By: M form Buffalo

M form Buffalo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:51:39 +0000

Like you said, Chas was a pioneer horror fan who took his enthusiasm to a new level with writing and publishing. But also, he didn’t kiss a$$! When he liked something you knew it and when he thought it blew he, just flat out, said it. He was one of the first writers to call out Peter Jackson for his CGI over-indulgence. He could have gone the Fangoria route, glossed over the details and tried to take his magazine to more commercial areas but no. If you can find it try to pick up his Fulci book: Beyond the Gates. It’s crass, crude and totally fun to read. I’m really sorry to hear he’s gone.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:55:24 +0000

As somebody who was publishing a horror/trash movie zine back in the 80s, Chas. was a definite influence and somebody who I admired, even if we didn’t always see eye to eye on a topic. The fact that his books and mags were being *published* and professionally printed — not photocopied on the sly in my employer’s mail room or run off at 3 AM in a West Philly Kinko’s while my punk rock pals looked the other way — made him like a rock star in my eyes, though somebody who was totally accessible to his audience. By championing Italian splatter flicks Balun encouraged me to seek out things that would never make their way to my local theaters, a pursuit that planted the seeds of my now full-blown love of Eurotrash. By losing Balun and Paul Naschy in the same year the horror genre has lost two of its biggest champions and true fans. When my daughter goes off to bed tonight the first thing I’ll break out to ring out 2009 is my DVD of THE BEYOND, though I wish I still had the murky dupe of the uncut Japanese laserdisc I got via Balun many moons ago. It would be so fitting.

Comments on: RIP Chas Balun, a true champion of the genre.

By: M form Buffalo

By: Dan