Soulz at Zero

Soulz at Zero (SAZ) was a lit group formed in 1994 by Jack Flack (Rob O'Hara) and The Stranger (Stephen Alba). SAZ released 25 monthly packs over a period of two years, beginning in September 1994 and ending in September 1996.^[1] The group took its name from a Souls at Zero poster Flack had in his bedroom at the time, with the trailing "s" in "Souls" changed to a "z".^[2] Soulz at Zero was so well known that their name was added to the "Elite Acronym List," which was used to separate "lamers" from "elite users."^[3]

In the 1990s, several ANSI art groups began including "lits" (electronic literary art) in their packs.^[4] Expanding on that idea, Soulz at Zero became the first dedicated online lit group. Each Soulz at Zero pack contained several original horror-themed poems and short stories. Each pack also contained an issue of "The Death Certificate," an original nonfiction magazine which included horror-related news, articles, book and movie reviews, and interviews. Soulz at Zero's innovation was the addition of ANSI artwork, color, and VGA graphics, although the focus of the group was focused on original fiction. The packs were designed to be viewed with an included viewer, which no longer runs on modern operating systems.^[5]

Soulz at Zero packs were distributed via BBS. Each month, readers could download new SAZ packs from either Where Shadows Wait (WHQ, run by The Stranger) or The Gas Chamber (US HQ, run by Jack Flack). As popularity of the group grew, so did its number of distribution sites. Before its demise, SAZ had member boards in over a dozen states and several countries including Canada and Portugal. With the introduction and growing popularity of the World Wide Web to the masses, Soulz at Zero slowly began to make the transition from the BBS world to the web. SAZ eventually added a web site and an FTP site to its official distribution points. In September 1996 Soulz at Zero released its last pack and disbanded, citing burnout and a general lack of public feedback/interest.^[6]

In 2002, online lit group Candelabra (CND)^[7] released a Soulz at Zero spotlight that included new work from former members of SAZ, along with audio (mp3) readings, audio commentaries, and an audio history of the group as told by Jack Flack and The Stranger. The audio history was reused in the Soulz at Zero episode of You Don't Know Flack.^[2]