Somewhat unsurprisingly, gore site fans use the « guns don’t kill people » argument when addressing this question.
« I genuinely believe you already have it in you to do something like that, » says Niki. After watching over a decade of gore videos, Niki says, « I’ve NEVER had the idea to harm another human being EVER. »
Gorehounds say that, quite the opposite, the sites actually help fight crime.
In 2009, for instance, two Russian teenagers were found guilty of murdering 21 people during a two month terror spree in the Ukraine. The so-called « Dnepropetrovsk maniacs » filmed several of their murders with cell phones, including the brutal slaying of 48-year-old Sergei Yatzenko, who was pulled off his bicycle, bludgeoned with a hammer, and stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver.
The video, named 3 Guys 1 Hammer, made it onto the gore sites, and is still widely regarded as the most shocking gore video of all time. And its existence was instrumental in the murderers’ conviction at trial.
» Snuff: Murder and torture on the internet, and the people who watch it, The Verge.