B-Books Bring Movie Killers to the Written Page

So you thought that you'd seen the last of Jason X, eh? Apparently, not only is the robotic Power Ranger-form of Jason Vorhees back, but so is his original, Camp Crystal Lake-residing self, along with Freddy K., and for the first time in a long while, the two won't be part of the same franchise. You see, this new book company called Black Flame Publishing (http://www.blackflame.com/blackflame.html) has recently reared its wonderfully ugly head, and it has been given permission from New Line Cinema to create new, original sequels to the famous slasher franchises we know and love… in book-form. Black Flame publisher Marc Gascoigne recently spoke to Fangoria.com about the new horror lines his company is creating, and here's a bit of what he had to say:

"It all boils down to two simple rules, really: Be true to the subject matter, and be any good… If you're writing about Jason, it's gotta be Jason. He can't give it all up in chapter six and settle down to run a convenience store. The guy's a machete-wielding maniac, pure and simple. Meanwhile, yeah, OK, so these books are kinda pulpy. Damn right they are! Cheap trash, though? Perish the thought! We might be firmly in the land of the B-movie here, but what made the movies so popular was a certain flair and quality, and our books are written the same way. The last thing we want is for a curious reader to try one, only to hurl it away in disgust at a lame plot or an unrecognizable star. Pulp and proud, that's us, and we're damn good at it"

I don't know about you, but this sounds quite kick-ass to me. And, in case you were wondering, here's what I've gathered are the first few original books that Black Flame will be putting out (and keep in mind this does not include the many novelizations they've already made based on films such as Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre):

- Jason X: Planet of the Beast
- Jason X: The Experiment
- Final Destination: End of the Line
- Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath
- Friday the 13th: Hell Lake
- Nightmare on Elm Street: Suffer the Children
- Jason X: Death Moon

The books will begin hitting shelves in June 2005, with the first release being "Jason X: Planet of the Beast." June cannot come soon enough…