And don ' t forget the old stalkers . Creepy fans have been a thing for a while . IIRC culture scholars have them dated in the 19 th century , with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being harassed by fans being a prime example . I ' m not sure if this is actually true but I ' ve heard Franz Liszt had some rather intense fans as well . On one hand , I feel like the internet allows people to get out all their fan stuff in a less physically invasive way excepting those occasions like that woman biting Norman Reedus wtf . On the other hand , it also has the effect you ' re talking about . Sorry for the small ramble . Cultural studies of fandom interest me . I ' ve only ever conducted one of them unrelated to TWD and it got me into critical perspectives on fandom as an actual cultural phenomenon .