An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

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soulmining
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An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by soulmining »

A little while ago dangerous_jamie posted an opinion on his own personal blog about GoreZone magazine. This well reasoned post made a few suggestions on how the magazine might make improvements to become the must-read horror publication in the UK.

http://letsgetdangerous.wordpress.com/2 ... -magazine/

You'd think in a land of free speech Jamie would be allowed to express an opinion on something on his own personal website? Well, apparently not...

GoreZone's editor has read the post and as a result Jamie has received an email from their legal department saying that the blog contains 'libellous statements'. Apparently Jamie has been given 10 days to remove the post or they will take legal action.

Now, I don't wish to fuel any kind of FrightFest vs. GoreZone war of words; it solves nothing and reflects badly on everyone - we are ALL horror fans who passionately love the genre - however I'm alarmed that a national publication (and the vocal minority of its readers - judging from some of the comments posted subsequently) could take such a negative stance to one person's constructive critique.

I'm genuinely shocked and saddened that Jamie has become the victim of such a narrow-minded reaction. He deserves our support. Not because we're FrightFesters, but because we're decent, fair-minded human beings who believe in free speech in this country.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by giles edwards »

Funnily enough, I was recently thinking about Devin Feraci at CHUD's terrific article from last year about how horror fans are the best kind of fans precisely because of their inclusive, passionate but always honest advocation -- and appraisal -- of the marginal.

I still think that's true. Mostly.

Jamie's a top fellow, and the guys at Gorezone have been nothing but pleasant in every communication I've had with them. Hopefully, this will all blow over as quickly as it started and we can all focus on what's important: film.
Last edited by giles edwards on Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by sherbetbizarre »

Unbelievable. The "fans" do not do the mag any favours in the comment section either.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by krispyg »

I stopped reading it a long time ago, partly in disgust to how they run their Weekend Of Horror, partly at the illiterate magazine, partly at the poor reviews of films that have been out ages.

Even if Fango did go under i would rather read nothing than Gorezone.

So sue me if you will...
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by streetrw »

Well, obviously I'm on Mr Jamie's side here. I've only ever read one edition of Gorezone, which (I believe) came in an FF goodiebag one year. Oh, the irony. It wasn't fantastically interesting and I'd be surprised if I've still got it. When I went to the first Weekend Of Horror thing I was so unimpressed with the whole thing that I left the complimentary copy of the mag behind. (I kept the DVDs obviously - I'm not a complete idiot.)

I don't want to cite that wretched "movie" Mr Hammond "made" (I've done so before, elsewhere on this forum) but the opening and closing scrolls are riddled with fourth-form spelling and punctuation errors. I know in this age of txtspk and OMG LMFAO and :) :( :mrgreen: that correct use of English is no longer seen as absolutely vital but if you're charging me actual money for anything you should at least have a stab at professionalism. "Close enough" doesn't work for brain surgeons or snipers and it doesn't work in basic spelling either.

So I don't think it's libellous to suggest that GZ writers can't spell if it's easily demonstrable that they can't spell. I also don't think it's libellous to suggest that GZ panders to the big-boob splatter fan if, again, it's obvious from a cursory reading or indeed attendance at their fests. Certainly their critical skills are questionable given the glowing quotes that show up on the DVD covers of frankly indifferent product.

Still, I see that this year's Weekend Of Toss has been scheduled for the first weekend in October rather than the Halloween weekend where it would clash with the all-night ICA FrightFest jollity. Wonder why that is? I also notice their site's front page has a link to a Herbal "Niagara" site. Make of that what you will........
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by Satans Puppy »

Totally on Jamie's side and it's kinda disgusting that a publication would try and silence someone's voice.

You'd think we were in china.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by Maniacal »

I stopped reading GoreZone when they published a featured article on Emily Booth about her current visits to horror events around globe. They left out FrightFest and didn't even mention it but gave a lot more plugging to its own movie event, i can understand that being it's own magazine but leaving out the UKs biggest Horror Event of the year and undermining the other around the world? It's intolerable.

late last year the whole GoreZone VS FrightFest was in some what full bloom, i remember a poster from either websites forum having a dig at each other and and really lowering the quality of the community. At the end of the days we are all fans of the genre and have our own eclectic tastes, why be little someone whos differs to their/our own? It's sad when such childish behavior is able to sway people from either the magazine/events that really give our beloved genre good publicity to others out there.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by dangerous_jamie »

I'm going to keep my thoughts here fairly sparse, in case it gets spotted by someone and I get further hauled over fear coals...

I just wanted to say thanks for the support, and not thinking I am out of order for having an opinion.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by streetrw »

dangerous_jamie wrote:I'm going to keep my thoughts here fairly sparse, in case it gets spotted by someone and I get further hauled over fear coals...

I just wanted to say thanks for the support, and not thinking I am out of order for having an opinion.
Well, of course no-one's thinking it's wrong to have an opinion! Even if you'd blogged that you liked the magazine! Lots of people liked The Devil's Rejects and they're obviously entitled to air their views. (Even if they are wrong - it's rubbish. :))

I've just had a rummage in my spare room to see if I still have that copy of Gorezone, and by the look of it I don't as I was going to have a quick flip through looking for spelling errors. I've found loads of other stuff - a bottle of vinegar, an unopened Celine Dion CD, several broken ballpoints and a 2005 Argos catalogue - but I think I must have chucked it. Oh well.

Regardless, I think it's telling that the most pro-GZ and anti-you comments you received are the worst written ones, with a few exceptions. Some of the more foaming-at-the-mouth ones I had to take two or three runs at to find the sense (and in some cases to find the verbs).

But having read your open letter again I just can't see where they could possibly deem it to be libellous. Indeed you pointed out several good and positive things about it. I'd suspect - and I AM NOT A LAWYER - that it's ultimately a hollow threat of legal action. What specifically is the libellous comment? If the complaints about spelling, grammar and punctuation can be so easily backed up with a highlighter pen (I have several in my spare room) and the tiresome emphasis on large-breasted women is so obvious then I don't see what case they think they have. Libel isn't saying bad things about people - it's about defamation and disrepute and it also has to be untrue. I couldn't sue you if you said I was Scottish because even though I'm not Scottish, being Scottish isn't a bad thing. And from what I understand it also has to have some basis in plausibility. I couldn't sue you if you said I masterminded the Spanish Inquisition or was actually a lizard man from the planet Zog in a (badly-fitted) disguise. But I could sue you if you said I was a liar, a racist or a thief as that would count as defamation.

Big names like Michael Bay and George Lucas get slagged off far more frequently and far more viciously than GZ did, and Bay and Lucas can afford far tougher lawyers. But they don't sue. I don't think Mark Kermode's ever been taken to court for saying that Lucas can't write....
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by goregoregirl »

I'm no legal expert but I'm not sure expressing an opinion is libellous, I think Jamie made a fair point. Anyone who writes for public consumption should be able to handle criticism but GoreZone have reacted in a very silly manner indeed. Whether you're writing, making movies, art or music there's always going to be a percentage of people who just don't like it or take offense to what you're doing. You either take it on board or laugh it off. It's part of the job.

If someone says you fucked someone when you didn't - that's grounds for libel, but just saying that they didn't like what you did or didn't agree with something you did that's just someone's personal opinion.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by giles edwards »

I think we're missing the bigger issue here: when is there going to be an article written about the murky ramifications of the contents of Richard's spare room?

A bottle of *vinegar*; Celine Dion (unopened, as if that’s some kind of excuse); and, worst of all, broken pens. Broken ball-point pens, if you please! Is this some kind of diabolical crime scene in the style of Memento?

I, for one, am queasily intrigued.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by capthowdy66 »

Wow :shock: How Embarrassing!!!
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by Pumpkin »

Just to add my twopence, I cannot see how anything in that letter is libelous. They are talking absolute bollox and Jamie, you are to be congratulated for your post. If they are so narrow minded to throw bully boy tactics at you when you have made some valid points about their publication, they don't deserve any continued custom.
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by dangerous_jamie »

I joined the GZ forum to tell them that the person on there who is pretending to me just isn't me.
The post I wrote and my actual account were taken down, but the posts of the fake remain. I think that is pretty telling about who the fake is...
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Re: An Open Letter To GoreZone Magazine

Post by sherbetbizarre »

There's no way they have a 424,000-strong circulation if they feel threatened by one blog.

I just read all the comments on Jamie's site - some hilarious attempts at "legal" threats to get his original post removed. I can't believe the real editor of Gorezone feels put out by Jamie's blog, and he should step-in asap because the GZ "fans" and now the "GZ Forum Administrator" are making the Gorezone magazine look very bad indeed.
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