I have so many thoughts on this, and my mid-30s ass is hopped up on an energy drink, so apologies in advance if this is somewhat disorganized.
I’m a Terrifier fan. In fact, Terrifier and Art the Clown inspired my WIP Funnybone. Recently I learned about Damien Leone’s Facebook post about horror and politics. I’ve already commented about it on one of my side blogs, but because of Terrifier’s hand in the creation of Funnybone, I feel the need to say something here.
When I was in high school, I went through a gore hound phase. I didn’t want subtlety or suspense—I wanted on-screen gore. The nastier and more shocking, the better. The furthest thing from my mind was any sort of message that the zombie and body horror movies I ate up could be sending, even when they were directly stated. (For example, the final battle between Lionel and his mom in Brain Dead/Dead Alive.) despite my own blackness—something I didn’t start unpacking until the BLM protests in 2020—I wasn’t thinking about what Candyman was saying about racism.
A couple years ago, I took an art history class, and I learned a LOT about art. That, and becoming more active in slasher fandom—which gave me opportunities to participate in discourse on some of the movies I was watching—was how I started thinking more about the movies I was watching.
All this to say, I can understand someone not realizing that horror is political. I can understand people thinking it’s just blood and guts or spooky ghosts and shit. I get that. I understand that someone can watch these movies or read these books without paying attention to what the art is trying to say.
But I also believe that creators should know better. Whether they mean to or not, the art they make sends a message and generates discourse. As artists, as creators, the act of creation allows us to understand things like symbolism, story beats, character arcs, etc. Thus, the way we engage with art is going to be different than those who aren’t writers, artists, and other creators. Our understanding of these facets of storytelling gives us an ability to analyze what we’re engaging with. (I’m not saying non-creators don’t also have this ability. This is just something I’ve noticed as I’ve grown as a writer.) This means we should be able to see the messages—political or otherwise—that a movie is sending.
Damien Leone is wrong. Horror—indeed, all art—is political. Art is a mirror held up to the world. It’s one of the many ways we can see how people look at and understand the world around them. Horror in particular is a reflection of societal fears at the time of its creation. But, as others have pointed out on Tumblr, horror is also a safe space for marginalized communities. After Trump’s reelection, I started reading and watching more female rage as a way to engage with the rage I was feeling at being let down by the system yet again.
Damien Leone’s neutrality will not benefit him. I’m not surprised that a privileged white man is thinking this way, but I’m very disappointed to find out that the creator of one of my new favorite movies (2 and 3 are just okay) has these views. I wouldn’t be surprised if the content of the Terrifier movies would lead to them being banned under Project 2025. As the saying goes, you may not care about politics, but politics cares about you.
The other thing about this is that there is nothing toxic or extreme in saying “fuck fascists”. A person is allowed to not want bigots to enjoy their work. When it comes to fascism, racism, homophobia, etc, there is no “both sides” of the issue. There are people who want equal rights, and there are people actively working to take those rights away.
So. Because of Damien Leone’s harmful take and the role that Terrifier played in the creation of Funnybone, I’ve found myself wondering if I’m going to even publish Funnybone. While I’m still part of the Terrifier fandom (…for now), associating myself with Terrifier also leaves a bad taste in my mouth thanks to Damien Leone’s post. Unfortunately, that’s trickled down to Funnybone a little bit.
At this point, I’m going forward with publishing Funnybone once I’ve finished its revisions and had it beta-read. As a female writer, I don’t want a man to have that much influence on what I create and choose to show to the world, not to mention the fact that Funnybone is in some ways my own middle finger to book bans and Project 2025. I’ve enjoyed writing this, and I don’t want some garbage Centrist to deprive me of that joy.
But this is not a short process, and I may still change my mind depending on how things go from here.
