Amid the crowds of witches, warlocks, and cartoon characters at Necrocomicon, the uniformed Russian police officers stuck out like a sore thumb.
What was expected to be a two-day celebration of horror, fantasy, and comics was quickly shut down by Russian authorities on November 1,the latest example of the country’s crackdown on artistic and cultural expression.
The abrupt shutdown came after a Telegram channel associated with activists from the Russian Orthodox Church called for the conference to be investigated, branding the event “satanic” and accusing its organizers of attempting to lure minors into a “banned international movement.”
In July, the Russian Supreme Court declared the “International Satanism Movement” extremist and banned its activities, even though no organization by that name exists.
Before the opening of the conference, another group of Orthodox activists from the Forty By Forty movement had complained about Necrocomicon. Forty By Forty is a powerful Orthodox Christian nationalist organization, named after the 1,600 churches that are thought to have existed in Russia’s capital, Moscow, before the 1917 revolution.
Necrocomicon Organizer To Be Deported
Russian authorities have also filed criminal charges against the Necrocomicon organizer Aleksei Samsonov and ordered his deportation to his native Kazakhstan.
Investigators allege that Samsonov, a Kazakh citizen who has lived in St. Petersburg for two decades, presented police with a migration card bearing a stamp that extended his Russian residency until May 1, 2026. Upon examination, the authorities said they determined the stamp did not match official samples.
The Russian Orthodox Church is not a fan of anime, either.
A court has ordered Samsonov’s confinement at a detention facility for foreign nationals until January 29, 2026, after which he will be deported to Kazakhstan.
Before the event began, Samsonov said around 2,000 tickets had been sold for the festival, which was expected to include a cosplay contest, a science-fiction book exhibition, and a rock concert.
The name of the convention is a nod to a collection of stories by H.P. Lovecraft, the celebrated American writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
My Little Pony Falls Afoul Of The Law
In Russia, the Orthodox Church positions itself as a defender of “traditional values” and is particularly hostile to what it sees as Western ideas such as LGBT rights and feminism.
“On October 30, [the authorities] discussed with us the undesirability of holding this event,” organizer Samsonov told the St. Petersburg Telegram channel Rotonda before the convention began. “This wasn’t based on any legal grounds. They merely expressed suspicions that manifestations of Satanism would be allowed at the event.”
The Russian authorities have cracked down on similar events before. In February 2024, police in Moscow shut down a convention for fans of the My Little Pony cartoon where participants often dress as their favorite characters from the series. While the police were unable to find any evidence of illegal activity, they said complaints had been made that the convention was pushing LGBT propaganda.
Under the Russian “gay propaganda” law, which was broadened in December 2022, it is illegal to publish, share, sell, or promote anything that “encourages nontraditional sexual relations.”
Last week, Russian authorities banned MyAnimeList, an anime and manga platform, after state media regulator Roskomnadzor said it violated the law.
