Screw (magazine)

''Screw'' is a pornographic online magazine published in the United States aimed at heterosexual men; it was originally published as a weekly tabloid newspaper.

The publication, which was described as "raunchy, obnoxious, usually disgusting, and sometimes political," was a pioneer in bringing hardcore pornography into the American mainstream during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Founder Al Goldstein won a series of nationally significant court cases addressing obscenity. At its peak, ''Screw'' sold 140,000 copies a week.

Publication history

In November 1968 in New York, Al Goldstein and his partner Jim Buckley, investing $175 each, founded ''Screw'' as a weekly underground newspaper. An an initial price of 25¢, a statement on the cover offered " Jerk-Off Entertainment for Men".

Beginning in 1969, ''Screw'' co-founder Jim Buckley founded ''Screw'''s short-lived "sister" tabloid ''Gay'', edited by ''Screw'' columnists Jack Nichols and Lige Clarke. (''Gay'' continued until 1975, when Clarke was murdered just north of Veracruz, Mexico.)

Goldstein tried, unsuccessfully, to expand ''Screw'''s reach beyond New York City. In 1976-1977 ''National Screw'' was published, only lasting nine issues. The June 1977 issue of the magazine contained, according to its cover, a new story by William Burroughs and an interview with Allen Ginsberg. Other issues contained original adult comic strip work from cartooning legends Wally Wood and Will Eisner.

In 1979-1980, Goldstein's company, Milky Way Productions, published ''Screw West'' out of an office in Hollywood, California. According to an advertisement, it was intended to answer such questions as, "Where can I get laid in San Francisco? What's the best swinger's club in Los Angeles? How do I find all those out-of-the-way Pacific Coast nude beaches? And what are those bawdy brothels outside Las Vegas really like?" ''Screw West'' is known to have published 54 issues.

One of Goldstein's best friends was Larry Flynt, publisher of ''Hustler'' magazine, founded seven years after ''Screw''. Goldstein claimed that ''Hustler'' stole its format from ''Screw'', but that he was not angry. According to Goldstein, Flynt succeeded in creating a national publication, at which he had failed.

''Screw'' folded in 2003, unable to make payroll; only 600 copies were sold of the last issue. Goldstein's Milky Way Productions, which published ''Screw'' and ''Midnight Blue'', entered bankruptcy in 2004, having lost sales and subscribers as a result of the proliferation of internet pornography, abetted by Goldstein's financial mismanagement.

2004 relaunch

In 2004 ''Screw'' periodical was restarted by former employees led by Kevin Hein, with writer Mike Edison coming onboard as the new editor. (Edison had started writing as a freelancer for ''Screw'' almost two decades earlier years before.) In late 2006 Edison announced that he was leaving the editor-in-chief position. Soon after, in 2007, ''Screw'' ceased physical publication as the title neared, but did not reach, its 2,000th issue. (Original founder Al Goldstein died in 2013.)Roku