Many of you have been asking as to the current status of the International Order of Horror Professionals organization. I have to admit that I, too, have been in the dark for the past few months, but finally we have an answer. I received this note from founders Paul and Bev Sninchak stating that they have come to the decision to fold the organization entirely. This includes the quarterly newsletter The Bloodied Quill, for which I have been the Art Editor/Assistant Editor and Chief Designer on for the past year and half. I was truly sorry to hear this as I have taken a great deal of pride in the creation and distribution of the newsletter, but sometimes things are simply not meant to be. Here is the letter from Paul & Bev. If you have any questions please direct them at Paul Sninchak (conquerorworm01@gmail.com).


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Dear IOHP member,


After the beginning of the year, Paul and I had to make a decision about IOHP: either it continued on or we had to put it to rest. We chose to do the latter.


Effective immediately, the International Order of Horror Professionals (IOHP) will no longer be an active group. Unfortunately, we tried to hang on as long as we could, but many members lost interest, weren’t able to help out or contribute, and only about a handful of our entire roster stuck with it. It was like pulling teeth just to get people to contribute to the newsletter, much less participate on any salient level.


With the way our lives and careers are right now, Paul and I couldn’t hold up the entire organization by ourselves — or with the help of only a few others. The idea behind IOHP was a collaborative network of people who would get involved, not only with each other, but as a group in the horror community at large. Much to our chagrin, it seemed some people put so much energy into in-fighting or back-biting that they missed the chance to work together on many levels.


Long story short, our vision was one thing for IOHP, but any vision won’t succeed if people don’t have the desire or inclination to help it succeed — if they don’t invest time and energy in it themselves. And not enough people, as a whole, really helped to commit to that vision or to make various parts of it come to fruition. There were plenty of members, but not nearly enough overall participation or desire to participate/contribute. I actually put my career on hold for a while — and I write full-time to support my family, so this is my only job — to try and keep IOHP afloat. Eventually, because I had to support my family, I knew I couldn’t invest any more volunteer time into it to the detriment of my family’s financial livelihood.


Thanks for having been a member. We are sorry we couldn’t make it last longer, but something like this takes a group effort of numerous members, not just a handful of people. We are sad to see IOHP go, but it was no longer feasible to continue based on the lack of member participation and contribution.


Best wishes in your current and future creative efforts.


Sincerely,
Paul & Bev Sninchak
conquerorworm01@gmail.com

Tags: Horror, International Order of Horror Professionals, newsletter, organization, The Bloodied Quill

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