Holy hell. That might actually be the bleakest thing that HBO has ever produced. Shit, it might be the bleakest thing I’ve ever seen, period. I actually have a stomach ache. Like, a real, physical stomach ache. I expect that it will be with me for some time. This is going to win a lot of awards. It should. “Haunting”…

There were times you could tell, just from the headline, that it was O’Neal and it was going to be good.

How close are we to all being able to pool our pocket lint and buying the whole shebang?

I was hoping that this was a preface to an announcement that you two were launching an exploratory committee for a run for the presidency.

O’NEAL/MONSTER 2020

Me not can say much that not has already been said by others already and with better grammar. But Sean was heart and soul of this site for 12 years, and as many changes as AVC has weathered in past few years, this might be biggest loss. Me just have to remind self that me still able to read other bygone AVC writers on…

Me can think of no better tribute to O’Neal’s career than one last Big Red No.

We’ve lost a lot of the greats around here over the years. Rabin, Robinson, Murray, Koski, Tobias, Gillette. Hell, I’ll even throw VanDerWerff in there even though he infuriated me half the time. But no one’s absence will hurt quite like Sean’s.

Remember how many times he was put in the position of having to put a positive spin on the Kinja move? That’ll murder a man’s soul.

AV CLUB

If the AV Club wasn’t completely dead before, it certainly is now.

From the outside looking in, it probably seems that way. But who knows how tooth and nail O’Neal fought to publish the pieces he did in the past year. Even if he won the argument the majority of the time, constantly having your every action over-evaluated and broken down can get exhausting. 

Jesus. If only I had some kind of way to express how I feel about ... wait a minute! Something’s coming back to me! Something I used to enjoy!

And I’m so glad that you chose to depart this way. Thanks for never taking the easy way in writing, taste, or career. We’re all richer for it.

I usually don’t pay a whole lot of attention to bylines of News articles but basically every time I get halfway through and stop to check whose work I’m reading, it’s because it’s Sean O’Neal and it’s hilarious.

Years ago, when I had a job that I couldn’t stand, the AV Club helped me get through the day and Sean O’Neal’s bylines were always the ones that got me the most excited. I guess what I’m saying is thank you for helping me slack off just a ton. 

Sean, thank you for all the work you’ve put in here. Your writing has always been funny as hell, smart, incisive, and even genuinely made me tear up a few times. I am sad to see you go, and echoing what others said it really does feel like this is the bitter end of the AV Club. But I’m also happy for you to be free of…

I LOVE YOU SEAN O'NEAL

I shall cue up a playlist including The Fall, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin and The Haxan Cloak in your memory.

I don’t know if this account is out of the greys or whatever but I wanted to say thanks and bye and all that. Thanks for all the words Sean.

This is a weird one. A person I’ve never met, but for whom I feel great affection, just quit his job, and I’m really, really happy for this stranger.