Paper letters from mid-1990s members of the ZX Spectrum scene

Swapping and snailmail — the culture of exchanging floppy disks, cassettes, and magazines via regular (snail) mail, without which the demoscene of the USSR and Eastern Europe in the 80s–90s might not have existed.

Before the internet, paper letters connected active users from different cities and countries. Exchange was usually handled by a dedicated person — a swapper. They maintained contacts with dozens, sometimes hundreds of people. How quickly new releases, software, games and demos spread across the scene depended on them. Swappers often also sold software in their city.

Here are scans of paper letters from the domestic ZX Spectrum scene. In these letters you will find news, plans, and discussions of software, games and the demoscene.

Filter letters by correspondent: Alex Injector¹ , BeS^Phantom Family¹ , Burst^Flash¹ , D-Man^Eternity Industry² , Demiurg Ash^Eternity Industry¹ , Digital brain¹ , Grey^GSB¹ , LooKER^Magic Soft¹ , Maxwell^Jurassic soft¹ , Monster^Sage¹ , NickZX¹ , Paracels^Eternity Industry⁷ , Prime¹ , Sergius Puzzler^Proxium³ , Snake^Eternity Industry¹ , Unbeliver^SPEED co.²⁶ , UVI Soft^C.I.C.¹ , VBI³ , Viator^Avalon² , ZePagan^Playgear¹ , Андреев Андрей Геннадьевич¹

published: 18 May 2026

The controversy surrounding the articles about Digital Brain in Born Dead The authors are upset about articles published in the magazine Born Dead, believing that Digital Brain was portrayed unfairly and publicly embarrassed. They feel that the criticism and “scandalous details” insulted not only DB personally but also the entire Eternity Industry group, so they demand a public apology. From Snake^Eternity Industry (Kovrov, Russia) to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 18 May 2026

I'm 15 years old, and I love drawing on “Art Studio 128 + Mouse” The letter was written by a 15-year-old boy named Vlad, nicknamed “Prime,” after seeing an advertisement in the magazine Spectrofon. He describes his ZX Spectrum setup and peripherals, his interest in drawing and software, asks for a catalog of new programs, and lists the magazines and games he owns. He also mentions having the game “Mortal Combat-1” and apologizes for spelling mistakes in Russian. From Prime (Izhevsk, Russia) to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 11 May 2026

Oh dear, why on earth did I have to be born in Primorsky Krai... BeS from Vladivostok sends Maxim a CD of unreleased tracks, asks him to keep it under wraps, dreams of getting into Enlight'98, and envies those who live closer to the center of the stage. From BeS^Phantom Family to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)  ·  27 April 1998

published: 9 May 2026

This comprehensive paper was written with the aim of improving the quality of the software BURST/FLASH/ASM writes to the leader of the Samara hackers, pointing out specific bugs: File Commander 4.04 incorrectly calculates free space, ProTracker 3.31 is glitchy, and the sound in the compiled block doesn’t match the editor. He asks that they be informed—Maxsoft and MMCM—that their software is unfinished. From Burst^Flash to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 8 May 2026

To drink or not to drink—that’s entirely up to me DB responds to an article in Born Dead—denying the story about a drunken brawl involving PYRODEX and hinting that he might publish compromising material in return: a drunken photo of the editor himself. He demands a correction in the next issue. From Digital brain to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 8 May 2026

Returned from the army - Speccy is alive, but the hardware is gone Grey/GSB from a small provincial town writes to the Born Dead editorial team immediately after returning from the army. You can hardly find a Speccy there—whoever had one has either thrown it under the bed or switched to a PC. He repaired his GadaptoD 128 himself, but software is a problem—there's nothing in town, only pen pals from Khabarovsk and Rostov-on-Don help him out. He read in Born Dead magazine about a Samara CD with emulators and software and asks UnBELiEVER to burn and send one for a fee. Internet access is still unavailable—his boss at work doesn't allow it, and paper letters are more pleasant. He ends with the traditional: Speccy lives forever, Z80 is the BEST of all. From Grey^GSB to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 7 May 2026

Disk problems in a small town UVI Soft / C.I.C. writes to Maxim that he received the package containing the discs, but the letter arrived torn—the postal service is unreliable. He complains about problems with the discs in his small town and asks how things are in Samara. From UVI Soft^C.I.C. to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 7 May 2026

This is a person writing to you from the depths of the countryside who has been working at SPECTRUME for over 10 years. Nick zx, a seasoned Spectrum user with 10 years of experience, writes to the editors of BORN DEAD newspaper, expressing admiration for the publication and making two requests: to send the newspaper immediately upon release (he currently receives it two months late) and to send materials from all exhibitions for 2000, as he cannot attend in person. He expresses his willingness to collaborate on an ongoing basis on mutually beneficial terms. From NickZX to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)

published: 7 May 2026

GIFT for MMCMa Monster hands Max two floppy disks: one with an AVI/FLI converter for Speccy (he asks not to use it commercially), the other with a demo gift for MMCMa in the army. He asks him to disassemble the ALASM file. He wishes him a Happy New Year. From Monster^Sage (Samara, Russia) to Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia)