Joe Goldberg is the Scariest Stalker in Horror Media

 

Credit to Rolling Stone

Joe Goldberg is possibly the most complicated and unnerving stalker I have ever seen. 

This character was created by Caroline Kepnes based on her book series, You, and was later adapted into a TV show that received a lot of praise by fans and critics. Both formats are written and executed so well, the reader or viewer is placed on a train that never ends with Joe Goldberg's character. 

We hate and love his character, due to Penn Badgely's terrific acting as the character. He was the perfect actor to portray such a scary character, Badgely's acting is like both sides of a coin. Goldberg shows his humanity to the audience, but also reveals a scary side to him that he is willing to hurt anyone that would dare to destroy his chance at love. 

Even though Goldberg does kill a lot of bad people that have it coming, some of his victims are innocent people that don't deserve to die. Each of Goldberg's murders have been cutthroat or ruthless against each of his victims. He never shows remorse, and it's scary to think that he once used to have some sort of attachment to some of them; but he quickly discarded them like he was simply taking out the trash!

Joe Goldberg is able to reach and trick his victims, when it comes to his intelligence and wit. It's insane how smart Goldberg can be, and even though he has gotten himself stuck in so many situations; he finds a way for each of them to work in his favor. 

I never thought in a million years this show or the book series would become so huge. When I first started watching the show, I was sort of bored. I already had a feeling of how his character was going to be like, but I felt like something was missing. Once I started watching the rest of the first season after taking a break, I was shocked with how powerful and eerie the ending was. 

Warning: Spoilers for the first season!

The main love interest in the first season was immediately killed once Goldberg no longer had any use for her. It freaked me out, and I at first thought it was a mere cop out, but no. It was real, and Goldberg was already willing to move on to find another love interest. 

Just when I thought his character's journey wasn't going to get any more interesting and insane, I was blown away by the rest of the new seasons that followed. The writers kept on taking new risks to appease their audience, giving Joe Goldberg new environments for the viewers to figure out how Goldberg is going to handle his new life. 

It's ballsy of the TV writers as well, since the show has taken on a completely new direction from the book series. I can't imagine how hard it is to not follow a book series through a show, and I applaud the writers for their amazing differences. Joe's character is compelling in both versions, but to be honest, I really did prefer the show a whole lot more. 

It's hilarious and disturbing to see what Joe Goldberg is going to do next, and I absolutely love watching Penn Badgely's performance. His acting range is insane, I hope he continues to appear in other horror media! 

He is literally the perfect candidate to become part of the horror genre! 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn