Sexual Assault Claims Prompt Lovecraft Bar Owner to Resign

Jon Horrid has sold The Lovecraft Bar, MLK’s horror-themed goth bar, amid claims he is “a serial abuser and rapist” and openly welcomes fascists into his establishment. The allegations were posted anonymously to social media last week and quickly circulated.

The statement attributes its content to “Survivors, Queers, Trans folks and/or Women and other non-men, People of Color, Workers, and those who live at the intersections of these identities,” living in the Portland community. Horrid denied the allegations in a Facebook post shared by The Lovecraft DJ and promotor, Nikki Cavanaugh, as well as when speaking with WWeek, which broke the story. He claims the allegations are the work of trolls using a mix of real and fake social media accounts.

The Lovecraft Bar regularly held LGBTQ-focused events, and at the center of the conflict is the allegation the bar “has been thriving off of the money of the queer community under the guise of being ‘alternative’ and/or a safe space for Queers.” The statement goes on to say the news should come as no surprise, claiming the bar’s namesake, author H.P. Lovecraft, was a white supremacist.

In response, The Lovecraft Bar released a statement on Facebook on Monday reasserting it is a welcoming place for people of “all race, ethnicity, religion, and gender” and that it does not welcome Nazis, racists, homophobes, and the like. It also announced Horrid is in the process of selling the bar to its manager.

In part, the statement reads:

“The employees at the Lovecraft take any allegations of sexual assault and rape very seriously and every one of us is positioned as allies to survivors of rape and sexual assault.[...] We as a staff never witnessed any of the acts the previous owner is being accused of. We do however realize that these allegations need to be thoroughly investigated. [...] We have a-no tolerance-rule for creepy and/or harassing behavior. [...] The Lovecraft has never associated or engaged with white supremacy hate groups of any kind or on any level.”

It also addressed the claims author H.P. Lovecraft was a white supremacist:

“H.P. Lovecraft died in 1937. In his youth at the turn of the century, within the context and confines of history he had some racist sentiments and ideas. We do not judge the entirety of someone’s body of work throughout their life on one unfavorable period of time. We celebrate Lovecraft’s folklore and mythos, tentacles and madness, NOT his ignorant early years.”

Here is a copy of the complete statement that originally accused Horrid of sexual assault and of accommodating fascists that was anonymously posted to Facebook and then widely shared:

Facebook

• The Lovecraft [Official]
• Owner Of The Lovecraft Bar Steps Down Amid Anonymous Allegations Of Sexual Assault [WWeek]