Thomas Monteleone Ousted By Horror Writers Association

Posted on by

The Horror Writers Association Board of Trustees today expelled author Thomas Monteleone from membership, condemning his “recent words and actions” which violate their anti-harassment policies. Monteleone, an HWA Lifetime Achievement Award winner (2017) is also barred from attendance and participation in StokerCon 2023, banned from future HWA events, and his benefits as an LAA winner have been revoked.

Within the past week Monteleone, alleging that “gatekeepers” at the Horror Writers Association websites were keeping his post from appearing, had taken to Facebook ostensibly to nominate Stuart David Schiff for an HWA Lifetime Achievement Award. However, before sharing the reasons Schiff should receive the recognition, Monteleone made known his real agenda: “…That said, and despite the last few LAA years looking very much like a very obvious DEI project, I am compelled to nominate a smart, old white guy: Stu Schiff…” Before it was taken down the Facebook post drew over 800 comments, some approving what he said and adding their own feelings about “virtue signaling” and “wokeness”, while others called for him to apologize. The worthiness of two of the 2020 LAA winners was also belittled.

Then, two days ago, YouTube’s Hatchet Mouth posted a “Tom Monteleone Interview” where Monteleone delivered more remarks in the vein of his Facebook post. Telling an anecdote about a World Fantasy Award winner who expressed ambivalence about receiving the Lovecraft bust, he slurred them in derogatory racial terms (while making every effort to assign the wrong ethnicity to the person being insulted), and gave the same treatment to the woman who called for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer to be renamed (as it was). The video is no longer online.

A number of HWA members posted calls in social media for the organization to remove him from membership.

The Horror Writers Association explained its decision in the “Thomas F. Monteleone Statement” posted on the HWA Blog.

The Board of Trustees for the Horror Writers Association does not condone hate speech in any way, shape, or form. We stand in support of our members’ right to feel safe, welcome, and above all else, respected. The Horror Writers Association condemns the recent words and actions of Thomas Monteleone and in accordance with our anti-harassment policies, The Board of Trustees has voted to ban Mr. Monteleone from attendance and participation in StokerCon 2023.

Furthermore, in respect to those same policies, the Board of Trustees has voted to ban Mr. Monteleone from attending our future events.

Lastly, the Board of Trustees has voted to expel Mr. Monteleone from membership in the Horror Writers Association, thus revoking the benefits of his Lifetime Achievement Award, per Horror Writers Association Bylaws Article III, section 24:

“The Board may, by a vote of 80% of the officers and trustees then in office, expel any member for good and sufficient cause. For avoidance of confusion, 80% of the officers and trustees then in office must vote to expel the member in order for such expulsion to be effective. In the event of expulsion, the expelled member’s dues, if paid, shall be refunded on a pro-rata basis. An expelled member shall be reinstated if the Board shall receive a petition for reinstatement signed by a number of Active members equal to no less than two-thirds of the Active membership as of the date of receipt.”

Members of the Board of Trustees were unanimous in this decision-making process and are also pursuing other options available under the bylaws of the organization.

We are dedicated to making our StokerCons, other HWA-sponsored events, and official HWA online spaces safe and comfortable for all participants, as per our anti-harassment policy available at horror.org/hwa-anti-harassment-policy/.

46 thoughts on “Thomas Monteleone Ousted By Horror Writers Association”

  6. I just want to add that I was able to track down a copy (Cemetery Dance, #21, 1994) and hachi machi it goes way beyond just Delany.

  8. Please note that the Lovecraft bust was formerly used for the World Fantasy Award, not the Bram Stoker Award. (I’m not sure what he said on the podcast, since it’s been taken down.)

  10. Cliff Winnig: Thanks for catching that — it was my faulty memory. He called it by the right name in the transcript.

  11. The Chip Delany career path (and the Chip Delany) described in that passage bears so little resemblance to the actual Chip Delany that I’m stunned. (And I’m sorry that Monteleone seems to have dragged Ted White into his mess, or rather tried to.)

  12. It’s Stuart David Schiff, and he goes by “Stu”. He does not go by “David”

  13. Pingback: Samples of Social Media Reaction to Monteleone Before and After HWA Expelled Him | File 770

  14. Sigh

    Monteleone has always been a loose, intemperate cannon. Sadly, Schiff may be hit by the fire through no fault of his own. Schiff deserves better.

  15. Cemetery Dance issue 21 can be found in the Internet Archive. Monteleone’s column is on page 24. It is so rancidly racist that it is shocking he still had a reputation left to destroy in 2023. Even all these years later, the magazine’s editor should apologize for publishing it.

  18. The video is online (again? it says “1,595 views Streamed live on Jan 30, 2023”), but took more searching than I expected.

  21. Pingback: Monteleone Aftermath: Authors Seek Perspective on His Damaging Statements | File 770

  22. Pingback: Goth Chick News: “Crypt” Notes to Begin 2023 – Black Gate

  23. Thanks for sharing that, @rcade. That was vile.

    What an unpleasant load of codswallop to dump on people. I am relieved he was ousted for those attacks.

  25. All else aside, I don’t think anyone who uses the word “endomorphs” to insultingly call people fat has any business criticising anyone else for being pretentious.

  26. I like Monteleone’s fiction – I separate the author’s products from the man’s beliefs and opinion pieces. I’ll keep reading his works. I’ve read the piece in Cemetery Dance 21, he should have expressed himself better in certain parts but many of his points are valid, expressing his frustration that society leans too far towards “redressing an imbalance”, whatever the hell this imbalance is.

  27. Ok, Eric. I will skip reading him as I am not fond of people who think you should beat others with rubber hoses if they use gender neutral pronouns.

  28. I wasn’t aware we had actually redressed any societal imbalances yet.

    At any rate, the world is full of things written by people who do not advocate violence against the vulnerable and disenfranchised, more than anyone could read in a hundred lifetimes. I feel like they probably have more valuable things to say than those who would brag about a desire to maim others.

  29. Gender neutral pronouns are an affectation championed by the latte-sipping urban elitists who haven’t done a solid day’s work in their lives, just another way they impose their belief in their own superiority on others.
    And isn’t the spread of democratic societies over the last few centuries an example of redressing social imbalances?

  30. A fascinating attempt to avoid the advocating violence aspect, I’m sure, but wholly transparent, as well as being entirely fictional in the particulars.

  31. Eric: If you think the only problem in Monteleone’s Cemetery Dance column was that he “should have expressed himself better,” it doesn’t sound like you have to separate the author from his opinions at all because you agree with what he wrote.

    The viewpoints he expressed are rancid regardless of how they are phrased.

    If you think gender-neutral pronouns are just an affectation you’re the one who is out of touch. Twenty six percent of Americans know somebody who uses a gender-neutral pronoun, according to Pew Research. This practice is growing more common because people are choosing it for themselves.

    As for self-belief in one’s superiority, you’re the one who can’t accept other people’s life choices.

    When Monteleone or some other figure goes on a rant against pronouns, it’s a self-indictment of how ossified they’ve become in their thinking. If he can’t demonstrate tolerance and respect for a societal change that causes no harm to him at all, he should be quiet instead of removing all doubt in his obsolescence.

    P.s. Calling someone a latte-sipper is corny as hell. Not everything in life is explained by your resentments.

  32. Meh.

    Finnish gave us a gender-neutral pronoun around the 1500s. And probably earlier than that as the writing system was created in the 1500s. The Estonian languages also uses gender-neutral pronouns. They are not alone.

    I’m pretty sure Tagalog, Armenian, Farsi, Turkish, Swahili, and Yoruba don’t have gendered pronouns. My understanding is that Basque is a genderless language — sort of. (There are some gendered terms in Basque.)

    Also, connecting lattes with “elites” is extremely outdated. Did you not notice that they sell them in places like Dunkin’ Doughnuts and McDonald’s? Maybe it’s time to refresh your thinking. (You probably need to sip a latte.)

  33. Typical, we Canadians are constantly undermined and belittled by those south of the border.

  34. @Eric–

    Typical, we Canadians are constantly undermined and belittled by those south of the border.

    Prior to this comment from you, I had no idea you were Canadian. If TM is Canadian, again, I had no idea.

    And no one has said anything that could reasonably be read as demeaning Canadians.

    Also, it’s not just Americans expressing disagreement with either you, or TM, or both.

  36. The border I am south of, such as it is, is not Canada’s, and that is still a transparent attempt to avoid, minimise, deflect, and otherwise evade confronting the fact that Monteleone advocated violence, not merely scathing disagreement and prejudice.

  38. …the latte-sipping urban elitists who haven’t done a solid day’s work in their lives, just another way they impose their belief in their own superiority on others.”

    This sounds like an apt description of Tom Monteleone who is an urbanite that lives south of Canada and who advocates violence to impose his beliefs.

    Of course, I do not know if he drinks latte. But then I had no idea that drinking coffee with milk was supposed to be “elitist”.

    Myself, I live north of Tom Monteleone, not even close to any Canadian border.

  40. While I am sadly used to (and embarrassed by) Americans who think that the Internet is an exclusively American playground, I’m truly baffled by a self-identified Canadian who seems to think the same thing, despite the fact that he himself is according to his own report not American.

  41. The US is vastly more urbanized than Canada; the US has about 83% of its population living in urban areas, while in Canada that percentage is 82%.

    One interesting example of a person who used non-gendered terminology is the Public Universal Friend who rejected all gendered pronouns for themself beginning in 1776.

    Having never drunk coffee at all, I have no opinion about lattes (I take my tea with lemon).

  42. I cited an American survey on the use of gender neutral pronouns because Monteleone is American and we’re talking about him becoming unglued to the point of advocating violence over this usage. If people have data to offer on how common this usage is elsewhere, I welcome the information.

  43. I don’t agree with Monteleone’s points, but I can see why some writers tend to lose their minds and rant about “anti-whiteness.” I am getting very tired of seeing white, cis, straight literary agents and publishers saying that they’ll only represent POC or LBGTQ+. It feels like minorities are being used to make agents, publishers, and awarding bodies look more “diverse.” It is now a negative thing to give white writers awards or attention, and many are canceled on Twitter if they dare write anything that isn’t part of their experience. You’re fucked when you’re a white writer and you write about white people or non-white people.

  44. @CJ Woods–

    I don’t agree with Monteleone’s points, but I can see why some writers tend to lose their minds and rant about “anti-whiteness.” I am getting very tired of seeing white, cis, straight literary agents and publishers saying that they’ll only represent POC or LBGTQ+.

    Which agents and publishers? Please, be specific.

    It feels like minorities are being used to make agents, publishers, and awarding bodies look more “diverse.”

    I’m sure that may sometimes be the case. But if the result is that I get to read good work I previously might never have had the chance to read, I’m good with it.

    It is now a negative thing to give white writers awards or attention, and many are canceled on Twitter if they dare write anything that isn’t part of their experience. You’re fucked when you’re a white writer and you write about white people or non-white people.

    Oh, lots of specifics needed here. And contrary to the first clause in your first sentence, it sound like you agree with every one of Monteleone’s “points.”

  45. I don’t agree with Monteleone’s points, but I can see why some writers tend to lose their minds and rant about “anti-whiteness.” I am getting very tired of seeing white, cis, straight literary agents and publishers saying that they’ll only represent POC or LBGTQ+. It feels like minorities are being used to make agents, publishers, and awarding bodies look more “diverse.”

    Your attitude sure changed a lot between sentence 1 and sentence 3.

    Working with diverse authors wouldn’t just make agents and publishers “look” more diverse. They would actually be more diverse.

    If there’s an award you believe unjustly given to a non-white, non-cisgender or non-male author, tell us which one and why it wasn’t fair. The anti-anti-whiteness writers who tend to lose their minds never offer specifics, just a vague wagging finger that we’ve all gone “too far” from the decades when it was a given that white males would be on the top of every heap in SF.

    The Puppies didn’t even attempt to make the case that their stunt was elevating good work. They just wanted to burn things down. The quickest way to shut them up was always “tell us what you’ve you read lately and was it any good?”

  46. Pingback: Top 10 Stories For February 2023 | File 770

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.