[Webcomic Review] Killing Stalking by Koogi

Yoon Bum, a scrawny, quiet boy, has a crush on one of the most popular and handsome guys in school, Sangwoo. One day, with Yoon Bum's obsession toward Sangwoo reaching its peak, Yoon Bum decides to enter Sangwoo's home. But what he sees inside is not the Sangwoo he had dreamed of.

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This review will be on the story as a whole (verses each volume), because I read it on the app Manga Rock for free. However, this story is not for everyone, and I recommend doing research on this comic before reading because it can be extremely triggering. If any of the triggers I list below are ones you typically avoid, I would skip this webcomic/manhwa (South Korean comic/graphic novel) because it gets graphic and heavy.

tw: sexual assault, rape, Stockholm syndrome, graphic violence, pedophilia (mentioned, not shown on page), abusive relationship, kidnapping, child abuse. Other than the one mentioned, all are shown on page.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead. I don't think I could review this without talking about the events that happen in the story. If you want to avoid spoilers I recommend jumping to the last two paragraphs where I talk if I recommend this comic or not.

Wow, that was a lot. I have been reading webcomics more lately because it's easy to open them up while out and about or in the car, but when I heard of  Killing Stalking I immediately knew it was outside my comfort zone. I am not really big into horror or stories with a lot of graphic violence. However, I kept seeing it being talked about online in the spaces where anime and manga/mahwa stories are often talked about, so I became curious. And to be honest from the beginning I was hooked and I knew I had to read to the end. 

This story is not a BL (boy love) romance, despite seeing people talk it up like a romance. It's a tragic story about two very messed up people  putting themselves in a toxic relationship because their pasts are similarly haunting. This story is a psychological horror, and I'd say a good one, but I am not experienced in the genre so I'd take that with a grain of salt since I don't have much to compare it to. It is true that the two main characters, Yoon Bum and Sangwoo, have a strong bond but it is built on abuse, violence, sexual assault, and kidnapping, sure. But there isn't any true healthy love between them. 

Yoon Bum becomes obsessed with Sangwoo, and starts to full on stalk him. To the point where he breaks into his house. Throughout the comic, you feel sorry for Yoon Bum because he's the obvious victim, but also he's small, timid, and obviously scared. It is easy to forget that he was the one stalking someone, and it was just his poor luck that the man he was stalking ended up being a serial killer. It's also easy to sympathize for Yoon Bum because although he was invading Sangwoo's privacy, it didn't seem to be malicious just creepy and obsessive. Yoon Bum has somehow built up this perfect version of Sangwoo in his head, and he is obviously surprised to find out that Sangwoo is a vicious murderer. As the story goes on Sangwoo goes to show more vulnerable parts of him once he's put Yoon Bum through torturous tests to make sure he's worth his time. Which makes Yoon Bum, who was previously obsessively in love with Sangwoo, feel loved and that's where the Stockholm Syndrome enters the story. It shows how unhealthy it is to put someone else on this pedestal and become obsessed over another human, especially one you don't know personally. 

Sangwoo is not anything what Yoon Bum pictured him as, he's violent, unpredictable, and extremely flawed. He's all over the place and both the reader and Yoon Bum don't know what he's going to do next or his motives behind what he does. We learn later that a lot of what he puts his victims through and what drives him are connected back to his childhood (that changed and continued into this adulthood) trauma. It makes the reader understand where the reader comes from and it forces the reader to ask hard questions. Where do we draw the line in blaming someone with a traumatic childhood or past for their actions and allowing that past to give them a pass on the things they've done? Is there a trauma meter for how much someone has to go through for them to be excused for their actions? What about people who have traumatic childhoods and don't become violent serial killers or creepy stalkers? It also brings in topics surrounding the importance of people getting help, especially if they've been through horrendous things at a young age.

This story isn't for everyone. I didn't even think it would be for me, and in some respects it still isn't. I think the reason I got so hooked is a mixture of fantastic storytelling and really captivating art that had me needing to know what was going to happen. I'm lucky enough that I got to read it all together in it's completion without having to wait each week for a new chapter. So binge reading was fairly easy. I know I've mentioned it a lot, but there are a lot of triggering topics in this story. Typically gore isn't my thing, but it doesn't affect me because I expected it based off the summary of the manhwa. I didn't expect the graphic sexual scenes, especially when they became non-consensual. 

There are a lot of things in this story I think can be criticized depending on who is reading it, and how much they can handle. However, one of the biggest things I think is an actual con would be the way homosexuality is handled. We have Yoon Bum, who is a stalker who becomes a murderer. Sangwoo, who says he is not gay but has sex (and rapes) with Yoon Bum often, who is a murderer, kidnapper, rapist. We have the man Sangwoo picks up at the gay bar, who is cheating on his wife (who is at home with their kids) with men he meets at the bar. Yoon Bum's uncle, who rapes him before the events start with Sangwoo. That is a lot of gay characters who are surrounded by rape, violence, adultery, murder, etc. I would say maybe the police officer who tries to help Yoon Bum is gay, but that isn't said officially and the only hints we get is the man who is often in his apartment, but for all I know it's a roommate since I don't believe we don't see anything romantic or intimate go on between them. I think this is something to consider when reading this web-comic. It's up to the reader if that will bother them or not. 

Like I mentioned earlier in my review, the fandom and fans surrounding this web-comic seem to be hardcore shipping Yoon Bum with Sangwoo. It's incredibly uncomfortable, especially after reading the amount of toxicity between the two characters. They both need therapists and jail time (especially Sangwoo), not to be stuck in an abusive relationship. I am sick of seeing posts like "I need to find my Sangwoo!" it makes my skin crawl. This isn't a criticism of the web-comic, because this isn't the message the comic is portraying. It's supposed to be uncomfortable and terrifying. Not romantic, and I am not sure why the fandom seems to set in making it this romantic story-line. It's sad, for both characters. They are both people who were abused in different ways throughout their life and now have awful views of what love is. It's sad, especially the ending. 

Talking about the ending, I think it's a good one. I genuinely was emotional at the end because both characters are tragic. I keep using that word, because it's the best one I can think of to describe both Yoon Bum and Sangwoo. If the ending didn't happen the way it did, and Sangwoo and Yoon Bum were still living together in this abusive toxic relationship, I have no doubt in my mind Sangwoo would have killed him. I think this way it really focuses on the seriousness of their mental illness and how absolutely shattered both men are at their core. It's haunting. 

Would I recommend this web-comic? It depends, especially on the reader. I think if you're into psychological thrillers, maybe check it out. Keep in mind the triggers I mentioned above, of course. I think this is an interesting case when it comes to psychology and how people are hardwired. Or maybe how people's past can affect their everyday adult lives. How it impacts the choices they make as an adult. I think there can be great discussion that can be had after reading this story. So in that regard, I think it was well done. Psychological thrillers (and/or horror) are known for having pretty dark themes and so if you're used to that and know you can handle it, maybe just know it could be different seeing it on the page drawn out. I think that was what was new to me, and it made it a difficult read in multiple moments in the story.

Overall, I am not upset that I ended up reading this. I do think that I would have read it anyway, even if  I knew about how dark it was because I had a serious case of FOMO when it came to others talking about it online. I wanted to be in the know when it came to Killing Stalking. I would definitely read more by the artist Koogi, but I cannot see myself re-reading Killing Stalking. 

Thanks for reading!