in its first years, much of the contents (brief reviews of everything not covered in more detail by someone else) was written by the editor. Joseph Nicholas was editor of issues #15 through #54, titling his editorials/column "Blood on the Racks" for most of his run and "Wasn't Born to Follow" in the final issues; see also his brief (600 words) "A Memoir of the Paperback Inferno" in Vector #200 page 7 (1998; supposedly also in the earlier #150, 1989, but can't be found there). From #55 Andy Sawyer took over, whose editorial was usually "Paperback Purgatory".
The confusion in numbering Volume/Nr was caused by the Paperback Parlour skipping the June 1979 issue and starting the Volume 3 again afterwards. Then in summer 1983, Inferno numbering somehow jumped forward by four issues (details are unclear, and contradictory in various sources), necessitating differentiation like "#44, Volume 7, No 2, 40th issue" in the BSFA bibliography (only the main number was given on the cover/copyright section/colophon), and there seem to be further errors around numbering #47 in the first half of 1984, after which volumes were abandoned and numbering brought in line started with the new #44 sequence (so multiples of 6 were reached in June).
| Issue | Date | Pages | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| V1.1 | February 1977 | 8 | Phil Stephensen-Payne | |
| V1.2 | April 1977 | 10 | " | |
| V1.3 | June 1977 | 8 | " | |
| V1.4 | August 1977 | 8 | " | |
| V1.5 | October 1977 | 8 | " | |
| V1.6 | December 1977 | 6 | " | |
| V2.1 | February 1978 | 10 | " | |
| V2.2 | April 1978 | 12 | " | |
| V2.3 | June 1978 | 10 | " | |
| V2.4 | October 1978 | 8 | " | |
| V2.5 #11 | October 1978 | 8 | " | |
| V2.6 #12 | December 1978 | 24 | " | |
| V3.1 #13 | February 1979 | 6 | " | |
| V3.2 #14 | April 1979 | 6 | " | last issue by Stephensen-Payne |
| V3.1 #15 | August 1979 | 10 | Joseph Nicholas | skipping June and misnumbered (within volume) |
| V3.2 #16 | October 1979 | 12 | " | misnumbered |
| V3.3 #17 | December 1979 | 10 | " | |
| V3.4 #18 | February 1980 | 8 | " | last issue as Paperback Parlour |
| V3.5 #19 | April 1980 | 10 | " | now named Paperback Inferno |
| V3.6 #20 | June 1980 | 12 | " | |
| V4.1 #21 | August 1980 | 12 | " | |
| V4.2 #22 | October 1980 | 12 | " | |
| V4.3 #23 | December 1980 | 12 | " | |
| V4.4 #24 | February 1981 | 12 | " | |
| V4.5 | 1981 | 12 | " | |
| V4.6 | 1981 | 12 | " | |
| V5.1 | 1981 | 12 | " | |
| V5.2 | 1981 | 14 | " | |
| V5.3 #29 | December 1981 | 12 | " | |
| V5.4 | 1982 | 12 | " | |
| V5.5 | 1982 | 14 | " | |
| V5.6 | 1982 | 14 | " | |
| V6.1 #33 | August 1982 | 14 | " | |
| V6.2 #34 | 1982 | 12 | ||
| V6.3 #35 | December 1982 | 16 | " | |
| V6.4 #36 | February 1983 | 14 | " | |
| V6.5 #37 | April 1983 | 14 | " | |
| V6.6 #38 | June 1983 | 14 | " | Misnumbered as Vol 6 No 4 |
| V7.1 #43 | August 1983 | 16 | " | #43 was an erroneous attempt to correct the numbering. #s39-42 do not exist. "Unusually, this issue has a date on it. States 'Volume 7, No 1, Whole Number 43, August 1983'". |
| V7.2 #44 | October 1983 | 16 | " | #44, Volume 7, No 2, 40th issue |
| V7.3 #45 | December 1983 | 16 | " | #45, Volume 7, No 3, 41st issue |
| V7.4 #47(?) | February 1984 | 16 | " | listed as skipped further "#47, Volume 7, No 4, 42nd issue" but #46 in table overview, one must be a typo. ISFDB has "Whole number 46" |
| V7.5 #47 | April 1984 | 16 | " | repeats(? to get back to "proper") #47; Volume 7, No 5, 43rd issue |
| V7.6 #47 | June 1984 | 16 | " | repeats again likely by mistake: #47, Volume 7, No 6, 44th issue. However "Whole number 48" in ISFDB |
| 49 | August 1984 | 16 | " | "#49, 45th issue" only, abandoning volumes. Skipping over 48 would make sense to straighten the sequence 44–49 retroactively |
| 50 | October 1984 | 156 | " | |
| 52 | February 1985 | 16 | " | |
| 53 | April 1985 | 16 | " | |
| 54 | June 1985 | 16 | " | last Nicholas issue, editorial "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" already by Andy Sawyer |
| 55 | August 1985 | 16 | Andy Sawyer | |
| 56 | October 1985 | 16 | " | |
| 57 | December 1985 | 16 | " | |
| 58 | February 1986 | 16 | " | |
| 60 | June 1986 | 16 | " | |
| 61 | August 1986 | 16 | " | |
| 62 | October-November 1986 | 16 | " | 58th issue; started listing dates bi-monthly as before, even month and the following odd. Slash and abbrevs used in the copyright detail, final issues with graphical cover and masthead switched to dash there but not consistently |
| 63 | December 1986-January 1987 | 16 | " | note the format of straddling the New Year as per cover scan; differs on BSFA site |
| 64 | February 1987 | 16 | " | |
| 65 | April 1987 | 16 | " | |
| 66 | June-July 1987 | 16 | " | added subtitle The Review of paperback SF (note lowercase p) on the cover, and "A British Science Fiction Association magazine" at the bottom |
| 67 | August 1987 | 16 | " | |
| 68 | October-November 1987 | 16 | " | |
| 69 | December 1987 | 16 | " | |
| 70 | February 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 71 | April 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 72 | June 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 73 | August 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 74 | October 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 75 | December 1988 | 16 | " | |
| 76 | February 1989 | 16 | " | |
| 77 | April 1989 | 16 | " | |
| 78 | June 1989 | 16 | " | |
| 79 | August 1989 | 16 | " | |
| 80 | October 1989 | 16 | ||
| 81 | December 1989–January 1990 | 16 | date per cover | |
| 82 | February 1990 | 16 | ||
| 83 | April 1990 | 16 | ||
| 84 | June 1990 | 16 | ||
| 85 | August 1990 | 16 | ||
| 86 | October 1990 | 16 | ||
| 87 | December 1990 | 16 | ||
| 88 | February 1991 | 16 | ||
| 89 | April 1991 | 16 | ||
| 90 | June 1991 | 16 | ||
| 91 | August 1991 | 16 | ||
| 92 | October 1991 | 16 | ||
| 93 | December 1991 | 16 | ||
| 94 | February 1992 | 16 | ||
| 95 | April 1992 | 16 | ||
| 96 | June–July 1992 | 16 | ||
| 97 | August–September 1992 | 16 | final issue |
- Paperback Parlour online at fanac.org
The semi-official BSFA bibliographic website (split to Parlour and Inferno) linked below and used in the table above as primary source only lists authors and titles but does not have the full content. The Paperback Inferno entry at ISFDB (which also shows covers from #62 on) differs significantly in some (mis)numbering details.
| Publication | Website Website | 1977—1992 |
| This is a publication page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was published, how many issues it has had, (including adding a partial or complete checklist), its contents (including perhaps a ToC listing), its size and repro method, regular columnists, its impact on fandom, or by adding scans or links to scans. See Standards for Publications. |
