Today I was contacted by one of our readers and asked to publish a response to a Horror Crypt article regarding problems in the horror community. While I initially responded that this blog isn't a place for personal rants or crusades against other bloggers, I agreed to give it a read. Fear of the Dark is a blog dedicated to bringing you horror news, reviews, and editorials, we're not in the business of drama. However, I feel this is well written and makes great points. -James
A few years ago I lived in Houston, worked with a guy who just seemed to be a trouble magnet. Whenever he’d go out drinking he always seemed to get into a fight. He’d come into the office telling me how the day before he’d been having a quiet beer and all of a sudden someone would pick a fight with him, and he’d end up having to defend himself by throwing a few punches too. I felt really bad for the guy, on the surface, he seemed really nice.
At thanksgiving one time, the office all went out for drinks. After a couple of hours I noticed our friend was starting to get a little drunk. As time went on, not only was he drunk, but he was getting a little obnoxious – staring guys out across the bar, not movie out of the way when people were trying to get past, and nudging them slightly when they had to push past him. It then dawned on me, this guy was an asshole – he was the one provoking people, not the other way around. Before that night he seemed to be a normal guy who had bad luck, but after seeing the truth I realized that trouble didn’t come looking for this guy, when a couple of beers were in him, he went looking for trouble – he was playing the victim.
When you only see half of the story, it’s easy to give your sympathies to the person telling it, but without all of the facts it’s easy to have the wool pulled over your eyes.
So who am I, and what does this have to do with anything?
I’m nobody really. My name is Kath (Katy) and I live in Texas and like horror movies. That’s all really. I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog myself, but am usually just happy to check out other blogs and horror sites. I’m active on twitter, and if you’re reading this and write a blog I probably follow you – I follow a lot of bloggers and writers.
So what about the story? Well, I read something today that brought that whole situation back into focus, well two things actually.
I used to read this persons blog a while ago, I think it’s at the lower end of the talent spectrum when it comes to writing, but it was something to read over a cup of coffee. The reason I stopped and never went back was one day, I was checking twitter and someone was objecting to a post Horror Crypt had made on their blog. They weren’t name calling, they weren’t insulting her, they were just saying that they found some of the things she’d said objectionable. It was well structured criticism.
I won’t name the person in question, I did contact them prior to writing this, and they wanted no part of it, so I sincerely apologize if anyone out there recognizes them and puts two and two together, but I feel this needs saying. The person feels that it was a one off incident that they have tried to distance themselves from since because it’s so far removed from why they got involved with the horror community, and not typical of the behaviour of most horror bloggers and fans. They feel that they said their piece at the time and moved on. They don’t want such negativity to reflect on the site they contribute to, so immediately distanced themselves from the situation and never looked back.
The subject in question was horror sequels. Horror Crypt had made some very derogatory comments in a blog about horror fans who like horror sequels. They included such comments as:
“Another reason that sequels get made is because there are a certain segment of horror fans out there who insist upon it. I mean seriously, I have been on some horror message boards and seen people say that they want another film just like the original one they had just seen. Wait a second there bucko, a film just like the one you’ve just seen? Wouldn’t that make it stale, boring and just a retread of what you have seen? Oh, that’s right you are an unimaginative twat who has the thought processes of a plague infested flea.”
I don’t know a horror fan who doesn’t like some sequels, so it seemed quite a nasty comment to make against most of your target readership.
I will try to respect the person on the other end of the debates wishes and remain vague on this. From what I’ve learned through talking to others, and I must stress this is rumour, the person was actually on friendly terms with Horror Crypt through e mail and a social network site. They started to get bombarded with stalker-esque emails almost instantly, and couldn’t go on twitter without being bombarded with private messages too. They tried to extricate themselves from contact, and were subjected to backhanded insults in Horror Crypts timeline. From what I understand, these were the kind of comments that the casual reader would not see the malice in, but the person that the comments were about would immediately know, and be insulted by, but if they speak out, would seem to be making a fuss about nothing and would be made out to be the bad guy. This is Horror Crypts currency; the smiley exterior that belies the poisonous person beneath, delivering sly insults yet remaining a beacon of light in the horror community.
There have been times when the mask has slipped though. After this fiasco, Horror Crypt posted a rebuttal to the whole thing on her blog; a very one sided diatribe where she simultaneously championed the idea of free speech while totally missing the point of it too. I myself agreed with the poster who had tackled her on her insults against the horror community, so tried to enter into some dialogue.
Here are the posts that I made on the site, seeing if I could get some kind of intelligent response:
Kathftworth: December 8, 2009 at 3:19 am
Is this about the thing with you and ******* on twitter? I follow both of you guys and I read it at the time. I don’t actually think it was about you having an opinion; it was that he thought you were insulting the people who did have a different opinion to you. I’ve read your blog on sequels, and I do think you were very harsh to people who like sequels. I don’t like Saw, but I do like Friday the 13th and a few others. But I do think Saw fans have a right to enjoy what they enjoy without being insulted for it.
******** even said at the time he thought you had a valid point of view, but there was just no need to be so insulting to other horror fans. I kind of agree, you made some good points about sequels in general but then you laid into the fans. I think you could have got your point across without doing that. So it wasn’t your right to have an opinion or your point of view that was being called into question, it was what you said about other horror fans.
I love our right to free speech here as much as you, but I don’t think that’s what it was about. I also like reading your blog, and blogs of other horror women, I have no female horror friends at all, so I love this. But I just don’t think it paints us as female horror fans in a very good light to be so nasty.
Bloofer Lady: December 8, 2009 at 9:07 pm
First off, I would like to thank you for your comment. I have to approve all comments before they appear on here so that is why your comment did not appear right away. I work long hours and sometimes it takes me a while to get on here.
I don’t understand how I could be seen as particularly nasty for my opinion on horror sequels when there are others who are far more harsh in their opinions about them than myself. Also, I don’t see how I am giving female horror fans a bad name just for giving my opinion, because that is all it is, an opinion. If people are offended by my opinion than that is not my fault since I am not responsible for anybody else besides myself. What WAS nasty was ******** treatment of me on a public forum. His intent was to try to humiliate me in the public Twitter feed and when that didn’t work he huffed off and then blocked me. As far as I am concerned his points are not valid due to all of this. If he had taken the mature route and made a post here instead then maybe he would be shown some respect by me. Respect is a two way street and you have to show some to earn some.
Kathftworth December 10, 2009 at 3:46 am
Okay, thank you. I’ve never posted on a blog before so I wasn’t sure. I do follow you on twitter, and seeing your post after reading my comment and the subsequent joke with your friend does make me wonder how seriously I’m being taken though.
About the whole “gives female horror fans a bad name” thing. I guess I just don’t really see the need for the whole angry bitch persona a lot of female bloggers seem to adopt. I tend to switch off when someone gets that way and don’t really take them seriously any more. I’m considering starting a blog myself, and I think I’d probably try to put intelligent opinion across rather than resorting to calling anyone a “unimaginative twat who has the thought processes of a plague infested flea” or “idiots because they are the ones going out spending their parents hard earned cash”.
I’m not here to defend somebody else’s actions, but I don’t see how challenging your opinion on twitter is any different from doing it here. Each is a public forum. You didn’t really seem to have any response to it beyond “it’s my opinion” so I’m not surprised it didn’t go further.
You continually say “it’s just my opinion”, “I should be allowed to have my opinion”, “we have free speech, so I can have my opinion”. A fundamental part of free speech and being able to put opinion out there is the right of others to challenge that opinion, especially if it’s deemed offensive. You keep defending your right to say what you said, which was never the issue. Your defense of “my opinion isn’t nasty because there is worse out there” seems to be another diversion from the actual real point to all of this, the question you still haven’t answered, and that is why do you feel the need to insult other horror fans in such a way? And me, with Friday the 13th being my favorite series, which is almost the very definition of the same movie being made over and over again, which is kind of the appeal, does that make me an “unimaginative twat who has the thought processes of a plague infested flea”?
It’s all well and good saying it’s not your fault if someone is offended by your opinion, but if you put a direct insult out there like that, then of course it’s your fault. A writer should take responsibility for their own words, especially if they are direct insults like yours were.
I hope you don’t take offense at all of this, but as a female blogger I’ve previously enjoyed I’m just really struggling to see where you’re coming from this time.
Bloofer Lady: December 10, 2009 at 6:04 am
Is a male blogger considered to be an asshole if he has a strong opinion on a subject? Most likely not, so why is a female blogger considered to be a bitch if she does? I think the most important thing that you have pointed out in your reply to me is the fact that there is a huge double standard when it comes to being opinioniated and having a blog. I have read Twitter posts by the people who run the huge horror sites that are twice as ‘nasty’ than anything I could ever come up with, but nobody complains about it when they do it. I have ALWAYS been a very opinionated person and I am not going to change just because a particular person deems it not their style or way of thinking. How boring would it be if every single person on this planet thought the same exact way?
No, I’m not responsible for people being insulted by my posts. Since I’m not a magician that can control the actions and feelings of others than I don’t see how I ever could. You are only the second person to complain about me ‘insulting horror fans’ and that really isn’t my problem. If you are personally insulted by what a complete stranger writes then look inside yourself and try to figure out why you are feeling the way you are feeling. A direct insult is calling somebody out by name by the way.
So, you think that a person trying to start crap with me on Twitter is the same as writing to me on here? If you think that is the case then I’m afraid that we really don’t have anything left to discuss because it’s obvious that common sense has left the building.
I did actually post a rebuttal to this, that “bloofer lady” decided not to publish; whereby I said that I would have equal opposition to a male blogger being such an asshole in a post. It seems this is Horror Crypt’s style, to give people half the facts and show herself to be the injured party. Then she closes the channels of communication. It’s clear from the post above that the mask has well and truly slipped, but this is only the half of it – as we know, the “bloofer lady” does her dirty work behind the scenes. Not only did she deflect any valid argument against her, but I was subjected to being called a troll and a hater in her twitter feed, despite putting forward what I think was well reasoned criticism.
Following this debacle, the person who had done nothing more than oppose her viewpoint in the beginning literally left the issue alone. I followed both parties on twitter and that person never made another peep about it, while Horror Crypt wore it like a badge of honor, bringing it up at every opportunity, proud of the fact that she had offended someone and making out that they were over reacting. She thought herself some kind of horror rebel who was righting the wrongs of the horror world, and now she’s starting to get angry because there seems to be a backlash?
I stopped following Horror Crypt after the situation. Her negativity is not something I want in my twitter feed, let alone my life. I have heard rumors since that she actually started harassing the friends of this person in her own subtle style. That’s the thing with Horror Crypt, if somebody defends their friend then they’re a blind zealot, but if they agree with her then they’re “the good ones”. This is classic delusional behavior from a damaged individual.
This is my only word on this, I don’t wish to get into ongoing debate with someone who is so very damaged and bitter that they will have the last word purely because they seem to have nothing but hate and bitterness in their lives.
There is a wolf in your midst horror community, and she wears sheep’s clothing. She plays the part of the injured party well, but if you know what’s behind the scenes then her behavior and some of those comments she’s made will become very clear. I don’t condone her personal details being posted on twitter (how did the person have the details? Were they also stalked by her?), but equally I’m not surprised that Horror Crypt has started to reap what she sows.
The tile of her last blog was ‘What I think is wrong with the horror community’ when in truth, there’s nothing wrong with the horror community beyond what’s wrong with any community, in fact the horror community is better – a nicer bunch of people I couldn’t want to meet. Going back to my opening about the angry drunk who wonders why he always gets into fights, there is something wrong with the horror community, and it’s that Horror Crypt is in it. We don’t need her negativity and pettiness. She’s pulled the wool over too many people’s eyes, people who don’t know the full story. How many other horror bloggers have you seen get this kind of negativity? Probably none, because they don’t stab those who oppose them in the back like Horror Crypt does. There is a problem with the horror community, and it’s the fact that Horror Crypt is in it. Do us all a favor Horror Crypt and leave the blogging to those who have passion for the subject, and not the bitterness you have, because that really would be peachy keen.
I had heard sometime last week that the movie might be coming this way, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got a confirmation from Zeman himself. And, not only did he hook me up with the full details, but he asked if I would host a screening this weekend and introduce the film! That's right folks, if all goes as planned, I will be introducing the 9:20pm showing tonight, Saturday, 06/19/10. In fact, the entire FOTD crew (myself, James, and Kristy) will be in attendance, so it goes without saying that you should come out and join us!
