| Nikolas Schreck | |
|---|---|
Nikolas Schreck with his wife, Zeena Schreck |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | California, United States |
| Genres |
Deathrock Gothic rock Experimental |
Nikolas Schreck is an American musician, author, film-maker and religious teacher.
Founder and frontman of the experimental occult band Radio Werewolf from 1984–1993, Schreck is also the author of several books on true crime, cinema, literature, and magic. He directed the documentary Charles Manson Superstar.[1] and has appeared in several other documentaries and films. He is married to Zeena Schreck (formerly Zeena LaVey).
Before his conversion to Tantric Buddhism, and his renunciation of Satanism, Schreck was a prominent black magician who worked closely in the late 1980s with Church of Satan founder Anton Lavey, although he was not a member of the Church. Schreck and his wife Zeena co-directed the Werewolf Order and were high-ranking members of the Temple of Set before resigning with several others due to religious and administrative differences. In 2002, Schreck co-founded the Sethian Liberation Movement (formerly the Storm) which is currently located in Berlin.
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Schreck founded the band Radio Werewolf in 1984. His theatrical ritual performances as the group's lead singer, billed as Rallies of the Radio Werewolf Youth Party, provoked controversy, as did provocative appearances on several television programs. Tension over the contentious nature of the band's music led to the departure of co-founder Evil Wilhelm from Radio Werewolf shortly after their participation in the notorious 8-8-88 Rally in San Francisco.[2][3] Although there was hostility during the breakup, the band members later reconciled. Schreck's 1989 LP The Fiery Summons was the first Radio Werewolf album, although the previous formation recorded a still unreleased album in 1987.
Key to the bands beliefs about themselves was the existence of what they termed the "dominant frequency" or "alpha frequency." Schreck explained the band by saying "Radio Werewolf is a sound, a vibration, a certain frequency from another world. I just transmitted it. The bodies and minds of all the people who tuned into that frequency were the mediums that broadcast came through on. I only get credit for ”creating” it because I have a big mouth, I was in the front of the stage, and I was the one the media paid the most attention to."[4]
Zeena Schreck served as Radio Werewolf co-director from 1989-1993, the group's most prolific period, which saw the release of their recordings Songs for the End of the World, The Lightning and the Sun, Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera!, Witchcraft-Boots: A Tribute to the Sinatras and Love Conquers All.
Schreck's 1989 documentary, Charles Manson Superstar, told the story of Charles Manson's life as well as interviewing him in San Quentin Prison. The documentary featured parts of an originally hour and a half long interview of Manson, as well as many photographs and video footage, of the Manson Family, Spahn Ranch, and other related topics. Also discussed were Manson's alleged ties to Nazi movements (which he denied) and to various Satanic movements. Other Video Werewolf releases include The Zurich Experiment, which documented Radio Werewolf's last public concert.
Schreck's "The Manson File" (1988) is a sympathetic study of the philosophy, music and spiritual ideas of convicted murderer Charles Manson. The book brings Manson's previously obscure ATWA ecology concept and his religious devotion to the Gnostic god Abraxas to public attention. Schreck posited that the demonization of Manson (and perhaps the martyrdom of Manson by other groups) is the result of media sensationalism.[5]
In April 2011, Schreck's The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman, a new and greatly expanded edition of over 900 pages was released in France as "Le Dossier Manson : Mythe Et Réalité D’un Chaman Hors-La-Loi". Schreck delves deeply into previously unknown aspects of Manson's life and the Tate-La Bianca murders to present evidence that the "Helter Skelter" theory put forth by prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi had little if anything to do with the reality of the crimes. According to Schreck, the murders of Sharon Tate and the others actually resulted from conventional underworld rivalries between drug dealer associates Charles Watson and Jay Sebring, who Schreck contends was linked to the Mafia.[6]
As of August 2011, the new version of Schreck's book became available in English format, although only in a limited edition, signed printing, which was marketed on his personal website. A mass market edition was published in December 2011. Leading alternative culture source Metal Impact praised The Manson File, congratulating it on its comprehensive view of the subject, and for taking an academic stance, rather than the sensationalism of Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.[7]
Schreck's Flowers From Hell: A Satanic Reader was released in 2001. The book detailed the history of the use of Satan as a symbol, archetype, and deity in fiction throughout history, from ancient to modern times, and through several different cultures.[8]
The Satanic Screen: An Illustrated Guide to the Devil in Cinema was also released in 2001. The book revealed a detailed study of the use of the devil (in all his various forms) in film media throughout its existence. In an interview with American Movie Classics, Schreck noted that: "I think people's ideas of the devil and of Satan in the 20th century have largely been shaped and dictated by imagery from the cinema. I've studied the black arts in history and practice for many decades, and I found that Satanism had been looked at in terms of literature and music but never in terms of cinema."[9][10]
In Demons of the Flesh: The Complete Guide to Left Hand Path Sex Magic, released in 2002, Schreck and his wife Zeena explored the theory, history and practice of erotic sorcery and worship of the feminine in all of the world's religions. Presented as a ritual fusing of male and female, the book refutes common Western Satanic misconceptions of the left hand path by tracing its origins in Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism, and presents a crash course of magical exercises based on the Schrecks' own experiences as practitioners of what they term the sinister current.[11]