Simulacrum Meltdown No. 3 (October 2001) is the third issue of a fanzine devoted to Philip K. Dick. The issue opens with an epigraph from Dick: a quote expressing his yearning to be Horselover Fat, describing the character as not just his alter ego but his idealized self. This reference to VALIS signals the fanzine's engagement with Dick's late metaphysical works.
The editor's introductory remarks acknowledge the issue's lateness, noting that irregular scheduling has become a tradition. The publication represents the dedicated PKD fan community that emerged in the decades after Dick's death, producing specialized publications focused exclusively on his work, life, and legacy.
The fanzine's title references Dick's novel The Simulacra, connecting it to Dick's exploration of artificial constructs and the blurring of authentic and simulated experience. As a fan publication from 2001, it documents the state of Dick fandom and scholarship at the turn of the millennium, a period of rapidly growing mainstream cultural interest in Dick's ideas.