‘Is he going to break into my house? Is this how I die?’: A stalker story even worse than ‘Baby Reindeer’ might soon be hitting our screens

Since its release on Netflix, Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer attracted large audiences to the screen. The stand-up comedian used his real-life experience to influence his series, including harrowing depictions of violence and sexual assault.

Baby Reindeer has encountered some controversy considering the privacy of everyone involved. Though Gadd changed the characters’ names from their real-life counterparts, many online citizen detectives took it upon themselves to blow up these people’s lives. However, the show still holds a place in many peoples’ minds as a unique tale concerning stalking. Unfortunately, stalking in itself is not unique. YouTube personality Anna Akana has confirmed her own tales of terror in a new stand-up routine called It Gets Darker.

What happened to Anna Akana?

Akana has been making the rounds in the comedy scene, most notably on her YouTube channel where she has amassed over 2 million followers. Not one to shy away from reality, her content has been upfront about many dark subjects, including the suicide of her sister over a decade ago. Like Gadd, she will be appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to unveil a new routine that features these concepts, including her own experiences with stalking.

According to The Times in an exclusive interview, this will be the first time the comedian will appear live on stage in the past 6 years. Akana opened up to the outlet and said that after a series of disturbing so-called presents had been sent to her home, her stalker had started making the trip in person.

“He sent me letters or left totems, like bloody necklaces, random things. And finally I was able to collect enough of his rantings to get a restraining order. But there was a point when I thought, ‘Is he going to break into my house? Is this how I die?’”

Baby Reindeer is a very personal take on stalking, and one that differs from Akana’s story. It was perhaps the first time that a mainstream television series was concerned with accurately portraying a male being stalked. This is where Akana explained she felt her story was different.

I think it’s different when you flip the genders too because there is an implicit physical threat. I loved Baby Reindeer, but I was never really worried that he was going to be in a situation that he couldn’t get out of physically.”

Martha (Jessica Gunning) was an imposing figure, to be sure, and did impart some violence onto Gadd, but there is no doubt that male and female stalkers have different modus operandi. That is why there is room for Akana to tell her story so soon after Gadd’s television series. In her upcoming television series, she also plans to change facts surrounding the characters, just as in Baby Reindeer. While her stalker is a matter of public record, television is a medium that requires a sense of theater, no matter what the subject material. If and when it comes to the small screen, Akana’s story may put a new face on Netflix’s popular Emmy-nominated series.