Terrible People

Terrible People is a fanzine of fans of all those things that distress common life. Its authors present it to us as a magazine, but it has all the drive of its pages channeled towards a single goal: to find and tell those things of common life that we just can't stand. Which, along with its format, colors and illustrations, makes it a damn fanzine.

Describing it is as hard as describing or trying to categorize the Po Valley gothic of "Il Signor Diavolo" by Pupi Avati, but in the end, once you read one issue, you can't help but read the other one immediately, a little for the sense of anguish that leaves you towards the world, partly because of that healthy instinct of hatred towards the subjects described in its pages. 

When we decided to choose it for Frab's we were expecting a kind of paper version of the 90's Real Time-style TV programs that told of misfortunes, accidents, disasters and social or natural cataclysms. We didn't understand anything. Little technique and some interesting data, Terrible People tells the little anguish, the useless things, the hateful things in everyone's life the days like the famous avocado sandwiches that flesh out among the average wealthy millennials. It also talks about machismo, fidget spinners and Amazon evading taxes and so much more, all over the world. 

But let's go in order: the paper is beautiful with some glossy pages inside that contain original images and even a small booklet. Perfectly printed assault fanzine aesthetic, all bound with a resistant elastic and, at the bottom, the serial number.

People (and antisocials) from all over the world find themselves contributing to face the everyday ghosts and things that bother us about the world and other people. Half of the fanzine is devoted to the experiences of those dealing with terrible people or things. A very interesting and almost encyclopedic work that collects original contributions from Hong Kong passing through Zulu and Ukraine and that tells about strange, extravagant and sometimes despicable and disgusting customs and traditions. This part can become a very useful travel advice guide for those who have to go on vacation and cannot find any cultural indications on Tripadvisor. 

For example: are you still among those who dream of Australia? Do you think a mediocre level of English is enough? You are wrong. This fascinating country has chosen to cripple many words of the original English grammar and create neologisms that are incomprehensible to most and that are mainly part of spoken slang. I recommend: be careful not to confuse "yeeeeew!" with "eeeew!". You could pay a compliment to whoever sends you to that country.

In Singapore, then, beware of spit. In one of the countries in the world where people spit the most in public, it is not so rare to find one's clothes wet with someone's saliva while walking through the chaotic cities. 

Then we want to talk about those terrible people who call customer service as a pretext to get their money back even if an item is perfectly functional or, simply, because they are frustrated with life and do not know who to let off steam? 

Photography greatly lightens the content of Terrible People with its absolute, elegant and sincere cleanliness that goes straight to the description of the most extravagant fashions or the most unusual gestures. Issue 3 contains the interesting ironic illustrations of Jamie Edler that tell the "Schadenfreude" with images, German term that indicates the feeling that makes you explode a slight smile after an unfortunate situation or a bad story that you see happening to others. 

Multiple interviews and stories of people and "terrible" behaviors enrich the contents of the more than 60 pages of Terrible People to get to the last two pages before the credits: the Unrecommendations column, on what to avoid meeting, doing or seeing in this world. A practical manual that tells oddities and peculiarities with which you would never want to deal.

In limited edition, there are 1000 pieces for each edition. It is difficult to tell you which number to choose, they are a consequence of the other, terrible people from all over the world who do extravagant things in culture, politics, society, love technology and much more. 

This time, let's not be presumptuous if we tell you that every Terrible People should become a fixture for two specific reasons: learn about the oddities of the world and enjoy a bit of Schadenfreude, observing the brutalities of others while sitting comfortably on your sofa or in the subway. 

As always, Terrible People will get you home (even without shipping costs) if you order it here. 

Enjoy the reading!