I was very heartbroken to hear the news of genre writer and artist Chas. Balun’s recent passing. He succumbed to a long battle with cancer on December 18, 2009. The man needs little introduction to most horror fans but for those who don’t know, Balun’s unique, from-the-gut, often hysterical brand of editorial and film critique helped define the way many horror fans viewed our beloved genre. His articles in Fangoria were always a great read but it was his column for GoreZone magazine, “Piece O’ Mind”, that really stood out to me. I eagerly read each word, learning about all the unknown horrors that awaited me. But I think Chas. will mostly be known for his influential publication Deep Red, which officially hit shelves with a bloody splat in December 1987. A big-brother alternative to Fangoria, Deep Red turned many fans onto low budget and foreign films that would have otherwise remained in obscurity. The cover of issue one proudly depicts a little girl with her face blown off, a glorious moment of showering gore from Lucio Fulci’s zombie epic, The Beyond. It’s black, white and red colour scheme was a bold statement in graphic simplicity. I knew upon first glance that this was the mag for me. To say he was an inspiration is a grave understatement. His was the voice I followed during the 1980s, a time when my young inner horror child was finding its legs. Deep Red was my bible. I yearned for each new issue, traveling downtown to the only comic book shop that dared to carry it. Within it’s pages, he introduced a hilarious double rating system that consisted of the “Gore Score” and “Skull”. The “Gore Score” measured the amount of carnage in the film (0 – Marry Poppins to 10 – Reanimator). The “Skulls” system rated the over all quality of the film with four skulls being excellent, down to a “Bow Wow” which landed the movie in the “Video Dog House”!
His uncompromising, no bull-shit approach was honest and always from the heart. He was also a very talented graphic artist handling layout duties on Deep Red, coming up with horror t-shirt designs for RottenCotton.com and the black metal band Necrophagia. He illustrated book cover designs for his own publications Ninth and Hell Street, The Gore Score and contributed demented stories to FantaCo’s short lived GoreShriek, a comic aimed straight at the hearts of gore hounds.
Chas. emailed me a couple of times a few years back, totally out of the blue, just to let me know he loved the artwork I was doing at Rue Morgue, proving his finger was always on the pulse of an evolving genre. It was a major high that I’ve never come down from. I sent him an excited letter back, thanking him for the kind words. It’s a shame I never got to meet him in person, if only to shake his hand and thank him for the endless inspiration and delivering the “gore groceries” all of these years.
His voice spoke to a generation of horror fans and rest assured it has been heard. Thank you for sharing it Chas., it’s truly your own and will be sorely missed by many.
Gary Pullin
New Years Eve 2009
