Superfan (Boy Band Revenge Gore Fiction)
Parasocial relationships with bands have been a thing since the dawn of time, I’m pretty sure. For young teenagers who love boy bands this is a huge thing; girls love their favorite member, fantasize about them, dream of meeting them, and just breathing the same air. But they always say don’t meet your heroes don’t they? Does this count for the band you’d do anything for, no matter what, and who go by the fast and loose saying “Sex, drugs and rock and roll” no matter the age of the fan? Superfan was definitely not the story I thought it was going to be. The description gave Jennifer’s Body vibe, and I thought the band would be the band guys, as is the case in most stories like this. And in a way, they are. But this is a story of revenge, and done so very well in under 150 pages. The start is fun and light hearted, you can tell the slight naivety of main characters Poppy and Maddie, no matter what grown up shit they discuss or do, it’s very reminiscent of my own teenage years, where I felt more grown up than I was. Nothing more gives away their age than description of a bedroom wall laden in boy band posters, merch that’s never come out of the box and t-shirts that are ironed and never worn. Poppy and Maddie “Feel” like adults, but their behavior doesn’t reflect it.
“Please,” he begged. “Don’t do this.” “I’m sorry,” said the redhead. “Truly, I am. But this is the least you deserve.” She took his penis in her hand. “No! Don’t! Please! Jesus fucking Christ! DON’T DO THIS!” The redhead looked up into Logan’s eyes and said – “Jesus hates rapists just as much as I do.” She then sliced his dick off. Logan howled. Blood gushed from the remainder of his severed member, coating his thighs.”
Phillips did a good job at taking this feeling of joy and genuine excitement, and turning it 180 by the end. When Poppy and Maddie get backstage, the vibes are unsettling. This feeling intensified ten fold, and where I genuinely thought it would be the band causing the gore and possible deaths. I have to say this section did seem a little too over sexed, and whilst the idea adds to the reveal at the end, I do feel it could’ve been done slightly less and still had the same impact. The twist in the tale is a “superfan” out for revenge; she’s deranged and thoroughly OTT, and this works wonders for the rest of the story. Her ways of torture were enough to make me wince, one being salt in deep wounds, as her description of cuts in fingers whilst eating salted food was enough made my skin crawl. For the male readers amongst us, this one might be enough to make you want to make your crown jewels shrivel up inside your body. My problem with the villain is she has an excuse, rather than being unapologetically crazy, and on top of this is her lack of taking medication. I think she would of worked just as well being a crazy disgruntled sister out for revenge, without needing an easy way out for doing what she did. At the end, this was used again, and I kind of just wish it wasn’t. The finale seems open-ended, and I hope it is, as I’d love to see if there’s any more to follow.
Harrison Phillips Official Facebook
Written by Arianne, Sovereign Deity of the Damned
Superfan (2020)
Harrison Phillips
Amazon Digital Services
Cover Art: insanecamel (Insan Kamil)
4 / 5
