P.K.E. Readings

Zine
Title:	P.K.E. Readings
Publisher:	Bandersnatch Press
Editor(s):	B.J. Tandarich & Barb Victor
Date(s):	1992-?
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Real Ghostbusters
Language:	English
External Links:	WayBack Link to fanzine archive, including art and stories online
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

P.K.E. Readings is a gen Real Ghostbusters anthology. Some of the fiction was later published in They're Baaack.

back cover to one of the issues of P.K.E. Readings, Sandy Schreiber

From the publisher

P.K.E. Readings was started by B.J. Tandarich and Barb Victor in 1989, and was first printed up in 1990. I met the two of them when they were just coming up with the ideas for some of the stories... I had the first of the RGB 'zines that Pam Spurlock and I would put out, Nearly Fatal Attraction, and they all wanted a copy… Though Mary Jean Holmes was the first publisher/writer to put out GB related stories, (Marginal Error, a novella, and several stories in Shadowstar, a multi-media 'zine), P.K.E. Readings was the first fully RGB multi-story 'zine… P.K.E. Readings as a print 'zine only lasted four issues. Sales were good, and the fan base was still strong, but the work load was really bearing down on B.J., who had taken over all editing chores after Barb Victor left the team. Sad to say, the types of stories that were becoming popular at the time were not to B.J.'s tastes, so finding stories that she would print was becoming harder and harder. Finally, with the cover for #5 all planned out, and the art painted, B.J. decided that the last issue of P.K.E. would not come out that year...and probably never would. [1]

Issue 1

cover issue #1

P.K.E. Readings 1 was published in May 1990 and contains 126 pages. Art by Judy Breuer, Sandy Schreiber, Pam Spurlock,B.J. Tandarich

• Who's A Happy Camper? by Barb Victor (3)
• Imposter by Deborah Van Fossen (18)
• Out Standing In Their Field by Pam Spurlock (47)
• Night Before Christmas by B.J. Tandarich (59)
• Present Tense by B.J. Tandarich (61)
• Beautiful Dreamer by Barb Victor (73)
• Play Us a Song, Dead Piano Guy by Judy Breuer, Sandy Schreiber, Pam Spurlock, and B.J. Tandarich (82)
• Play Us a Song, Dead Piano Guy by Pam Spurlock (filk) (125)
• Tribute to Mr. Dead Piano Guy by Pam Spurlock (poem) (126)

• 

  issue #1, 'Dead Piano Guy' by BJ Tandarich

• 

  ssue #1, 'Tabloid Fodder' by Judy Breuer

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

[Play Us a Song, Dead Piano Guy]: Judy Breuer, Sandy Schreiber, Pam Spurlock and B.J. Tandarich are among the "founding mothers" of Real Ghostbusters fandom, all of them integral parts of the team that produced the first zine devoted to RGB, "P.K.E. Readings". This story, featured in the first issue, finds the Ghostbusters at a parapsychologists' convention in Lansing, Michigan (not coincidentally, home of the venerable fan convention, MediaWest) dealing both with the personalities one finds at any genre convention, as well as an unexpected and malevolent manifestion. This story is in turn extremely funny, and extremely creepy. Plus it offers a wonderful taste of what RGB fanfiction was like back in its nascent days.... and it still works today (as do the majority of the other marvelous vintage fic linked from the main page - check 'em out!). Enjoy... but watch out for possessed piano-playing mannequins!

Issue 2

cover issue #2

P.K.E. Readings 2 was published in May 1992 and contains 169 pages. Art by Mark Braun, Sandy Schreiber, B.J. Tandarich, Deborah Van Fossen. It is an "All Ray issue."

• There She Is by Jane Tesh (1)
• Turn A Blind Eye by Barb Victor, illustrated by Sandy Schreiber (14)
• Gone With The Golem by Deborah Van Fossen, illustrated by Deborah Van Fossen (35)
• Your Soul Providers by Barb Pyles (69)
• Distill of the Night by Barbara H. Victor and B.J. Tandarich, illustrated by Mark Braun (85)
• The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of by Jane Tesh, illustrated by B.J. Tandarich (97)
• Brotherly Love by Pam Spurlock, illustrated by Pam Spurlock (115)

Issue 3

cover issue #3, Sandy Schreiber: "Barb Tandarich published this 'zine, and when it was time for #3 to come out, she suggested putting up the money to have a professional color cover printed. We did not have access to color copiers in those days, so we sent the double-sized painting to a print shop in another state, paid something like $400.00, and got a huge stack of slick, heavy stock color prints. That issue sold VERY well. (and no, she never made all her money back) We made tee-shirts of the cover for all of us involved in this issue. I still think it's the best cover I ever did. And the title is all hand lettered too. No computer illo programs then either. Watercolor and ink on cold-press illo board."

P.K.E. Readings 3 was published in May 1993 and contains 142 pages. Cover and internal art is by Sandy Schreiber; titles are by Mark Braun and Laura Wierzbecki.

• An Essay Question? by B.J. Tandarich--The editor gives her opinion as to why Real Ghostbusters is so popular in adult fandom, and requests that readers write in with their own responses. (iii)
• A Remembrance of Unrequited Love (1)
• Beer Barrel Busters by Jeff Morris (6)
• A Woman's Place by Jane Tesh (21)
• Switched Channel by Deborah Van Fossen (39)
• Limericks by Barbara Erickson (69)
• Ship of Ghouls by Deborah Van Fossen (71)
• The Cellar by Sheila Paulson (96)
• Answers to the Essay Question by A Few People--Jane Tesh, Jeff Morris, Pam Spurlock, Sandy Schreiber, and Deborah van Fossen each give their opinions.

• 

  issue #3, 'The cellar' by Sandy Schreiber

• 

  issue #3, 'The cellar' by Sandy Schreiber

Issue 4

P.K.E. Readings 4. Art by Sandy Schreiber.

art for an issue of P.K.E. Readings, probably issue #4, Sandy Schreiber

• Rock and Roll Heaven Can Wait by Jeff Morris
• A Fungus Among Us by Deborah Van Fossen
• A Remembrance of Unrequited Love by Julie Jay
• Christmas Past by Pam Spurlock
• The Long Shot by Pam Spurlock
• Stranded in a Winter Wonderland by Pam Spurlock
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by B.J. Tandarich
• Soul Sister by Jane Tesh
• other unknown content