The craziest things some of our favorite thriller writers have done for love

The Penn Badgley stalker drama You has entranced tens of millions of viewers since debuting on Netflix at the end of 2018, emerging as one of this year’s buzziest shows. The phenomenon began, of course, with the best-selling novel by Caroline Kepnes, which got us thinking: Where do writers like Kepnes, who’ve so masterfully depicted the dark side of romance, get their inspiration. What have they done for love? Their craziest stories, here:

“I posed as a reporter interviewing comedians for a book about modern comedy so that I could sit down and talk to a guy I liked in college. No book existed obviously.” (You is available for purchase.)

“A lifetime ago, my ex had impressed upon me that he wasn’t into birthday gifts, but I found a loophole — I would make him a cake! On the morning of the incident, I woke up early, baked and decorated the cake, decorated myself, and carried us both to his place. His reaction to the cake was so disparaging that I lunged for the cake with the intention of destroying it, but he managed to restrain me. In the end, he enjoyed the cake and I learnt to be dispassionate.” (My Sister, the Serial Killer is available for purchase.)

“I once fell for this guy who ended up telling me, after we’d been seeing each other for a while, that he was non-committal. Regardless, I was convinced that we were soulmates and that I could be the girl to change his mind. In an effort to do so, I decided it would be a great idea to buy him a T-shirt for his birthday, which was four months away, with a huge picture of his dog on the front whose face took up the entire shirt and ears made the sleeves. For some reason, I thought this would make him realize that he loved me. By the time his birthday rolled around our relationship still hadn’t progressed in the slightest, and it was clear that it never would. I debated giving him the T-shirt anyway, but thank God I came to my senses and gave it to a friend who had the same kind of dog.”(Tell Me Lies publishes in paperback on Feb. 5.)

“When my husband and I were first married, we both traveled a lot for work, and it was like a chess match on the world’s map trying to spend as much time together as possible. As an airline crew member, I saw an opportunity to meet up with my hubby on his boat that was docked in Norway for one night. On a whim, I caught a flight to Oslo, only to realize upon landing that getting to him and our romantic dinner date wasn’t going to be as simple as I had imagined. It turns out that he was in port 250 miles away, so my journey had only just begun! After a train journey, another internal flight to an island named Vigra and a bus, I then managed to get a lift to a ferry to another island. Finally, I caught a cab. I did make it in time for dinner and I’ll always remember the lengths I will go for love.” (The Perfect Girlfriend publishes on March 26.)

“I had just graduated from college and had immediately broken one of my cardinal rules: Do not date guys you meet in clubs. But this guy was gorgeous. I didn’t care that he didn’t have a degree. Didn’t care that his friends were a little shady. One day, I let him use my car — his was “in the shop.” He brought my car back and I didn’t think much of it… until the cops showed up at my parent’s house close to midnight that night. They were looking for me, see, because a car with my license plate had been used in a robbery.” (They All Fall Down publishes on April 9.)

“When I re-entered the dating world at age 42, everyone was online. Scary, yes! But after a few really bad first dates, I started seeing the perfect man. A divorced, suburban dad looking for a serious, committed relationship. But, after a few weeks, it began to feel a little too perfect. So, my younger sister and her friend helped me create a new, fake profile, using her friend’s pictures and a bio that would appeal to a man looking for something…less committed. Sure enough, he replied to her invitation. It turned out, he had lied about the last three years of his life…and was still married!” (The Night Before publishes on May 14.)

“The first time I fell madly in love, it was with an adorable David Beckham lookalike I met while traveling abroad in England the summer after high school. We had an intense long-distance love affair, writing love letters and racking up long distance charges until after one completely uneventful conversation, he disappeared with no explanation. I was completely heartbroken. I went to England again the next summer and when I discovered his number had changed — we still had landlines then! — I showed up at his door and asked him why he’d ghosted me. Looking back, this was a slightly crazy thing to do but brave too; I’ve never regretted it.” (We Came Here to Forget publishes on July 2.)

“Anybody can turn psycho in the name of love, including me. At one point, early in our relationship, my now-husband broke up with me to go back to his ex. I was so furious that I took everything he’d ever given me, including lingerie, and destroyed it — smashed it, cut it to bits. Then I put it in a box and mailed it to him. I guess he liked that because he came back to me, and we’ve been happily married ever since. I channeled those memories in writing Aidan in A Stranger on the Beach, who’s either a crazed stalker or a justifiably angry spurned lover. You’ll have to read the book to find out!” (A Stranger on the Beach publishes on July 23.)