At the stroke of midnight I stop grading papers, writing reviews, or whatever I am doing and start working the new Babble grid while watching the next episode of whatever television series on DVD I am currently watching from start to finish. Having finished "The X-Files" (including "The Lone Gunman") I decided to start watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for the first time in a couple of years. Even though I get every "BtVS" and "Angel" action figure they produce and have been working on getting all of the PW cards for the "Buffy 10th Anniversary" collectible card set, I had not watched a complete episode of either show for a long time. So when Amazon's recommendation feature insisted I would be interested in "Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? (True Adventures in Cult Fandom)," it seemed like something I should be reading this week.
"Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby?" is written by Allyson Beatrice, who is the cofounder of an events-planning and consulting company that was the result of her involvement in cult fandom. Her name was given to a character who got her face ripped off on an episode of "The Inside," because Beatrice has a friendship with writer-producer Tim Minear, who is one of several recognizable names praising the book on its covers (David Fury and Nicholas Brendon being the most prominent of the rest). In her opening chapter Beatrice makes it clear that one the show was cancelled she moved on and is not interested in the academic dissections that continue to flourish in the wake of the show's demise. However, she is equally clear that once upon a time she would have taken things quite seriously. Beatrice is not a reformed fan of cult television; she is simply removed anywhere from a half-step to two steps from the "BtVS" experience.
This book is a collection of anecdotes arranged topically, and not the chronological record of Allyson Beatrice's descent in the abyss that is cult fandom. The title comes from an outburst by an exasperated hotel employee dealing with the strange people showing up for one of the legendary Posting Board Parties held by "BtVS" fans on Presidents' Day weekend. However, few of the chapters in this book are about the show. There is the horror story of what happened to the fans' posting board when "BtVS" went from the WB to UPSN and how Beatrice came to find a home for Joss Whedon's cat, and there is a chapter devoted to the effort to save "Firefly." But the "True Adventures in Cult Fandom" part of the title is the best description of what you will find inside these pages.
Actually, I ended up relating to this book more through my limited experience on the Amazon.com discussion boards with its ample examples of flame wars and false identities than from watching "BtVS" and other Whedon shows, although I have to say that the chapter where I most felt like a kindred spirit with Beatrice would be "Imposter!" (insert the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear here). That was where I fell off the fence and decided to round up on this book. The chapters on "Munchausen's by Internet," "The Internet Wants Your Daughters," and "Random Acts of PayPal" all speak to the best and worst that living online has to offer. The scale ends up tipping towards the better side of the scale and by the end of the book you are convinced this is because that is the case and not just because Beatrice insists on seeing the glass as being half full (karma clearly demands otherwise).
I was a bit worried when I picked up this book because the blurb at the top of the cover compares what is inside to Fresca, and I never liked Fresca. However, it did not take long to abandon the metaphor and enjoy both the anecdotes and the style in which they are written. If you enjoy this book then you should check out Beatrice's website for tales of her latest adventures (if there was ever a second edition of this book, her story of how Joss Whedon ended up autographing a copy of this book would have to be included). You can also find a whole bunch of links to other websites worth exploring (already I have found the unaired episodes of "Drive") is reading this book only whets your appetite for more of the same.
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