seeking narratives of the perpetually, personally hunted

April 11, 2023 12:35 PM

It can be fiction or non, written, video, art, audio... I’m looking for the tales of those who have been personally hunted/stalked/harassed, whether physically or virtually—particularly if they couldn’t stop it and they were permanently stuck with it. Thanks!
posted by The Last Sockpuppet to Writing & Language (25 answers total)

Kathy Sierra is a brilliant tech person who had to pretty much quit being on the internet due to unceasing harassment. https://seriouspony.com/trouble-at-the-koolaid-point
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 1:07 PM on April 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Are you looking for just serious treatments or is humor ok? Because "The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon" feels like a good answer here.
posted by hanov3r at 1:13 PM on April 11, 2023

Two highly recommended books that are basically exactly this (especially the first):
'Chasing Homer' by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
'The Look Away' by Richard Skelton
posted by remembrancer at 1:15 PM on April 11, 2023

The series Poker Face on Peacock fits this description! Charlie spends the whole season running from her former boss, who blames her for events in his life.
posted by SeedStitch at 1:18 PM on April 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

Milkman by Anna Burns is a novel form a few years ago that really stuck with me. The sheer intensity of the central harassment / stalking plot made it a difficult read at times, but it's just such a well written and closely observed novel and the narrator's head is such an interesting place to be that I ended up loving it. Made me feel like I understood something about what it was like to live during the troubles in Ireland, too, in a way I never had before.
posted by Rinku at 1:47 PM on April 11, 2023

Boy Gets Girl is a play about this. And other things.
posted by Gorgik at 1:53 PM on April 11, 2023

It Follows is perfect for this question, if you’re into slow burn horror. And it has a great soundtrack!
posted by sacrifix at 1:59 PM on April 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

Spare is a lot about this.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:02 PM on April 11, 2023

particularly if they couldn’t stop it and they were permanently stuck with it.

Would The Babdook fit the bill?
posted by Silvery Fish at 2:20 PM on April 11, 2023

[CW domestic/intimate partner violence] Your question immediately made me think of In His Sights, author Kate Brennan's harrowing memoir of being stalked for over a decade by a relentless and deep-pocketed ex, which has stayed with me ever since I read it.
posted by peakes at 2:35 PM on April 11, 2023

I don't know if this would count, but The Running Man by Richard Bachman (AKA Steven King) is about a reality show where all the contestants are hunted and killed 24/7. It's dated but was fairly uncanny in its prediction of the rise of horrible reality shows that prey on the desperate as well as an ending that is similar to a significant event. The movie was sort of similar but much more hammy.
posted by Candleman at 2:35 PM on April 11, 2023

Ian McEwan's Enduring Love, maybe? The film's good too.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:41 PM on April 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

If nonfiction is acceptable, you're basically describing the last 40-odd years in the life of Salman Rushdie.
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:27 PM on April 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

The podcast The Rat King is about a woman with a long-term stalker who falls into other weirdness along the way. It’s not horror, exactly, but I’m not at the end, either.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:39 PM on April 11, 2023

The sci-fi author Patrick Tomlinson has emergency services called to his house several times a week (sometimes several times a day). He logs it with a smidgen of humor on his Twitter account.
posted by goatdog at 3:41 PM on April 11, 2023

Seconding It Follows.
posted by kensington314 at 5:41 PM on April 11, 2023

"The Two-Handed Engine" --a dystopian sci-fi story by Henry Kuttner inspired by the idea of furies in Oresteia...and of course Oresteia itself -- at least the third play, the Eumenides.
posted by virve at 8:09 PM on April 11, 2023

Footsteps Invisible by Robert Arthur.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 8:48 PM on April 11, 2023

TVTropes: Determinator, Implacable Man, Mysterious Mercenary Pursuer, Super-Persistent Predator

One fave that hasn't been mentioned: "The Ruum," by Arthur Porges
posted by Rhaomi at 10:35 PM on April 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all! Lots to go through here, I appreciate it!

There’s plenty here that fits this specification—I especially would love further examples particularly where the hunted person is being hunted by an INDIVIDUAL, and where they’ve managed to find a way to THRIVE.
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 6:58 AM on April 12, 2023

Al Stewart has a song Running Man.

Content warning, it appears to be song sympathetic to a post-WWII Nazi fugitive in South America.
posted by jclarkin at 9:29 AM on April 12, 2023

I don't know who Patrick Tomlinson is, but jeebus, SWATTED 29 times?!

I've been trying to not suggest this one, but look up Brianna Wu, Zoe Quinn, and Gamergate.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:36 AM on April 12, 2023

Pro runner Emily Infeld had a stalker for years and the circumstances of her stalking were fairly specific/unique. She appears to be doing well now.
posted by superfluousm at 10:41 AM on April 12, 2023

You could try Give Me Everything You Have:On Being Stalked by James Lasdun. It's on the nail for what you are looking for, though I had mixed feelings when I read it. (It involves two writers and you can also find his stalkers account on the internet if you look).
posted by tallus at 2:02 AM on April 13, 2023

I really enjoyed the novel Catfishing on CatNet.
posted by kristi at 4:24 PM on April 13, 2023