Sammy Winston

Circa 2012, a stranger walked into my shop with a box of zines. He said he had published them himself in the previous few years, and he was leaving town - would I be interested in them? I didn't know him, but his kindness convinced me.

In 2015 I read of Sammy Winston's passing in a house fire in LA. I knew little about Sammy, but in his death I learned of his legend. He was widely known as the singer for an SF hardcore band named All Bets Off, and especially for a viral photo of him about to deliver a crushing blow to a nazi skinhead. He and his band were part of a tight-knit local scene that also included artists and taggers. Sammy created graf under the name Gloom.

In 2024, a 700 page anthology of his zines was published on Heartworm Press. So far, two editions have sold out. I'm pretty sure some of these zines would be included in that book, but I've yet to get my hands on one. Individual zines on eBay seem to be getting stupid money. Hopefully if you see something you like here, you can avoid getting gouged.

Most of Sammy and friends' zines were published in SF under a group imprint called Spiderghost Press Gang. Numbers, editions, and sometimes authors/dates - many of these details are missing. 

• "The Bruised Bruisers" - Sammy Winston, 2007. Lots of musings and graf pics, especially of contemporaries like Pez, Orfn, and Cake. 

• "Avalanche of Bricks" - Sammy Winston, 2007. More musings while wandering the streets of San Francisco, with graf pics galore - Pez, Orfn, Cake, and even a Twist piece.
• "Hymnal of the Unholy Death Bets Choir" - Sammy Winston, 2006. A lyric booklet for songs of the band All Bets Off.
• "The Democratic Forest" - Paul Ehat, 2008. Black and white photography of the urban landscape, inspired by William Eggleston.
• "Bare All #1" - Kat, 2006. Poetry, art, and rants.
• "week" - Ross J. Farrar, 2007. A journal of a week of drug use in SF.
• "Kill Away #1" - I dunno, short interviews with a bunch of hardcore bands.
• "Donor" - Tyler James Densley, 2008. An odd story about an unlikely organ donation scenario.
• "Street Hassle First" - interviews with various hardcore bands, plus poetry.
• "Bigger Fangs" - collage art, drawings, general dark absurdity.
• "I <3 SF" tag by Sammy Winston, unused sticker, 2" x 3"
• "If a vandal and a slut..." tag by Sammy Winston, unused sticker, 4" x 4"