Room For All

Have you checked the ABOUT page? Did you see our motto? Omnis Habet Locum. ‘Everyone has a place.’

See. I don’t agree with a lot of the world. Considering how big it is, that’s no surprise. In the fight between you and the world, back the world. It’s bigger, more politically connected and better financed.

Similarly, there’s a lot of things in the pop culture of horror, sci-fi and inbetween that I find gross: fans going Tex Avery over a scantily clad woman (and subsequently, women doing what they can to solicit those reactions); racist and homophobic comments; blatantly derivative ideas produced by studios maintaining low overheads to have a high profit margin.

Hell is other people and when you get involved in a scene, you’ve got to accept a little bit of hell. As much as the Asylum might cheapen the genre, it’s got the right to be here. As much as barely covered tits might still keep the conversation to a hormone-injected neanderthal grunt, I’d be in the wrong to tell someone how to dress or how to act.

Still, there’s no room for hypocrisy. I can like the work of G.G. Allin and H.P. Lovecraft but I can’t overlook their racism just because I like a song and story, respectively. I can’t expect the culture to bend to my will and have everyone think like me. I’d hate it if I were to be in a scene where someone told me I’d have to change and adopt someone else’s perspective. I’d call bullshit!

The monsters of racism, cruelty and intolerance are prevalent in life and will always be; we must fight these baneful creatures until the end of days. I don’t want to partake in a culture where these shadows are simply ignored, where the art must be sanitized from all possible reflections of reality.

But these behaviors should not corrupt these spaces. If a kid can log onto a horror website and not have to worry about feeling less about him or herself for simply existing, that they don’t feel like shit for liking what they like, that they feel this is a scene where they feel comfortable with being open and relaxed, then fuck, every crappy shark, evil doll or shoddy made-to-DVD sequel is worth it.

The motto of this site was fashioned to capture the spirit you can find in the chorus of “Plenty for All” by Hot Snakes.

I think the term “room for all,” the idea that a place is open and accepting, is perfect. I find that it’s a beautiful sentiment. Be open like a grave.  Don’t care what a person looks like. Don’t mind who they love or what kind of movies they like. There’s room for all. The scene queens who want to be seen, the actors charging twenty bucks for a photograph, the people who like to argue about every fucking thing. They’re allowed in. If you don’t like them, well. They let you in. There’s plenty of space. Make use of it.

Finding a decent translation into Latin, since all the heavy shit is in Latin, proved less than successful. But it was meant to be. “Everybody has a place” still maintains the open grave policy, but also allows the disclaimer that cruelty and intolerance have a place outside of the scene. Everyone has a place; some places are here, with us but others are elsewhere. You can be racist and hateful but that shit’s place isn’t here, so leave it at the door.

OHL. I remind myself when I see something I don’t like. It’s not for me but it’s got a place here in this culture.

When you see it pop up on this site, it’s a reminder for you to call me (and anyone else on this site) if we forget it. We’re human (sorta) and we’re prone to fucking up (definitely) so hey. Leave a comment. Drop a line. Doesn’t need to be much, just three letters. We’ll understand.

 

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