Alt lit is caving in on itself. After a week of multiple rape and abuse allegations against prominent authors and editors, the earnest, internet-obsessed literary scene is in full crisis: Today, the alt lit criticism site and scene blog of record Htmlgiant announced that it's shutting down. Meanwhile, in a private Facebook group associated with the blog Alt Lit Gossip, women writers have suggested forming an entirely new scene, "no boys allowed."

This past weekend, two young women came forward with personal stories of rape and abuse perpetrated by a magazine editor, Stephen Tully Dierks, prominent in the hip young "alt-lit" community. But it was only the start for the close-knit and famously gossipy scene.

For all its gestures toward radicalism and openness, Brooklyn's hip young "alt lit" scene might not be any less toxic for women than...well, anywhere else, according to a series of essays published this week accusing a prominent young editor of sexual assault.