Zombie make-up artist Sarah McCracken told today how her Facebook page was shut down — after shocked visitors thought she was promoting self-harm.
Mother-of-two Sarah, 25, whose business Sarah’s Scars specialises in TV and film work and gory special effects make-up for fancy dress parties, was stunned to receive messages from people who complained about the gruesome images on her page.
And she was gobsmacked when worried Facebook chiefs contacted her, directing her to self-harm support websites and then closed her page – with the loss of all pictures of her work.
Sarah, of Tamfourhill, Falkirk, said yesterday: “I can’t believe that people thought it was anything to do with self-harm – the page was clearly marked as a special effects business.
“I’d shared a picture of a heart-shaped scar I’d created on my arm – and almost immediately got a couple of messages saying it was disgusting and I shouldn’t be promoting self -harm.
“Then Facebook sent me a message saying ‘are you in a crisis? A friend is concerned about your safety. Click here to learn more about self-harm’.
“The next day I logged on and Facebook had taken down my page. I had no idea Facebook could just close your page without warning and I have hardly any images backed up anywhere else, so they are all gone.
“I’ve been in touch with Facebook to find out if I’ll be able to get my photos back but it’s an automated response. It’s really worrying seeing that they know everything about me but I can’t actually speak to them.”
Self-employed Sarah started her business in 2011. Her credits include theatre work, make-up for a road safety campaign and a sci-movie thriller, The Daniel Connection, which is currently filming in Scotland.
She has also worked with Forth Valley Royal Hospital to create realistic looking injuries on ‘manikins’ – life-sized anatomical models used for medical training exercises.
And last year she helped create dozens of zombies for Deadinburgh, a theatre project in the Capital.
The Facebook ban has scuppered her plans to make a presentation next week to Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce, who have shortlisted her for a Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at their forthcoming Business Awards.
She said: “I planned to do a slideshow of my work but now I have hardly anything to show them – it’s happened at the worst possible time.”
Facebook has now reinstated Sarah’s Scars as a ‘like’ page which has attracted more than 5,000 likes in a week, and she has managed to trace most of her friends.
But she is looking for anyone with photos of her work to get in touch via sarahsscars@hotmail.co.uk.
She said: “It’s something that I really enjoy. It comes very naturally to me.”
think this is a shame, it looks very gory and real, but surely its a talent that should be encouraged, it isn’t real, she is advertising her work, like many others on fb, if its not to peoples taste they could of blocked the page, she should at least get photos back.
Thts shockin it wasny promotin self harm at aw tht page wiz minted, bang out ae order tht ye canny even advertise yer own business wi out accusations been threw at ye
It’s such a shame as Sarah is a very talented lady who I have worked with. It is very clear on her facebook page that this is special fx makeup. As a nurse, I don’t know of any self harmers who take the time to create a love heart on their arm, they might want to read up on why people turn to self harming in the first place. As previously mentioned if you don’t like the content of the page then don’t look or block.
That’s ridiculous. Neither the Facebook users reporting her nor Facebook took the time to properly investigate what these photos or her page were about. I hope Facebook realise their mistake and reinstate the page with all the photos.
Thanks for ur nice comments guys 🙂 nice to know that u dont see anything bad in what i am doing if anything i would like to use my skills to help people and educate in different ways. xx
She’s a weirdo.
What happened was ridiculous. Glad to hear your page is back up.