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Greetings Welcome to the first issue of The Dark Side of the Glass, the official newsletter of the Illuminati Mailing List. I am looking for people to help with the newletter, some have offered their help, but I haven't heard anything from them yet, so I am asking again. This will be the format for future issues, if it meets with everyone's approval. I would appreciate any feedback you have regarding any part of the newsletter. If you are interested in helping, please choose a section and begin working on something for the next issue. I will speak to any interested person in private message, please send your questions, comments, suggestions, etc. to MARRAH and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Please let me know if there are more topics or subjects you would like to see added to this newsletter. It is for all of you that I spend this time creating this monster masterpiece and if I don't get any responses, I will drop the idea. So please let me know. Always, Marrah

Issue #1 August 1998 Walking in shadows Feel like I'm drifting away Never able to touch a heart Too cold to live this way On the dark side of the glass Alone on the edge On the dark side of the glass I'm the outsider I'm the outsider Looking in. You can't run from what you are You can't hide all the pain When you look through empty eyes Night falls and the darkness remains On the dark side of the glass I'm the outsider I'm the outsider Looking in.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore

List Price: $23.00
Simon & Schuster
Copyright 1995

At last, a love story you can really sink your teeth into! With a psychedelic inventiveness that invites comparison with Kurt Vonnegut and Tom robbins, Christopher Moore, the author of Coyote Blue, spins a tale of vampires on the loose and in love in San Francisco.

When Jody wakes up in an alley, under a dumpster, with a badly burned arm and a pain in her neck, she knows this isn't going to be one of her better days. She feels awful, looks worse; her clothes are torn, her sense of smell is suddenly as shrp as an animal's, she can see heat, and she has superhuman strength. And one more thing - she has an insatiable thirst for blood. What she doesn't realize is that this is only the beginning...

C. Thomas Flood (Tommy to his friends) has just arrived in San Francisco, full of dreams of becoming the next literary wunderkind. Instead he ends up working at the local Safeway and playing frozen turkey bowling with the motley night crew. He's also sharing a crowded apartment with five Chinese men who want to marry him in order to keep from getting deported. Could things get any worse? One night Tommy meets the strikingly beautiful Jody on one of her nocturnal visits to the supermarket and gets the surprise of his life when the casual date they make to meet the next night (after sunset, of course) triggers the start of a relationship destined to span eternity. Life (and the afterlife) will never be the same....

So begins the zany and wildly different love story that is at the heart of Bloodsucking Fiends, a romance novel like none you've ever read before, and a bloodcurdlingly funny vampire story about passion, bloodlust, and blood loss. As in his earlier novels, Moore weaves a touching story that is funny and filled with characters both memorable and real.

Christopher Moore lives near Big Sur, California and can be reached by email at: BSFiends@aol.com

BUY THE BOOK

Release Date: August 21, 1998
New Line Productions

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Traci Lords and Kevin Patrick Walls.

Blade is the unforgettable legend of an immortal warrior who battles a thriving underworld of vampires seeking to decimate the human race. Born with vampire blood searing through his veins, Blade is half-human and half-vampire. Under the guidance of a professional vampire hunter, Blade's fierce powers are honed as he becomes a soldier and fearless champion of humanity. Blade is a post-modern vampire action thriller directed by Stephen Norrington.

While the BLADE character originated on the pages of Marvel Comics, the company will also be launching new BLADE comic books to coincide with New Line Cinema's film release. Begining August 18th (international distribution will follow), the BLADE Bookshelf Edition will be available, to be quickly followed by the BLADE Comic Book Miniseries. The miniseries will be an original story that spans four monthly issues. There are plans to as well. And -- for those who just can't wait -- Marvel has created a BLADE cybercomic at http://www.marvel.com/blade.

Check out Blade_ at the Official New Line Cinema Site

This movie has been rated 'R' by the Motion Picture Association of America Copyright© 1998 New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

List Price: $5.99
Ace Fantasy
Copyright 1993

My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me The Executioner. What I call them isn't repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires - and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer...

**********************************************************************

 
     A rich, melodious voice floated around us. "Anita, how good of you 
to come."
     The voice belonged to Jean-Claude, club owner and master vampire. 
He looked like a vampire was supposed to look. Softly curling hair 
tangled with the high white lace of an antique shirt. Lace spilled over 
pale, long-fingered hands. The shirt hung open, giving a glimpse of lean 
bare chest framed by more frothy lace. Most men couldn't have worn a 
shirt like that. The vampire made it seem utterly masculine.
     "Are you so insecure in your own powers, little animator? Do you 
believe that all your resistance to me resides in that piece of silver 
around your neck?"
     I didn't believe that, but I knew it helped. Jean-Claude was a 
self-admitted two hundred and five years old. A vampire gains a lot of 
power in two centuries. He was suggesting I was a coward. I was not.
     I reached up to unfasten the chain. He stepped away from me and 
turned his back. The cross spilled silver into my hands. A blonde human 
woman appeared beside me. She handed me a check stub and took the cross. 
Nice, a holy item check girl.

**********************************************************************

Anita Blake. Vampire hunter, Zombie animator, Necromancer, and all around fun girl. As P.N. Elrod stated, savvy, sassy, and tough. From the instant you begin, you're hooked. Never lacking for acerbic wit, Laurell K. Hamilton's characters are well-developed and real. After I finish one of her novels, I expect to pass Anita running down the street chasing someone. Hamilton's alternate history is concise, realistic, and not to outlandish to be believable.

Her characters are not all-powerful, they don't always win. They get beat up, they go to the hospital. Despite Anita's strength, she feels fear and pain, and has a run-in with an occasional bout of unadulterated lust. The other characters feel the brunt of her acid wit even in the most tense and stressful situations. Once you open yourself up to this new world, there's no turning back. You will be compelled to follow Anita's adventures through the next six volumes and then wait impatiently, with the rest of us, for Laurell to finish the next installment in the life of our heroine.

I recommend this book to any one who like a good story, who likes to laugh, to anyone with an imagination, and anyone who ever wondered what the world would be like if vampires and were-people mixed and mingled with humans out in the open.

BUY THE BOOK

See an awesome web page at: http://walden.mo.net/~eridine/laurell.html#books

Forever Knight Soundtrack
by Fred Mollin

List price: $15.98
Audio CD
GNP/Crescendo
Publication date: June 25, 1996

Forever Knight Theme * The Hunger * Dark Knight/Cherry Blossoms * Suite from Queen of Harps * Suite from The Hunted * Nick's Piano Theme/Suite from Forward into the Past * Black Rose * Suite from Amateur Night * Suite from Be My Valentine * Father Figure * Suite from Dark Knight * Touch the Night * Avenging Angel * Curiouser and Curiouser * Suite from Undue Process * Suite from A More Permanent Hell * Baby, Baby * Dark Side of the Glass

The Forever Knight Soundtrack is filled with incredibly rich music taken from 44 various episodes of the show. It contains fourteen instrumental songs, including the Forever Knight theme and a piano piece performed by Geraint Wyn Davies (Nick), four songs with lyrics and four short monologues by Nigel Bennett (Lacroix).

A Note From the Creator/Executive Producer: "I want an ancient string instrament. Something gothic...but with out the usual organ stuff. The cue also has to have an action element...something that moves." That's what I asked about a dozen prospective composers for in 1992, hoping that one of them would hit on the sound for FOREVER KNIGHT. Only one did - and it was a home run. From that first piece, which became note for note, our title theme, Fred Mollin has been a major part of Forever Knight's success. His music is more than underscore, it not only provides mood - but establishes a unity in concept and storytelling that, I think, may be unique in television. Enjoy these tracks. This is a master at work. -Jim Parriott

"If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't come back, hunt down the people who cancelled it and kill them." ALMOST Nigel Bennett, Lucien LaCroix of Forever Knight (I embellished a little), but I can't sing high enough praises for this CD. The music is incredible. If you are suffering from FK withdrawl due to a lack of the SciFi Channel like I am, this CD is a balm in the stormy sea of cancellation. A non-goth/vampire friend of mine - who never even heard of the show - asked me to dub the CD for him because he like the music so much. And to top off a really great CD, the booklet is packed full of photos from the cast (Geraint Wyn Davies *My Favorite Actor*, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, and Deborah Duchène) and some candid shots of Fred Mollin, Mark Banning, and Jim Parriott. There is even a guest photo of the gorgeous caddie! Not even the jewel case is left out of the fun...under the CD is a picture of Nick sticking his head out of the caddie's trunk. Buy this CD. It is worth ten times the list price. You won't be disappointed.

You can purchase the FOREVER KNIGHT SOUNDTRACK over the Internet at:

Music Store
Mr. Happy's Store

I am featuring myself this time, because i don't have anything from anyone else yet...you may submit your own work, someone you like (famous poets), or anyone else (provided you have their permission).

CAUCHEMAR
By: Maura Tremayne
Pitted darkness wakes thy light-blinded eye.
The rippl'd silk sleep blankets consciousness.
Above, floats the pinnacle moon-tide sky,
Whilst feaver'd air transforms to gentl'd caress.
Hecate, Mistress of the magick night
Feasts on the youth of foe and friend alike.
Which cold beauty endow'd she with gift'd sight
And, thus, prepar'd she to mortal death strike.
When, in fear, Nature's fragile heart expired
And, the soul, ebb'd of life, becomes a shade
That is to this earthly purgatory mired,
Whilst sustaining she, her dark masquerade.
She plays, thy master mistress of the stage
Time's decadent paramour, jaded, aged.

I had a thought, so I decided to share. The vampire myth has evolved with society. Early stories view the vampire as a solitary craeture, usually searching and failing to find its own kind or quarreling over hunting rights and territory, so they purposely avoided each other. Early human history consists of small tribes searching for food amd more or less hooking up with others of their own kind. Humanity has developed into a global community with a hierarchy of power, each country striving for some type of leverage or domination over the others. So now, we have assigned new roles to our vampires. We group them in cities and councils, give them a command hierarchy to follow and run them like a corporation. They backstab each other and fight for dominance. The "good" guys are democratic and rule with the imput of all the members. The imperialistic antagonists are bent on world domination and human subjugation.

It also strikes me as funny that the early vampires were all-powerful, bloodthirsty, and only really seen in the visions of the dying or the delusional. The creature came at night, took the life it wanted, and left without being seen. Occasionally, it spoke, leaving only a scketchy trace memory of its existence. The similarity to descriptions in the Old Testament I recall (admittedly halfheartedly) of the Christian God gives me great pause.

And wasn't Christ said to suffer for the sins of all people? It seems odd to me that the trend of the vampire is now to be a creature suffering not only for its own sins, but for the sins of the entire vampire race. Will this trend continue to play itself out? Will we be seeing guilt-free, rihteous vampires on television preaching to the others about how they to can live an angst-free life. All it takes is the sending of a $100,000 contribution to the Lestat de Lioncourt Foundation for Culturally Dispalced Vampires. No that isn't mascara and a manicure - those are her real lashes and fingernails... No that is NOT a twelve-billion-dollar watch on my wrist. I have NOT avoided any taxes either. All this money goes toward the needy vampires. Honest. They need it to live!

*Big Shiver* I sincerely hope not.
As always, just a scary thought for the day!

True or False?

Vlad "Tepes" Dracula inherited his last name from his father Dracul, who was honored with the name by the Christian Leaders for his defense of the faith and his country.

Answer in next issue.

This is the third time I've typed this, I keep losing it. So here goes: These addresses are kinda old so if you're interested in any of these newsletters, organizations, etc. you should write to them and see if they are still in operation before sending any money.

Vampire Junction c/o Candy Cosner 505 NW 13st Gainsville, FL 32601 $15 Nightmist Shadows of the Night PO Box 17006 Rochester, NY 14617-0306 $15 NOX c/o Loretta M. Accardo PO Box 2467 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163-2467 $12

The Dark Rose Journal Suite 107 8870 West Colonial Drive Ocoee, FL 34761 $??? Nocturnal Ecstasy Vampire Coven c/o DarleneDaniels PO Box 147 Palos Heights, IL 60463 $6 Dracula's Children PO Box 21022 Cranbrook, BC Canada, VIC 6K5 $17