The Red Riding Hood Syndrome
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Red Riding Hood Syndrome |
| Publisher: | Ann Snell, out of England |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Susan Smallpiece |
| Cover Artist(s): | John Carrigan |
| Illustrator(s): | no interior art |
| Date(s): | 1977 |
| Medium: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Red Riding Hood Syndrome is a 22-page gen Star Trek: TOS by Susan Smallwood. The front cover is by John Carrigan.
This story was later published in the first issue of Enter-comm where it had art by Brendan Hawley.
From an ad in S.T.A.G #28: "This is a comedy, about when one of Spock's relatives visits the Enterprise."
From the flyer for Enter-comm: "Spock's maternal grandmother visits the Enterprise."
"...Ah. the better to see you with, my dear."
This zine came to me as a present et a time when SU 4 was still pending, money hassles were abundant, and had a good case of the 'is this really worth it?' fandom blues. The last thing wanted to do was to read another fan written ST story, right? (I'm telling you this so you can judge my state of mind for yourself. If a story could turn a mood like this around, it has got to be good.) But it was lunch time, and there I was with nothing else to read. The zine sort of fell open in the middle. I read a couple of paragraphs, felt my face cracking into a smile in spite of myself. read e little further, found the smile widening, turned back to the beginning and by the end of it, I was wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. This little story is HILARIOUS!
The plot, you see, concerns Spock's grandmother on Amanda's side. The elderly darling was doubtless quite a heart-breaker in her day, , day that is long since past, only someone forgot to tell her. She passes blithely through life, positive that every young man she meets has become but one more secret admirer, and the fact that she has a face that would fracture glass is no deterrent at all to her imagination. As the fates would have it, the Big E ends up providing transportation. Spock sort of knows what to expect, but he hopes, vainly, that this time things will be different. Kirk, poor innocent, be his usual charming, gallant self, and es Granny begins to check over the crew for a romantic interest to help while away her time on the cruise, she decides that Kirk, though he is playing the captain role to the hilt, is really concealing a magnificent passion for her, and only his concern for her reputation keeps him from declaring himself, and the dear boy, he really shouldn't have to suffer any longer. The expression on Jim Kirk's face when he has escaped to the privacy of his cabin (he thinks) and then walks out of the shower wrapped (sort of) in a towel to find Granny waltzing through the door in her nightie will have you rolling on the floor. Honest. And it gets even better. You see, Bones takes pity on him, invents a contagious disease that will also doubtless prove fatal very soon now, and settles Granny in Sickbay for observation.
Spock hears of Kirk's illness and, trying very hard to keep hold of his emotions goes to see if he can do anything. He finds Kirk drowning in his sorrows with Bones. The captain is being very breve, but it's something he doesn't want to talk about right now. Spock sadly misunderstands and informs Sarek and Amanda that Jim is not long for this world (I forgot to tell you that by this time they are also on board). Granny meanwhile decides that the nice blue-eyed doctor must have been restraining himself in her presence only because he didn't want to intrude on the captain's territory, and now that Kirk has been afflicted with something nasty, well, it's always nice to have a doctor in the family. I can't tell you any more, it'll spoil it. Maybe I've even told you too much already, but getting an international money order is a little bit of trouble, and I needed to convince you that it would be worth it. So, get the money order (or send cash if you don't mind risking it to the PO), get the zine end settle back in a comfortable chair (preferably one with a seat belt) and prepare to have a good time. Guaranteed. [1]
References
- ^ review by Gerry Downes in Atavachron #1