Synopsis
When controversial comic creator Riley Langdon is faced with an unimaginable crime committed in her name, she retreats from the spotlight she spent years seeking. But as media, fandom, and obsession churn, Riley’s story takes on a life of its own.
Riley Langdon has never shied from extreme horror, especially not in her deep web revenge comic, Red. But now that a cult fandom has put her on a pedestal, she doesn’t know how to respond to a mysterious death that too much resembles pages she wrote. As she tries to pick up the pieces of the life she’s made for herself, the fandom of Red turns against itself and an obsessed fan attempts to make the deep web what he hoped it would be. Told in blog posts, chat logs, emails, and more, Revenge Arc blends horror and mystery for an unforgettable experience.
Review
In Revenge Arc, a combination of blog posts, chat room threads, and journal entries tell the story of Riley Langdon, the creator of the popular web horror comic, Red. Red is known for its intense scenes and pushing the envelope, and has built a dedicated fanbase. While the majority of fans stick to chat rooms and fan fiction to pay homage to Langdon’s work, a fan dubbing themselves “The Creator” decides to take their obsession with Red offline and into the real world. Readers are left to piece together the true story of Red, the impact of fictional works, and the consequences of success.
Voleur doesn’t shy away from tackling deep themes in this novella. From the get go, Riley Langdon acknowledges that as a woman writing horror, the industry holds her to a different standard and that she has to work harder to become successful. Readers also learn that Riley is someone who left home at a young age, struggled with complicated relationships, and consistently questioned her own creativity. These all make for a deeply interesting and relatable protagonist. As I worked my way through the book I appreciated the contrast Voleur created in Langdon as a flawed and insecure, yet strong, creative, and successful woman.
Storytelling and its impact are a central theme in the book. As readers, we are left to question the responsibility a creator has for the ways their works are interpreted and how our own perception influences us. Voleur also plays into the power of storytelling in Revenge Arc in an incredibly unique way; by presenting information and allowing readers to decide what truly happened by the end of the book.
To say this book wowed me would be an understatement. I was immediately drawn into the story, its format, and the mystery of it all. As someone who is part of several online fandoms and participates in chat rooms, the discourse on the pages was incredibly familiar and relatable. However, when the Red fandom delved from admiration/excitement to obsession/violence, I started to question the safety of my own online interactions, which is a testament to Voleur’s ability to make something seemingly normal, scarier.
While I read the e-book version of Revenge Arc, I would highly recommend that readers pick up the paperback version. The formatting in the book is gorgeous and adds a lot of depth to the story, drawing readers into the blog post, e-mails, etc. A highly creative design for a deep and terrifying novella.
Trigger Warnings for Revenge Arc by Cat Voleur: violence, death, murder, exploitation, stalking, torture, referenced sexual assault
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