### ### ##### \ Soulz At Zero # # # # \\ ### ##### # \\\ Proudly Presents # # # # \\\\ ### # # ##### \\\\\ The Death Certificate! -----THE-DEATH-CERTIFICATE------VOLUME-1-ISSUE-3---------DECEMBER-1994----- Staff: The Stranger, Jack Flack - Editors, Writers. Black Sunshine - Writer. (*) If you are interested in contributing to The Death Certificate please let one of the editors know. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was black as a moonless night when the clouds cover the stars, and it was evil, and in its own strange way it was alive. And it was growing. Alan Ryan, "Blood of the Children" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Table of Contents + 1. Words from the Editors 2. SAZ News 3. Horror News 4. Reviews 5. The Writers Block 6. Final Words ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Words from the Editors: Jack Flack: - "If you won't walk with me, I will walk alone" - Life of Agony - Greetings, all you SaZ fanatics, and I *DO* mean, fanatics! We have got response from several states, a few groups, and the like, so as long as you people are reading it, we are going to keep bringing it to you. Of course the Death Certificate is mostly Stranger's baby, so I will turn it over to him shortly. I did, howver, play the new Tales of the Crypt pinball game at Crossroads mall last night! They also have a Nightmare on Elm Street pinball game. Not horror enough to warrant a review, but kinda interesting. For anyone who doesn't know, Hohocon, the biggest Hacker, Pirate, etc. convention is coming up this December 30,31 and Jan 1st somewhere in Texas. (If you have been invited, you know where it is.) Although it's not what SaZ is about, we will be there, handing out disks with our packs on it and maybe some flyers, so if you are headed there, look for SaZ products! We are also having a lot of changes in our support boards. Ozzy's board seems to be down until he pays a debt to Ma Bell, so we are avidly awaiting his return. Two new SaZ systems have gone up, Where Shadows Wait, and a new Distro site, The Sanitarium, so be sure to read the saz.nfo file in the pack, which we will keep up to date pack to pack. I guess that's about it for me. I am still a slave to the man (actually, Best Buy) working 60+ hours a week, so computer time has been limiting, and The Stranger and Black Sunshine have had finals, so it's been a short, short month, but here it is, pack 4 ... -Jack Flack/SAZ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Stranger: Well we're a little late this month because most of our members had Finals to worry about. We're late, but we're still here. This is our fourth pack and I cannot believe it. Our first three packs have been downloaded close to 200 times all across the country and we hope to have SAZ expand to every state in the country. If you would like to help us by distributing our packs let us know. We are always looking for help. I just started my own BBS called "Where Shadows Wait" and its the home of SAZ. If you would like to call to get packs or to leave us comments but you don't want to waste time filling anything out you may log in and enter the user name as "SAZ" and the password "SAZ" . If you would like to gain full entry to the board use the new user password which is "Kill The Dead" and fill out all the information. If you do call under the SAZ name, please leave me a message with your name and state just so I know who's calling. Once again, we're always looking for new members, so if you write poetry and/or short stories fill out the application and bring on over to us. You can also reach me or Jack Flack via the InfiNet or GTCM net. Well thats all for this time. Have a Merry Christmas and a bloody great New Year. Enjoy the pack and pass it around to your friends and family members. Talk to you next time. The Stranger... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- And death should know me My hands are dirty with his blood. Danzig, "Brand New God" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Soulz At Zero News Well I think the major news this month is the fact that we have a new home for SAZ which is being run by me, The Stranger. See my editorial for more information. We still don't have a viewer. We have 2 or 3 people working on them but the future doesn't look promising. If I were you, I'd use the viewer from Shiver. By far the best viewer out there. If you'd like to make us a viewer, you know where to contact us. We've had request from some people to be distro boards but so far only one board has sent us all the information we need. That board is The Sanatarium in North Carolina. We welcome that board and its sysop Zipperhead, to the SAZ family. If you'd like to be a distro, just send us mail. That's the newz for this month. See ya next time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was hell's season, and the air smelled of burning children. Robert McCammon, Gone South ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Horror News by The Stranger: New in Bookstores: Dark Rivers of the Heart is Dean Koontz new novel. I'm not sure what its about but its in a book store near you. Clive Barker returns with Everville which is part two of a series that began with The Great And Secret Show. Fires of Eden is the new hardback novel by Dan Simmons, known best for his books Summer of Night and Children of the Night. Borderlands 4 is a new limited edition anthology that contains new stories by Joe Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, David Silva, Ed Gorman and tons of others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ They sleep not, except they have done mischief; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. Proverbs 4:16-17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. The Reviews: Books: Twilight Time, by Rick Hautala, 1994 Zebra Books. Rick Hautala is one of the scariest writers around. The problem is he doesn't know it. Or maybe he doesn't want to know it. After spending years establishing his name in the horror field, he has quickly moved out of the horror genre into the psychological terror category. Many years ago, Hautala hit his peak with two great books in a row, Winter Wake and Dead Voices. Those are by far two of the scariest books I've ever read. And right after those two books declared him as one of the brightest stars in horror, he left the field with a book called Dark Silence. That book had some horror but not much. What horror it did have he took out of his next book entitled Ghost Light. Ghost Light was the book every writer is suddenly writing again. The wife beating husband chasing after the wife who has their child. But we're not here too talk about any of those books. We are here to discuss his newest novel, Twilight Time. It says right on the cover, "horror", but this isn't traditional horror. This book is once again a trip into the psychological aspects of horror, very much like his last two novels. The difference with this novel is that Hautala has finally learned how to write a psychological horror novel. This book is wonderful, with twists and turns that will leave you holding your breath. The writing is typical Hautala, which is to say it is crisp and fantastic in some places and boring and drawn out in others. The story is about a man with multiple personalties brought on by years of abuse as a child. The abuse began in his home state of Maine where he has tried to stay away from for years. But his sister is suicidal and so has to go back to help her. He feels he knows why his sister is trying to kill herself. She's still thinking about the time the two of them had sex when they were kids just as he can't stop thinking about it. But when he gets to Maine he will find the real reason for his disorder through a doorway that leads to dark childhood memories. If you are a horror fan looking for one good suspense book this is it. Hautala doesn't waste your time with useless information and he knows how to tell a story. With every question are main character asks himself, you will be wondering the same thing. When are main character wonders if he is causing the deaths of others around him, you'll never know. This book is a great read and better than anything that other Maine writer has done in 3 years. Check it out. The Stranger... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Writer Of The Purple Rage by Joe R. Lansdale, CD Publications. Well if you've ever read a copy of The Death Certificate before you already know that I worship the paper Joe Lansdale writes on. There is no writer hotter than Lansdale in the horror field write know and there are few who write short stories better than he does. If you read a Lansdale story, you know its a Lansdale story. This man has his own style that many are know trying to imitate but none come close. Writer of the Purple Rage is his new collection of short stories. He has already published two other collections entitled "Bestsellers Guaranteed" & "By Bizzare Hands". Both of which are incredible. This one however is no where near as good as either of those two, but still this is Lansdale. This book has thirteen short stories, a script for a play, a non-fiction piece on horror, an introduction, and author notes on every story. Most of the stories in the book have seen print in small magazines and paperback anthologies but there are a couple of new ones included. The stories in this one go from a man who lives to have sex with a blow up doll only to find the doll is taking over his life, to a story about Elvis Presley trying to break out of an insane asylum with John F. Kennedy before an ancient mummy can kill them. Lansdale stories are usually violent, right to the point, and strange. These stories continue that. This book is only sold in hardback and you can only find it at your local horror store. It's priced at a big $25, but for the Lansdale fan its a great buy. Be warned, you need to like your stories violent, and you better have a good imagination to follow Lansdale around. Try some other Lansdale books before you spend the dough on this one. You'll probably end up like me, feeling that you have to have this one. The Stranger... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Definitive Best of The Horror Show, Edited by David Silva, 1992. "The Horror Show" was a magazine published in the 80's by David Silva that was for the most part, the only magazine dedicated to horror writers. In the 80's, horror writers were usually found in Twilight Zone or other science fiction magazines. That is until "The Horror Show" came around. Every horror magazine around now owes its life to "The Horror Show" and so many know famous writers do as well. Poppy Z. Brite, Robert McCammon, Joe Lansdale, and so many others got their start in this magazine. But times were hard in the late 80's and so the magazine died. But in 1992, CD Publications put together this great collection of the best short stories to ever appear in "The Horror Show." Forty short stories are packed in this collection, the authors are a who's who of horror. From Dean Koontz to Ramsey Campbell. This book has almost all of the best. Possibly the best story in the collection is the one that starts off the book called "I Scream Man" by Robert McCammon. Few can show emotion better than McCammon and this one really comes through. Poppy Z. Brite has two entries in the book, both of which show promise for what she is slowly becoming, which is one of the biggest names in the field. Joe Lansdale and Dennis Etchison throw violent stories into the mixture along with an odd tale of sex by Dean Koontz. The biggest names in short stories, Janet Fox, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gary Raisor, Bently Little, David Schow, William F. Nolan, are all here with a ton of others. If your looking for a long read this is the book. With 40 short stories you are bound to love atleast half. This is a $25 hardback edition that is not available in paperback but its worth the price. This is the only way your going to get to read a lot of these stories because it's almost impossible to find any of "The Horror Show" magazines. So if you love short stories, pick this one up. The Stranger... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Movies: Wes Craven's New Nightmare by Black Sunshine I had read some decent reviews about this movie before I actually paid to go see it. And now I wonder who the movie's PR paid. The movie DID have a few things going for it-- all the original characters from the first Nightmare on Elm Street returning, Wes Craven's name becoming an official part of the title (I wonder how many people went to see it for that reason...), and the strange and unique plot, which was supposedly interwoven around the real lives of the characters from the first one and inspired by actual, true events. The movie is about making a movie-- about making a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. It is somewhat of a documentary in that respect. The characters play themselves-- Robert Englund (Freddy) plays Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp (Nancy) plays Heather Langenkamp, etc. The idea was that Freddy was really some ancient evil force, and by making movies about him, they had managed to trap him and keep him from escaping his dimension, and yet, once the movies stopped, Freddy began terrorizing all the people involved with the making of the movies, preying especially on Heather's son. Why I don't know. The only way to stop Freddy, it was discovered, was to make another movie about him. And what the audience was watching on the screen WAS supposed to be that movie. Weird. Confusing. Out of sync with the rest of the series. That is basically how I would describe this movie. As you can tell, it IS original, but associating it with Freddy Kruegar, the audience will already have certain expectations about what will happen and what Freddy will do-- expectations that never come to be. For example, this movie played too much with emotional issues to be of the usual mindless, Nightmare brand. I didn't go see the movie to get a glimpse of Heather Langenkamp's personal life, or Robert Englund's extracurricular activities. The movie also, was not scary. In fact, silly is a better word to describe it. Involving Heather's very young son, it took on almost fantasy-type characteristics towards the end, almost as if they were trying to entertain children. It seemed to lack direction, and wandered from event to event, leaving me wondering, "Now what was the point of that?" It seems it was assumed that the gimmick of the movie (the movie within a movie thing) would hold it's own, and it does-- for awhile, then you're waiting for it to get scary, for it to get real. It never does. Robert Englund had this to say to Fangoria, "...Ultimately, we are addressing the question of whether Hollywood is responsible for a lot of the things that are going on in the real world today." Really. I did not pick this up while watching the movie. As I said before, I had certain expectations about Freddy that left me underwhelmed, and therefore outweighed the marvel and main points that really were there. I think this would have made for a better movie if the Freddy Kruegar line had been forgotten, instead using a "movie monster" that didn't really exist. The way they tried to incorporate the older Nightmare films and the themes and ideas in this one didn't fly well. It led to too much confusion, unbelievability and indifference from the audience-- how are you supposed to care what the characters are doing if you don't understand why they are doing it? I really did think the plot was ingenious, but not with characters we already knew that did not do what we anticipated. To sum it up, the movie killed a couple of hours and I didn't look at my watch, but I could've used the admission price money for gas or something. If you're into the Nightmare series, watch it just to say you have, or if you're really bored. But if you heard good things about it and want to check it out, or if you want to be scared, then stay away. @ 1994 by Black Sunshine ------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview With the Vampire By Black Sunshine Despite the extraordinarily long wait for this movie to hit the theaters and the overblown controversy concerning the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat, I was still confident that Geffen Pictures would ensure that the adaptation would do the novel it's derived from justice. Though there were a few minor problems, I was not disappointed. In fact, I was strangely (and embarrassingly), moved to tears in one scene, and I would dare call it one of the best vampire movies ever made. Die-hard fans of the novel's author, Anne Rice, would probably disagree with me. There were a few trivial changes put in the screenplay form for both time reasons and for making some scenes more visual. If you haven't already, you should pick up a copy of the book and read it. I won't argue with the fact that movies usually cannot compete with their original format. This one is no exception, however, treating the movie by itself, I found it more than entertaining on several levels. The plot itself is unique, without utilizing a lot of fancy techniques or surprises-- pure talent. If you don't know it already, here is a brief run-down of the story: Louis is a depressed young man with a death wish living in the eighteenth century. Lestat is a charming, yet arrogant vampire who suddenly finds himself a little bored, a little lonely. When the two meet, Lestat (without fully explaining the details) turns Louis into a vampire in an attempt to put an end to both their problems. Louis then becomes the "reluctant vampire." He cannot stand killing people, lives on the blood of rats and other animals. We are given an unusual slant here about the psychological ramifications of being a vampire. Eventually, when Louis is weak, he almost kills a little girl, Claudia, while drinking her blood. Lestat then turns the girl into a vampire as well, then presents her to Louis as a gift: a daughter. As years melt into centuries, the remainder of the story consists of the struggles going on between the three of them and other vampires, the struggles between the vampires and the rest of the world (those who are not like them), and especially, the personal struggles each of the vampires endures. Most notably is Claudia's struggle with having a woman's mind and being trapped in the body of a pre-pubescent girl. All of this is being told in the here and the now by Louis, through flashback sequences wrapped around scenes with a young interviewer. (Understand that I am leaving out a lot here, *grin*). The movie is absolutely captivating. The costumes and scenery add tremendously to pulling the audience into it, providing the movie with its credibility, and giving an authenticity to each setting. Tom Cruise (controversial figure that he is.. heh) plays a decent Lestat. I mean, there is nothing lacking in the character, however, his effort is obvious- - he tries too hard. Brad Pitt steals the show, playing the perfect melancholy, sensitive, pensive Louis. (Rice really knew what she was doing when she created a character like this-- any woman in the audience that didn't secretly fall in love with Louis must be devoid of emotion-- or at least a libido). The movie really picks up with the introduction of Claudia (Kirsten Dunst)-- toying with the interesting idea of a child vampire, and then eventually, a woman-child vampire. Christian Slater (barely in the movie at all) plays a good naive, cynical-turned-intrigued interviewer, a good choice following the death of first-cast River Phoenix. I did, however, have a minor problem with the pace of the movie. The first hour and a half or so consists of the incidents that occur before Lestat's supposed "death." Once Claudia and Louis continue their cross-continent journey for others of their kind, however, the tread picks up quickly enough to make the audience feel objective once again. Not enough time is spent on the formation of the Armand character or the events that surround his appearance in the story. It has been several years since I read the novel, and I did not refresh my memory prior to going to the movie. I found myself confused for a few minutes on some events; of course, this lessened the significance and intensity of them for me until I understood what was going on and why, but at this point, I no longer felt sucked inside the story since I had to spend so much time analyzing. It was almost as if they knew they were running out of time and so hurried through the second half. The result was a good watch, but without the same effect as the first part. The story itself carries the second half. On another note, another thing I found fascinating about the story was the underlying eroticism within and the subconscious connections between sex and death. I enjoyed the way the two were intertwined to appeal to everyone's dark side. Also interesting was the fact that the movie did not skimp on the homosexual and pedophilic undertones. Of course, there was nothing blatant or offensive, but it was still there, and it added to the movie's authenticity. Interestingly, during a special on the movie on the Oprah Winfrey show, a homosexual claimed that he related to the movie on a very personal level... I have already said that the movie is especially full of the vampire's personal struggles with what they are. This particular homosexual had picked that up and commented on the similarity of that idea with homosexuals contending with being outsiders and struggling with what and who they are. Nice parallel. The movie will definitely leave a lasting impression upon you. You will have the desire to be a vampire (but hopefully, not the urge to act on it..ha), you will want to take other people with you to see if it affected them the same way as it affected you, you will want to talk about this movie for hours afterwards. Who hasn't heard about the sicko (I think it was in San Francisco) who took his girlfriend to see it, then afterwards told her he was going to kill her and drink her blood and two days later stabbed her seven times in the chest and drank some of her blood? (Translation: Don't go see this movie in San Francisco). Overall, I would highly suggest that if you have not seen this movie already, go. It is well worth the money. If you don't like adaptations, then forget the book exists and go see the movie as a separate idea. It is unique, entertaining, has lots of violence (but not excessively-- this violence is more subtle), and for all you people that like to think and analyze everything (me? ha) there are several psychological and moral questions posed. It is a true vampire epic, even with all the commercialization. If you don't have anyone to go with, hell, call me and I'll go with you-- it's well-worth watching again. *grin*. Just don't laugh if we come to that ONE scene and I wipe away a tear. @ 1994 by Black Sunshine ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Up and Coming to the Theaters... by Black Sunshine It's been a horror boom for all movie exchanges lately, with the release of flicks such as Interview With the Vampire, Puppet Masters, New Nightmare, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Ed Wood (well, he was a cheezy horror movie director *grin*), Ghoulies IV, Hidden 2, etc. It shows no signs of letting up in 1995, either. Here's a look at movies to expect within the next few months. Hideaway - Yes, it's true. Dean Koontz is finally going to have a novel adaptation that isn't released direct-to-video. And it even has people in it you might recognize: Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) and Alicia Silverstone (who doesn't know who this is? Key word: Aerosmith). After surviving a hideous car wreck, a man becomes psychically linked to a serial killer. Or at least that's what the book was about. Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh - The first Candyman scared the hell out of me, with it's strange, haunting images. The camera and lighting tricks worked to set the movie apart from others and win it awards. I hope a different director and visual effects team doesn't change that. I look forward to see if this movie can disturb me as deeply as the original. Darkman 2 and 3 - It's been decided to turn this movie into a trilogy and release numbers two and three simultaneously on video. Who are Larry Drake and Arnold Vosloo? I wish they would get actors I recognize. And anyway, I thought he died in the first one...hmm...this could be interesting... Lord of Illusions - Is it just me, or does this sound like a handle someone would use while modeming? This (along with two other movies-- guess which) is Clive Barker's new baby. Something about a detective drawn into a powerful world of magic by a famed illusionist and a cult-leader. Spooky. Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight - It's going to the big-time now. A trilogy of tales being made for the big screen, crypt- keeper on hand, of course. It's getting a lot of publicity and generating interest, but I'm still wondering what will make this different from what's already on HBO... The Langoliers - Stephen King has finally found his visual medium: television mini-series. I don't find it hard to understand how he would have problems keeping a screenplay under 120 pages, and this way he can go on and on. *grin* Four hour long mini-series for ABC, based on a novella in Four Past Midnight: a group of people travelling by airplane on a red-eye flight are thrust into another dimension. This is one of my favorite King works, by the way. Very clever. There are some scenes I will HAVE TO SEE, because I can't figure out how they are going to make them work visually. In the Mouth of Madness - John Carpenter's attempt to explore Lovecraftian tenets. From the movie trailers, it looked like it was done in the style of one of his other movies, Prince of Darkness. This should be good... Hellraiser IV - Another Barker deviation. I don't know much about this one yet, but if you want background, rent one, two AND three because they're all different. The only recurring motif seems to be that damn box... Godzilla - Yes, they are making a Godzilla movie. It's slated to have a budget to rival Jurassic Park's. And they expect it to bring in as much revenue, as well... Good luck. Hasn't been much news on this yet, but I hope I don't have to explain what Godzilla is. I also won't remark on the Japanese connotations here... BUY AMERICAN. heh And there you have it! It's gonna be another great year at the video store and the movie theater for horror fans. So get out of the house and go check one or two of them out. @ 1994 by Black Sunshine ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I believe what Karl means," Oslett said, "is that . . . Well, in the vast scheme of things, what does it matter if a few people die a little sooner than they would have in the natural course of events?" Mr. Murder, Dean Koontz ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. The Writer's Block By The Stranger... I just don't have enough time this month to jump into any subject. I wanted to talk about where writers get ideas or how you can make millions being a horror writer, but as I said, I don't have the time. Hopefully next months "Writer's Block" will be long, maybe even a two parter. Next time I think we'll have an essay on how to sell your novel and where writers get their ideas.. That sounds good. I will leave you with some tips I got from Stephen King. Not that I ever met him ofcourse, I read these in a magazine. King says that if your walking around or lying in bed or whatever, and you are hit with an idea, you shouldn't write it down. He feels that if the idea is worthy of being written into a story or poem, you should remember it well enouh when you sit down to write. I usually write down most of my story ideas and then sometimes do an outline of where I want the story to go. Nine out of 10 times my stories look nothing like the outline. Also King said that if you've come across a word in your story that you think is too bland and you want to pick up a thesauraus to find a better word, don't. King feels that you wrote the word you used for a reason and there is no need to find some fancy word that won't fit as well in the sentence. I've looked a few words up in my time, but I try not too anymore. Well thats all I wanted to add this month, or atleast all I have time for this month. Send me your ideas or comments. Keep writing, it's the only way you'll get better.. And I'll see you next time on the block. The Stranger... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A sick person pining away is one upon whom an evil spirit has gazed. Homer ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Final Words: Well thanks to everyone who picked up a copy of the pack and took the time to read the Death Certificate.. I hope we are informing you as well as entertaining you. Any comments or suggestions can be sent to any of the members of the group on just about any board in the 405 area. This pack may be small but remember its not the size that counts... It's how you use it... I think I'm getting off the subject. Thanks once again, have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Make sure your holidays are safe. Look for the next pack in Mid January. And keep reading. Soulz At Zero ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your fingers black from ink as your shaking hands glide down the page, trying to see if your name is on the death certificate. The wind screaming against the window, begging to get in, to get to you. And at last you find the dotted line, written in blood the letters that form your name. A sudden gasp caught in your throat, a flicker of the lights until they fade off completely. The cold touch of fingers as a hand reaches across the bare skin of your neck. Goosebumps rise from your neck just as the lights shine on once more. And once again you are alone. Before you lies the death certificate, your name is no longer written. You have escaped death, for now. The Stranger... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (C) Copyright SAZ 1994.