Some people just sit around and watch the shows they like. Some even wear themed Halloween costumes and write fan fiction. But some fans move beyond these conventional displays of enthusiasm into the magical realm of the superfan, where Halloween costumes become daywear and TV shows become a lifestyle. These are the people after our own hearts. This week we set out to find the biggest superfan of the addictive supernatural melodrama True Blood by contacting the main True Blood fan site, True-Blood.net; the moderators didn’t hesitate before pointing us toward Kelly Sturm, a 37-year-old True Blood fanatic and welfare office worker for the County of San Bernardino, California.
Before we begin our interview with the delightfully upbeat Sturm, a quick summary of her credentials: She has (needless to say) seen every episode multiple times and read all of Charlaine Harris’s source books. She posts two to three times daily on the True Blood Facebook page and True-Blood.net as EricLover37, and had the theme song “Bad Things†as her ring tone. Her house is decorated in memorabilia, and she has a wardrobe’s worth of True Blood T-shirts. As True-Blood.net moderator Mel explains, “Kelly doesn’t just watch the show, she absorbs it and uses it to inspire her. She’s one of the most cheerful, enthusiastic people we’ve encountered in True Blood fandom.†In fact, Sturm is so cheery that she can stay calm even when confronted by the most heretical statement in all of True Blood fandom: that Twilight is superior. “I got into it with someone [who was] saying Twilight was better,†she says. “I told them they’re completely different genres. To me, it’s comparing apples and oranges. [But] to each their own.â€
At the Ultimate Fan Experience in full Fangbanger regalia, with boyfriend.Photo: Kelly Sturm