Umbrales: Revista Mexicana de Ciencia Ficción y Fantasia, Nos. 2, 8, 11, 13, 22, 31-24.

Schaffer, Federico, Ed. Umbrales: Revista Mexicana de Ciencia Ficción y Fantasia. Nos. 2, 8, 11. Followed by Umbrales: Literatura Fantástica de México. Nos. 13, 22, 31-34. Nuevo Laredo, Mexico: 1993-1997. 9 vols.: 29 cm, approx. 30 pp.; most illus in b/w, a few single-color pages, color illustrated stapled wrappers.

Nine issues of one the most oft cited and long-lasting Mexican sf publications of the 1990s, the first issue appearing in late 1992 and the last (no. 49) in 2000. Despite its reputation, OCLC lists no holdings of the magazine in North American libraries. The editor, Federico Schaffer, was the first president and cofounder of the AMCyF [Asociación Mexicana de Ciencia Ficción y Fantasía]. The magazine appeared just after the AMCyF’s founding in CDMX and was dedicated to promoting Mexican speculative fiction in the absence of other publishing opportunities and provided space for original writing as well as analysis and historiography of Mexican sf. Its large format and professional printing distinguished it from other sf serials and fanzines including ¡Nahual! and fractal. A few erotic stories feature include content that violated anti-gay Mexican legal content standards (not repealed until 1998/1999). 

Original contributions to Umbrales were solicited via “IBM disk” and ASCII files.

Surprisingly elusive, OCLC locates only a single holding of two issues in Germany, none in North America. 

Note:  In the early 1990s Schaffer was admitted as a member to the Science Fiction Writers of America by successfully arguing Mexico was an eligible area of the American continent. The SFWA later changed their policy to include authors of all nationalities, but restricted membership publishing requirements to the English language.