The Hat on the Bench in Central Park
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Hat on the Bench in Central Park |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | Becky Bain & Beth Druhan |
| Date(s): | July 1997 |
| Series?: | |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Hat on the Bench in Central Park is a 97-page gen Beauty and the Beast (TV) anthology.
It contains no inside art.
It was featured in the 2011 Winterfest and a PDF is available here.
Description
This zine set its writers a task: "What would you get if you offered several Beauty and the Beast writers a single image and then let their imaginations run wild...?" The image, in this case, is the titular hat. In Becky Bain's "Lucky Cap," straying tunnel children have befriended an old man who frequents a certain park bench and goes missing...and is suspected of being a child molester;. Beth Druhan's "Angelo Harper" puts Angelo, a neglected and very ill child, at the center of a search for his beloved protector, Tilly - an elderly street person. "Moira's Veil" by Margaret Davis is a ghost story, of sorts, in which the veil, down through the years, shows a special power. "Hat Trick" by Cynthia Hatch is a detective story with Catherine uneasily trying to cope with the ramifications of having picked up what seems a discarded hat. Carol Kyne's "Trials and Tears" has Vincent showing up at Catherine's apartment having forgotten to remove a hat he'd been wearing while enacting Robinson Crusoe for the children Below. [1]
Contents
- The Lucky Cap by Becky Bain (1)
- Moira's Veil by Margaret Davis (31)
- Hat Trick by Cynthia Hatch (39)
- Trials and Tears by Carol Kyne (67)
- Angelo Harper by Beth Druhan (73)
Reactions and Reviews
This interesting themed zine set its writers a task: as the zine itself puts it, “What would you get if you offered several Beauty and the Beast writers a single image and then let their imaginations run wild...?” The image, in this case, is the titular hat. The two “producers,” both consistently fine writers, each produced a story. Becky Bain’s is “The Lucky Cap,” in which straying tunnel children have befriended an old man who frequents a certain park bench...and goes missing...and is suspected of being a child molester. Vincent’s sympathies are conflicted as he enlists Catherine’s help in locating Frank, whose bloody cap was found stuck between the bench slats. Beth Druhan’s substantial story, “Angelo Harper,” puts Angelo, a neglected and very ill child, at the center of a search for his beloved protector, Tilly—an energetic, elderly street person who suffers from severe Alzheimer’s dementia. This lively, perceptive, unsentimental story involves, in a surprising and convincing way, Vincent’s seldom-noted ability to dominate animals and has a chillingly persuasive look inside the frantic mind of a heroin addict.Bracketed by these two stories are three others. “Moira’s Veil” by Margaret Davis is a ghost story, of sorts, in which the veil, down through the years, shows a special power to reunite lovers. The excellent “Hat Trick” by Cynthia Hatch is a credible and well presented detective story with Catherine uneasily trying to cope with the ramifications of having picked up what seems a discarded hat from a park bench and given it to Mouse, then learning it’s evidence in an extremely mystifying murder case. And Carol Kyne’s amusing “Trials and Tears” has Vincent showing up at Catherine’s apartment having forgotten to remove a silly knitted pointy hat he’d been wearing while enacting Robinson Crusoe for the children Below. That hat turns up again to signify his presence at a very special wedding, Above.
All the contributors are worth seeking out, even if a given zine contained the work of only one of them; gathered together, they make this a must-have zine. Highly recommended. [2]