Le Zombie was an intermittent ("Published every time a zombie awakens") science fiction fanzine, of which 72 issues were published by science fiction fan and author Bob Tucker from December 1938 to August 2001. The first issue was a single, crudely mimeographed sheet; the last printed issue was published in December 1975 by planography. After a 25-year hiatus, Tucker resumed publishing in 2000; these last 5 issues (also referred to as eZombie, but preserving the same numbering sequence) were electronically published as a webzine.[1] The title refers to the "Tucker death hoaxes" which played such a distinctive role in fan history.[2]
Many phrases and fan writing techniques have their origins in the pages of Le Zombie, including the term space opera,[3] and the use of the slash to indicate a thought was struck through.[4]: 41–42 Beginning in mid-1942, Le Zombie, along with Harry Warner's Spaceways, began sponsoring the "Fanzine Service" as a way of distributing fanzines to people who were serving in the World War II.[4]: 156
In his obituary of Tucker, John Clute wrote: "It is only in recent years that academic critics have begun to come to terms with the huge amount of intellectual activity - along with pre-blog gossip - that filled [science fiction] fanzines, perhaps the most brilliant of them being Bob Tucker's Le Zombie."[5]