Chas Balun(1948-2009)
- Additional Crew
Chas Balun was without a doubt a horror fan's horror fan. Renowned for
his brutally blunt and profane in-your-face wildman writing style,
wholehearted and unapologetic love for hardcore gruesome horror
splatter cinema, and, most of all, his trademark savagely witty,
sardonic, and unconventional iconoclastic perspective, Chas was a true
cult figure of horror journalism with a strong and substantial fan
following. Born in 1948 in Compton, California, Balun grew up as a
hippie in the 1960s in Southern California. He wrote his first book
"The Connoissseur's Guide to the Contemporary Horror Film" in 1983.
Chas became a regular contributing writer for "Fangoria" magazine in
1987 starting with issue # 62. He achieved his greatest enduring cult
fame with his fiercely caustic, outspoken, and opinionated "Piece of
Mind" column in the spin-off publication "GoreZone." This column ran
from 1988 to 1991 and was one of the most popular and beloved features
in the magazine. Balun was the founder of his own self-published
magazine "Deep Red" and the author of the novel "Ninth and Hell
Street." Among the nonfiction books Chas wrote are "The Gore Score,"
"More Gore Score," "Horror Holocaust," and "Beyond Horror Holocaust."
Besides writing, he was also an underground cartoonist, a graphic
designer (he designed the monster for the 1991 Fred Olen Ray horror
comedy "Evil Toons"), and a t-shirt designer. Balun lived with his wife
Pat in his home in Westminster, California. Chas died from cancer at
age 61 on December 18, 2009. Although he's sadly no longer with us,
Balun's fiery love and unbridled passion for the horror genre shall
continue to bleed on for all eternity in his exceptionally lively,
funny, and always entertaining say-it-like-you-see-it writing.