The Vital 5 Review is a collection of alcohol-fueled editorial, drawings and other random thoughts written at the Hideout and compiled into a black and white journal by a team of esteemed editors. This zine offers a glimpse into the minds of our patrons, Seattle culture, and confessions of the drunken mind.

The idea is rather simple: The Hideout provides clipboards and ballpoint pens. Any drawings or writings that a patron wishes to contribute to the journal are deposited into a mahogany submission box, discreetly mounted onto the South wall. We empty the box and construct the next issue from its contents. By its very nature, no issue is ever alike, and each issue is directed by the submissions we receive.

The outcome has been startling. We receive up to 600 submissions per issue and the quality and humor is wildly diverse from outstanding to outright offensive. This may have to do in part with the quality of our clientele, or possibly be the effects of alcohol, but regardless, the Vital 5 Review is surprisingly clever, honest and funny.

This is a free publication and only available at the Hideout. So come down, grab a cocktail and a clipboard and see if you can make the cut on our next issue. You don’t have to be a professional illustrator or writer, you just have to let your guard down, and tell it like it is.