Welcome to the blog version of a series I started on Youtube! In this series, I cover the myriad of issues within the horror community. From representation in books to authors taking the horror off the page and into real life, we will explore these issues and more. If you want to understand the essence of this series, watch this video!
When this video was published, a reviewer in the community took the initiative to tag authors mentioned in this post I made on Instagram. Interestingly enough, this person was following me on multiple platforms (including my Youtube). They took it upon themselves to not only inform authors who have displayed a distinct lack of care for the safety of women within the community but also took the time to let another reviewer who threatened me for this DNR (Do Not Read) list I had posted screenshots of our conversations on Twitter.
Shaw also posted the classic victim ‘warp the conversation’ Facebook post he does every time he’s called out for inappropriate behavior so… that is nothing new at all. The horror boys were in a tizzy over the DNR list and video, as expected. They’re very used to doing what they want regardless of the harm they cause and I imagine it’s a bit strange to suddenly have women calling you out and refusing to let you off the hook for that harm.
With that being said, I would encourage all of them to do some reflection on how things got this way, why myself and others felt this series was necessary, and perhaps read some feminist literature to unpack their misogyny.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
In this thought-provoking and meticulously researched book, Bates fearlessly uncovers the dark underbelly of a deeply entrenched issue, shining a spotlight on the various manifestations of misogyny that continue to harm women worldwide. With razor-sharp insight, she navigates the complex web of toxic masculinity, gender biases, and harmful stereotypes that reinforce damaging attitudes toward women.
It is not uncommon for horror fans (especially extreme horror fans) to close their circle and vehemently defend their authors when accusations arise. This is often because taboo genres such as extreme horror or dark romance get a lot of flack due to the subject matter they cover. However, I feel it’s time we examine how often members of these types of communities perpetuate their own stereotypes.
After all, they want us to remember that just because an author writes about these taboo subjects- well, it doesn’t mean they support them in real life. However, we have regularly seen these authors (and their fans) take things well past pen and paper and into the real world. We saw this with the Shaw situation when he took revenge in a very real-world fashion. We’ve seen it with author Jay Sizemore writing SA (sexual assault) poetry about real women and we’ve continued to see it through the rampant bigotry and misogyny within online horror spaces.
Recently, I stumbled upon a post on Reddit titled ‘Fuck Otis Bateman’. Before we delve into this, I want to mention that I cannot speak on the contents of Bateman’s twitter as I had previously blocked him due to his support of Matt Shaw. Therefore, as I have seen none of the content referenced in this post, I won’t be focusing on it, but instead, I will focus on the response to this post and how it ties into yet another scandal for this author.
In this Reddit post that I believe may have since been deleted, a user expresses their disgust towards Bateman for sharing real snuff film clips and videos of women being beaten and groped. This is a normal response to stumbling upon such content as it again ceases to be fiction or a persona when you involve actual people.
The comments ranged from a bit of whataboutism regarding the artists that this user supports (the user is an alleged abuse victim as well as a minor) to ‘what did you expect from a splatter author?’ which I think the answer to that would be, “for the author to stick to fictional people.”
Because again, if your primary defense is that it is just a genre, just fiction, and not something the author supports in real life you cannot then turn around and make excuses such as, “You mean to tell me the authors of the most reprehensible fiction on the planet aren’t good people? I am shocked!” or use ‘he writes splatterpunk’ as defense as that directly contradicts the original ‘it’s just fiction’ defense.
What that says to me is that people expect these authors to take the horror off the page and into real life. That it is expected to have bad people writing splatterpunk and that you enjoy giving your support to people who DO support these things in real life. It makes it difficult to advocate for your genre when you’re the one giving it such a bad reputation by stating this is the norm for the genre.
So many people want to cry and moan about how they’re being unfairly persecuted and yet they then go on to make claims like these. It makes no sense!
Because then, what we must explore is the why. Why does he focus on violence against women? Why does he think it’s okay to share content displaying violence against actual women? What does he get from that? Furthermore, why do you have the need to defend that? Is it so you can continue accessing those books? So then why are these books so important to you? Why are YOU comfortable excusing real-life harm to women or marginalized communities?
The answer may simply be because you’re a misogynist or bigot yourself. That you need to unpack the socialization that you’ve received in life that makes the pain of women palatable and titillating for you. It goes far beyond any morbid thrill when you find actions such as Bateman’s acceptable. Bateman hasn’t just stopped at sharing these images and videos of real women, but he has gone on to manipulate and harm women within the horror community as well.
Recently, a reader in the community exposed authors Otis Bateman and Stephen Cooper for sharing nude photos of women without their permission. Otis allegedly obtained these images through his friendships with these women and the classic, “I’m divorcing my wife” excuse. Otis then shared these images through Dropbox and DMs with Stephen Cooper while making derogatory comments about them, including mocking one reader for being a rape victim.
It’s clear from these messages that these men are comfortable speaking about women as though we are objects to be consumed. We are here to be violated, abused, and gawked at for their pleasure without any thought being given to us as actual people. We have value when we can provide them with our money and platforms through purchasing and reviewing their books, but our value ends there. Should we cause problems or contradict them in any way we are then a problem, an issue, and obviously in the wrong space.
As mentioned in the video, the response to Matt Shaw’s misogynist tirade was disappointing to see. The supposed allies of women in the community remained silent or stood by Shaw’s side long after he had crossed the line, and the same can be said for his fans. Many listened solely to what Shaw had to say on Facebook (in that overly wordy, theater-kid way that he does), happily digesting the story that carefully removed details to shine him in the best light. Others simply didn’t care what Hailey said and took no issue with this escalation in behavior- they took part in mocking Hailey, calling her names, and questioning her validity as an extreme horror fan.
Please note that not all authors included in the above slideshow defended Shaw.
This time, however, the reaction to this situation was swift, with authors and readers alike condemning both Otis Bateman and Stephen Cooper for their behavior. Authors such as Aron Beauregard, Stuart Bray, and many many more made public statements about Bateman and Cooper and… we noticed. We noticed the difference in their reaction, their ability to find the words without being forced to say them- we noticed that this time it was incredibly different.
And I’m happy about that. I’m genuinely happy that these guys have chosen to protect the women in the community by declaring actions like this unacceptable. In my opinion, it shows growth. However, I do wish these men were better able to identify misogyny when it isn’t overtly dangerous. When it isn’t written out like they’re five. Based on the contrast in their response, it gives me the impression that these men can only recognize these things when the situation is very clear-cut (in this instance, outright illegal) but either lack the ability or the willingness to evaluate instances of misogyny when they are less obvious.
Amidst the backlash, Bateman nuked all of his accounts save for his Reddit account, where he regularly interacts with porn accounts and Cooper released this rather lengthy statement.
Note that Cooper immediately frames himself as the victim in this situation by describing himself as lonely- struggling with life and in need of love and affection, which is by design as he also states it is his choice. He’s leaning toward the incel rhetoric that men harm women because women don’t give them sex or in this case ‘love’.
I find it interesting that he gave it such ‘little thought’ as if the act of sharing someone’s nude photos without their permission is not only violating but again- illegal. Say no to revenge porn, kids.
When Cooper begins discussing private message? Well, it just kills me because, yeah buddy- she didn’t expect her private photos to be shared either. No one is going to feel bad that your private conversations were exposed! It is also ludicrous to describe any of those messages as being supportive to a friend in any way- to be, that reads as a complete lie. If that is somehow the truth- your misogyny runs incredibly and disgustingly deep if you think helping friends means sharing women’s private photos without their permission and mocking them for the SA they’ve experienced.
Cooper rounds it off by once again reminding people to feel sorry for him because gosh darn, life is rough. The apology provides consistent excuses, so it isn’t an apology at all. It’s damage control and it’s very bad damage control.
And this is what I talk about when I say that this genre has become a breeding ground for incels and misogynists to prey on victims.
It does not escape me that many, many people read these genres for cathartic reasons- including women. And in nearly all the situations I have spoken to the women harmed by these men- the women mention having feelings of being lonely, wanting community, wanting to belong, and wanting support… they read these books not just for entertainment but because many of them have already been victims of misogynist violence in their lives.
And I believe that many of these men know that. They exploit these women by pretending to be supportive, only to deceive and harm them. It’s classic predatory behavior.
Ultimately, it is up to the men in the community to use their positions of influence and power to make change within the horror space. It is crucial for them to keep speaking out against the negative individuals in the community and actively listen when affected communities voice their concerns. This situation has given me hope that these men are taking steps to fix these problems, but only time will tell if it’s a lasting change.
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