Heroes in the Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement

by Tea Krulos

Tracing the author's journey into the strange subculture of Real Life Superheroes (RLSHs), this book examines citizens who have adopted comic book style personas and have hit the streets to fight injustice in a variety of ways. Some RLSHs concentrate on humanitarian or activist missions helping the homeless, gathering donations for food banks, or delivering toys to children while others actively patrol their neighborhoods looking for crime to fight. By day, these modern Clark Kents work as dishwashers, pencil pushers, and executives in Fortune 500 companies, but by night they become heroes for the people. Through historic research and extensive interviews, this work shares not only their shining, triumphant moments, but also some of their ill-advised, terrifying disasters."

Genres: Nonfiction, Superheroes

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I'm a journalist and author from Milwaukee, WI. I've written for a wide range of publications and have authored 6 non-fiction books: Heroes in the Night (2013), Monster Hunters (2015), Apocalypse Any Day Now (2019), Wisconsin Legends & Lore (2020), American Madness (2020), and Brady Street Pharmacy: Stories and Sketches (2021). I also contributed a chapter to The Supernatural in Society, Culture, and History (2018).

I write a weekly column on my website called "Tea's Weird Week."

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all seen Batman. Or Kickass. Or Watchmen. Or Mystery Men. What happens when real life people - with no super powers - decide to take justice into their own hands and help their city become a better place?

This book is surely a thrilling, exciting ride. It tackles the complicated and growing question of Real Life Superheroes - men and women who don masks and spandex outfits and patrol the streets of cities at night looking for crime.

Some are benign: they feed the homeless and volunteer to do charity events.

Others are more forceful: they break up fights using pepper spray, and deliberately confront and antagonize armed drug dealers in efforts to 'clean up the city.' This leads to violence, one 'superhero' got a knife in the eye from a drug dealer and will never see out of that eye again.

Also, we must think about the police. At best, the 'superheroes' are treated with suspicion and chuckling. At worst, they are seen as a menace that the cops deal harshly with, sometimes arresting them and bringing them up on charges of assault.

You also have to think about how 'safe' it really is for masked men and women to be roaming the streets armed with tasers and pepper spray and thinking that it's their 'job' to interfere in situations that are dangerous. In one incident, an enthusiastic 'superhero' with a shotgun confronted a man who was entering a trailer park on a motorcycle that was making 'too much noise.' An fight ensued, a shot rang out - luckily the bullet went into an empty trailer and no one was killed. But the 'superhero' could have killed an innocent person or child with that accidental shot. Scary stuff.

It reminds me (and this is very lightly touched on in the book) of vigilantes such as George Zimmerman who ended up shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin to death during a 'neighborhood watch.' So it's very real to think about some overly-excited 'hero' getting the wrong idea about someone or taking things too far.

While the book is fun and explores lots of topics such as: How to 'come out of the phone booth' and reveal your nighttime activities to your wife/girlfriend/partner* - I wanted more in depth exploration of these people's psyche.

There's a little bit of psychological analysis here and there. They are obviously altruistic - determined to help people and make a difference. But, despite what they claim, they obviously have huge egos. Thousands of people help the homeless, the abused, the battered, the addicted - and they do it in jeans and a t-shirt. It's hard, grueling, everyday work that makes a real difference in the world. Why do these people choose to do that - but while dressed up in outrageous costumes, calling themselves "Crimson Crusader" and filming it? This is the problem a lot of people have with the movement.

Often the superheroes try to get together and form teams. But the problem is, a lot of them are so full of themselves and dominant - what people on this site call 'alpha males' and I call 'arrogant assholes' - that the groups never stay together for long as fights always break out about who should be in charge and who has the right strategy for dealing with things.

Tl;dr - Entertaining, fun, thrilling. You will be shaking your head and rolling your eyes while reading about these people and their seemingly crazy actions. But you will be unable to stop reading. It's a very gripping book. On the other hand, I wanted more psychology and I wanted more in depth focus on some of the 'heroes' that I was interested in. But all in all, pretty good.

Oh, and BONUS: Full-color pages and pages of photos of these 'real life superheroes.' I love when books include stuff like this - it is great and definitely worth checking out. So fun.

*"Honey - I really haven't been working late like I told you. No, no, stop throwing things - it's not another woman. No, honey, I'm a superhero! I'm roaming the streets in this spandex costume and ski mask and confronting armed drug dealers!" (A woman's reaction to this is usually not relief that her man is not actually cheating on her - but instead being shocked and afraid that he's doing all this very dangerous stuff at night. Heroes routinely get injured on the 'job.' Or arrested and sometimes end up serving prison time.)

[Christopher Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected that this book--which is about the subculture of people who dress up like superheroes and/or fancy themselves to be superheroes, including vigilantes--might be depressing, which it is in places, but what makes it worthwhile is the thoroughness of its reportage. Krulos has chased down his subject matter with a dogged earnestness, and creates a genuine feel for the personalities and mood of this strange world. It's an excellent example, along with, say, Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels," of someone coming from a journalistic perspective but using all the tools and insights of participant-observation ethnography and producing something of lasting ethnographic value (more so than much of what is published as academic anthropological monographs). Krulos is also sympathetic, even admiring, but not without a sense of humor about the whole thing. He was actually there during the famous Phoenix Jones pepper-spray incident. If, as I suspect, this movement will continue and maybe even grow, then this book will for a long time be the go-to book for an introduction to it. One change that I expect will occur in the RLSH (real-life superhero, but is it pronounced "rilsh" or "arlsh"?) subculture is that the current nascent trend of deliberately chimerical body modification--people surgically implanting themselves with horns etc.--will intersect with the superhero concept and enable individuals to attempt to literally engineer superpowers for themselves. I think we are perhaps a generation or so away from that. Truth is not quite stranger than (comic book) fiction quite yet, but it soon may be.

[Matt Hlinak · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Heroes in the Night’ is a deftly written, entertaining book that sheds light on the strange but timely, understandable and relevant subculture that is the RLSH movement.

Read my full review at http://www.popmythology.com/heroes-in....

[Aaron Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalist Tea Krulos accurately captures both the optimistic joy and the disappointments and heartbreak involving this fascinating movement.

Superheroes among us in real life! I suppose this book couldn't help but be entertaining but Krulos' style adds plenty to the book. His voice is trustworthy and engaging. The reader can easily share in the optimistic potential of this movement (people doing good, in costume--both good for the planet and fun!) as well as the parallel disappointments (superheroes engaging in un-superhero-like activity, or in activity that bumps up against laws or societal norms in a negative way).

It's a great introduction to the phenomena, told in a fair and open voice, from a man who got as involved as possible. The book does a good job of building on to each chapter, starting with an introduction to the lifestyle and climaxing with a walk-along patrol with the most famous real-life superhero of them all, Phoenix Jones. The book's finale is the author's own attempt at suiting up. Will the author join them? You'll have to read it to find out.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit it, I picked this up expecting to find it hilarious. Kenley and I used to share articles about real-life superheroes and laugh about their antics. This book made me look at them in a different light. It helped me to understand what motivates these people, shows a little of their methods, and made me realize that the ones who truly believe they have superpowers are actually in the minority. It's a thoughtful glimpse into a community of people who want to make a positive difference in the world.

[Patrick Scattergood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Real Life Superhero Movement has been a constant of mockery but at the same time, people want to see just why the people who don the costumes do exactly that.

Well, now is your chance in this intelligent and easy to follow book by the journalist Tea Krulos.

For the full review please click the following link.
http://curiosityofasocialmisfit.blogs...

[Daniel Jun Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Heroes in the Night’ is a deftly written, entertaining book that sheds light on the strange but timely, understandable and relevant subculture that is the RLSH movement.

Read the full review on PopMythology.com

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. The author wrote me a nice dedication in the front that was unexpected and cool.

This was a great read for anyone who is a fan of Watchmen, Kick Ass, or superheroes in general. A lot of the book was about the caped crusaders but a good portion was about their charities as well and I found those parts to be the most inspiring of all. I couldn't see myself patrolling my neighborhood at night, like some of the people in this book, but I could see myself dressing up for charity events and doing fundraisers in costume like others did. It's an inspiring read and I enjoyed reading and learning about something new.

[Treesong Treesong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well-written and compelling narrative explores the author's journey into the world of Real Life Superheroes. The stories range from bizarre to inspiring, but they all do a good job of bringing out the humanity in these often-surreal characters and stories. As one of the "characters" included in this book, I can safely say that Tea Krulos has written the most accurate, well-rounded, fascinating, personal, and satisfying exploration of the movement that I've ever seen. Good times!

[Stephen Hero · Rating 1 out of 5]

How to get fired from a series of menial jobs:
Based upon mainly true stories culled from my meaningless life

Menial Job: Announcer and newscaster at the student-run college radio station
Reason for dismissal: Treating classical music with irreverence

Menial Job: Wal-Mart greeter
Reason for dismissal: Typical conversation starter: Does anyone else remember a six-week summer series entitled The Starland Vocal Band Show that was broadcast on CBS back in 1977?

Menial Job: Newspaper Reporter
Reason for dismissal: Used the following sentence in a column: People in Preston Ward are invited to a meeting at 7.15 pm tonight in St. Mary's Church Hall to meet councilors and beat police officers. Also, after provided a second chance by management, used the following sentence in the next column: The driver involved in this incident asked that her gender not be revealed.

Menial Job: Holder of a library card
Reason for dismissal: Continually asking librarians the question Do you have any books with photographs of dinosaurs?

Menial Job: Gravestone cutter
Reason for dismissal: One day carved the following: Here lies the immortal Jackie Milburn

Menial Job: Kitchen carpenter
Reason for dismissal: Wrote in an email to the building society: I request your permission to remove Mrs. Anderson's drawers in the kitchen.

Menial Job: Author for the company Idiot's Guide, Inc.
Reason for dismissal: Authored the following: An Idiot's Guide to Having Fun Spontaneously

Menial Job: Comic book author
Reason for dismissal: Fired over the backstory/origin of my super hero: With flippers on his feet (in case he has to swim) The Proper Pronoun relies heavily on his 9mm Radom pistol to kill his enemies without hesitation

[High Plains Library District · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating read. If you've always assumed that superheroes exist only in comic books, you'd be wrong. There are plenty of people being Real-Life Superheroes (RLSH), and this book is a bit of investigative journalism on the subject.

Krulos has interviewed a number of RLSH, and even followed some around as they save the world. They are all very different- some are nighttime vigilantes like Batman with a secret identity, while others feel this is extreme, and instead fight poverty by day by wearing tights while running toy drives.

There is no central narrative or story, and chapters jump around various important topics, like origins, superhero groups, and coming out of the phone booth (which might be my favorite phrase from the book- describing telling others the truth about your secret identity). The tone is journalistic and occasionally funny. It's very interesting to hear about perspectives from superheroes trying to make a difference, and the challenges that real-life people face outside comic books.

[Lanae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review cross-posted from: http://www.chicksgetlit.com/

I love love love comic book superheroes. I chose this book because I was a little more “Um, huh?” about the whole “real life superhero” thing. I tend to see them as silly news stories or possibly dangerous over zealous neighborhood watch folk in masks. I figured this book would tell me if I was right.

The author was clearly allowed access to the movement that the typical person would not be granted. He most certainty paints us a picture that those silly news stories never did. I’m not sure that we leave this book with an idea of what these people actually do though, not really. In some ways that seems to be the point of the book -- to explain to us that not all “RLSH” are alike. Some simply donate to all kinds of charities (um, okay many of us do that without a costume, but whatever). Some take on specific causes affecting their neighborhoods (drugs, homelessness, abuse, etc etc) and do work specifically targeting that one cause. While yet others in the RLSH movement, well, they walk around in costumes doing, um, walking around garnering a lot of attention because mask and spandex mostly, I think? With the exception of a few stories we really don’t learn what, if anything, they do. One self-accounting RLSH, the only one with any kind of full list in the book, seems to include things like tipping wait staff on his list of good deeds (huh?).

I did finish the book still unsure what to think of the movement as a whole. I received the book at about the time of the George Zimmerman verdict (he actually has a brief mention in the book) and really felt as though so many of these guys and gals would be nothing more than him in a mask. Leaving the book, I still fear many of them are that. As I said there are a few specific stories in here and some of those do show that maybe these characters aren’t all the right people to be fighting crime and protecting anyone or anything. In fact, their lack of proper training and over enthusiasm might be a danger in itself. I don’t need to tell you of their flaws though -- they have enemies for that. Yeah - Real Life Super Villains for the heroes (though unlike the comics, these baddies are mostly harmless - taunting the heroes online, mocking their outfits, etc).

The book I read was an advanced copy aka the editing was not complete and many of the photos were not yet included.. Somehow, I didn’t mind as I felt just reading about these real life characters was better than the side show of actually seeing their costumes. But then some of them sounded soooo outrageous that I actually had to pause my reading and go search for videos from their, you guessed it, silly news stories. So in that sense this book did its job in selling their stories to me - I did want to know more about some of them. Others I hoped would just get bored and fade away.

Besides not knowing what to think of the RLSH movement, I have also been really torn as to what to rate this book. It’s not a 5 star book. It’s also not a bad book. 3 or 4… 3 or 4… So torn here. Given the subject matter I think the author did the best he could… mostly. At times he kind of does seem a little fan boyish. It’s probably like a 3.5 star book. I’ll given it 4, because like I said, given the material I think the author did the best he could.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heroes in the Night is about the Real Life Superhero (RLSH) movement. The author has a blog by the same name, where he keeps up with the activities of RLSH, especially the few in his hometown of Milwaukee, WI. The RLSH movement is mostly what you'd expect: older teens and adults who create superhero personas and outfits and spend their nights roaming city streets, looking to aid anyone in distress. This could involve assisting someone who's had a few too many into a cab for a safe journey home or actually helping break up fistfights. I was relieved to find out that most RLSH carry no weapons and have no hesitation in calling 911 for professional back-up.

I also found it really interesting to hear about all the community service that most of the RLSH do; most are involved in raising money and awareness for children's or homeless or battered women's charities. Isn't that the perfect pairing?

This book, however, failed to grab me for two reasons: first, I didn't get the layout of the chapters. The book really seemed to jump rather quickly from topic to topic. It wasn't organized by geographic location, activity (vigilantism vs. charitable work), or time. There were very few "characters" who persisted throughout the book, and they weren't enough to carry it. I think this book would've benefited from having at least one unifying subject. Or having been presented in chronological order? I don't know. I felt lost.

Second, I couldn't get past the idea that these were ADULTS, mostly men, running around major American cities late at night in full superhero costumes, including full-face masks. Personally, I'd be scared witless if a large man in full body armor or a trench coat (the two most popular outfits, according to this book) and a ski mask/full face mask/head stocking approached me. It's no wonder some of these guys have frequent run-ins with cops! Am I the only one? I can't be the only one. These aren't outfits like in the movies; these are definitely homemade. I'd be terrified.

Finally, I wish there were more pictures. For such a "colorful" (literally and metaphorically) cast of people I'd have loved to see this book presented with a lot more full-color pictures. Most of the pictures were tiny (about 2"x2") and black-and-white; there were only a few pages of full-color photos in the centerfold. Heck, it might've worked for the author to present his information in graphic novel format!

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who are these people, these hundred and fifty real-life superheroes interviewed by the author? Crime fighters, whistle-blowers and do-gooders who empathize with the public good. The biggest populations appear in Ohio, Washington, Florida and Utah.

The first story of a mystery man, Robin Hood, appeared in 1450. The author traces the first superhero comic book to Superman of 1938. Then, in 1969, the first modern costumed real-life superhero appeared in Aurora, Ill. The Fox worked to save the Fox River from the black smoke and toxic sludge of a soap maker in that city, thirty miles west of Chicago. Before the EPA, few pollution laws existed. The Fox, a science teacher in disguise, raised the consciousness during his twenty-nine years. In the mid-2000s, the real-life superhero movement exploded.

A comic-book-turned-real-world subculture. One superhero sells custom costumes. Two hundred and fifty dollars will buy a cape, suit, mask and logo badge.

An interesting study of this active subculture, written by a guy who lives in the neighborhood. Three and a half stars.

2014 finalist, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Current Events/Social Change category

The author's next book, publishing in June, may make a good read for next Halloween. Monster Hunters: On the Trail with Ghost Hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, and Other Paranormal Investigators

[Jenny GB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krulos writes about the real men and women that dress as superheroes and assume a persona to do good in the world. Some focus on charity and other good works. Others actively patrol to try to deter crime or stop crimes in progress. There's a lot of controversy about their methods and their usefulness in a situation. Some people love them and some people hate them. Honestly, it sounded like the super villains were having the most fun of anyone. However, there's no denying that the genuine love of some superheros for the overlooked and downtrodden was very moving and the good work they do there is undeniable. So, if someone wants to dress up to do charity so be it as long as more people look to their good examples. The downside of the vigilante nature of some of their actions is unfortunately a dark mark on the other good that they do. It appears to be a complex issue and Krulos does a good job of presenting many different points of view and talks to many different people in the creation of this book. I really enjoyed reading more about it!

[Rlsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most thoroughly researched and accurate book about the Real-Life Superhero movement. The author took the time to get to know us and spent a number of years among us, meeting and patrolling with us, becoming an online fixture in our forums and online circles. If there was ever a "secret," an internal controversy or a closed group, someone would always say, "Yeah, but it's okay to tell Tea, right? 'Cause he's cool with us."

For years, Tea wrote online and sporadic print articles about us and we read it all, waiting for "The Book" to occur. At one point, he had nearly resigned himself to not being able to publish his book. I'm not certain what the turning point was 9well, maybe I am, but that would be a spoiler), but eventually he had the material that ignited publishing world's interest.

Whether you love, hate, or are just extremely bewildered about Real-Life Superheroes, this is a very fun read!

Geist
Real-Life Superhero
(Yeah, I'm in the book…)

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sympathetic look at the Real Life Super Hero movement. The author spent months getting to know some of the individuals who take it upon themselves to dress up as superheroes and patrol the streets of their cities, sometimes looking to thwart criminals, sometimes to hand out supplies to the homeless or just to lend a helping hand. I was disappointed, though, that although he mentions several times that my home city has one of the biggest groups of RLSH, he never came here and interviewed any of our hometown guys.

[Ryan Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heroes in the Night was an interesting examination of the dark underworld of average people dressing up as super heroes to protect their communities. Who would have thought there was an actual organization for these folks to gather? Well, there is, and it's packed with strange and fascinating people, which in my opinion, for some borders on delusions. Nonetheless less, if you're curious about learning more about these people beyond the crazy news stories, check it out.

[Warren Nast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and nicely written book about this sub-culture. Who hasn't dreamed of being a hero and patrolling the streets of their neighborhood?

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy collection of stories about real-life Americans that dress up like superheroes. Some try to fight crime, others advocate for political issues. It's a nice read; the author finds the core at each of their stories, which range from charming to disturbing.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my cup of tea, however other people might like it