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The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov
His name was Quentin Sergenov - the unexpected hero of the 90s wrestling scene. A middle-aged bruiser called up to the big leagues on the eve of what should’ve been his retirement, his story of late-in-life success and can-do attitude won the hearts of fans all over the world- and the heart of Wave, his in-ring rival. The two shared a forbidden love that was doomed from the start; but the end of their affair would prove to be the beginning of something terrible for Quentin… His name is Quentin Sergenov - recluse, artist, romantic. Something happened to Quentin after he was cast out of the wrestling something that left him less—and more —than human. Now that he’s been given a second chance, Quentin is about to go on a quest—one that will find him crossing paths with Nazi scientists, internet celebrities, sci-fi groupies, and bodybuilding CEOs. It’s a quest to reunite with Wave and finally take back what was stolen from them; and the results will be as gruesome as they are hilarious…
- GenresHorror
110 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2021
About the author
Preston Fassel
8 books86 followersPreston Fassel is an award-winning novelist and journalist whose work has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, and Screem Magazine. He is a two-time winner of the Independent Publisher's Gold Medal for Horror, for Our Lady of the Inferno (which was also named one of the ten best books of 2018 by Bloody Disgusting) and The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov. His debut nonfiction book, Landis: The Story of a Real Man on 42nd Street, the first published biography of film critic and magazine founder Bill Landis, was nominated for the 2022 Rondo Hatton Award for Book of the Year. He graduated Cum Laude from Sam Houston State University in 2011 with a BS in psychology. He held the Tetris world record for like five months in 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 2, 2021
How to review a book about a former pro wrestler, turned dinosaur, pining over a lost love whilst obsessively watching ‘Pretty in Pink’ on repeat? To be honest, I imagine I’ve either sold you on the book or lost you entirely with that sentence alone, but bear with me, because as wild as the book sounds, there is far more to it than meets the eye.
Quentin Sergenov was a big name in the 90s wrestling scene before he was forced to leave in disgrace amidst a flurry of rumours. That was a long time ago, and Quentin is now a different man. Well, perhaps not a man anymore…
Now Quentin spends his days in self-imposed isolation, creating art and watching reruns of his glory days. When a chance encounter and a series of unlikely events give him a second chance to reunite with the man he once loved, he goes on an epic adventure that will find him cross paths with sci-fi fanatics and nazi scientists to get back what he once lost.
This second novel from Preston Fassel is an exceptional case of a book where the author has thrown all manner of things in the mix to see what sticks, and the answer is; all of it. It’s a gleefully odd book and a clear passion project, with a huge array of pop culture references and loving odes to things like Star Trek, WWF and Jurassic Park. If you’re going into the book wanting something unique and entertaining, then you won’t be disappointed.
Look a little deeper, however, and there is so much more to Quentin Sergenov than weirdness and nostalgia. It is a funny book and it’s also a very entertaining book, but at its core, it’s an incredibly melancholy and a tragic look at a man who worked hard to achieve everything he ever wanted, then lost everything. Quentin’s sexuality is a major driving factor for a lot of the events of the book and some of the most difficult sections to read come from a lack of acceptance from the people he has surrounded himself with.
As much as I loved the kookier aspect of the book, it's Quentin and his very real experiences that will make this book so memorable for me and will be the reason why I’ll no doubt revisit it again and again. So much time is spent making him a three dimensional and sympathetic character that you can’t help but be invested in his story, regardless of how crazy things get. I honestly never thought an author could make me care so much about a sociopathic Trekkie dinosaur, but here we are.
The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is an unmitigated triumph of creativity and masterful storytelling. It is outrageously offbeat, charming and wonderfully strange, but what really elevates it from a fun read to one of the years best releases to date, is its underlying story of how the man became the monster.
You can read more reviews of new and upcoming horror releases at https://www.myindiemuse.com/richard-m...
I also promote indie horror via Twitter and Instagram - @RickReadsHorror
Quentin Sergenov was a big name in the 90s wrestling scene before he was forced to leave in disgrace amidst a flurry of rumours. That was a long time ago, and Quentin is now a different man. Well, perhaps not a man anymore…
Now Quentin spends his days in self-imposed isolation, creating art and watching reruns of his glory days. When a chance encounter and a series of unlikely events give him a second chance to reunite with the man he once loved, he goes on an epic adventure that will find him cross paths with sci-fi fanatics and nazi scientists to get back what he once lost.
This second novel from Preston Fassel is an exceptional case of a book where the author has thrown all manner of things in the mix to see what sticks, and the answer is; all of it. It’s a gleefully odd book and a clear passion project, with a huge array of pop culture references and loving odes to things like Star Trek, WWF and Jurassic Park. If you’re going into the book wanting something unique and entertaining, then you won’t be disappointed.
Look a little deeper, however, and there is so much more to Quentin Sergenov than weirdness and nostalgia. It is a funny book and it’s also a very entertaining book, but at its core, it’s an incredibly melancholy and a tragic look at a man who worked hard to achieve everything he ever wanted, then lost everything. Quentin’s sexuality is a major driving factor for a lot of the events of the book and some of the most difficult sections to read come from a lack of acceptance from the people he has surrounded himself with.
As much as I loved the kookier aspect of the book, it's Quentin and his very real experiences that will make this book so memorable for me and will be the reason why I’ll no doubt revisit it again and again. So much time is spent making him a three dimensional and sympathetic character that you can’t help but be invested in his story, regardless of how crazy things get. I honestly never thought an author could make me care so much about a sociopathic Trekkie dinosaur, but here we are.
The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is an unmitigated triumph of creativity and masterful storytelling. It is outrageously offbeat, charming and wonderfully strange, but what really elevates it from a fun read to one of the years best releases to date, is its underlying story of how the man became the monster.
You can read more reviews of new and upcoming horror releases at https://www.myindiemuse.com/richard-m...
I also promote indie horror via Twitter and Instagram - @RickReadsHorror
December 5, 2023
A chillingly bizarre, gory and yet sickly endearing horror/sci-fi love story featuring dinosaurs, Nazis and wrestlers, and which in a strange way is an homage to 80's and 90's pop culture. From the outset Fassel throws the reader straight into the deep end, demanding some patience before one can determine what the hell is going on. His writing is lyrical and mesmerizing, the dialogue sharp, witty and pulsing with both a vitality and a dark, twisted energy.
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July 31, 2022Not only is this story wonderfully and deliriously weird, but there is a lot of heart and emotional resonance therein too, albeit in its own insane and violent way. Fassel's prose is enrapturing as well. Every moment of this was full of vivid detail without feeling overstuffed. I loved it.
May 18, 2021
Quentin Sergenov is a dinosaur obsessed with Pretty in Pink who spends his free time splicing clips of Jurassic Park into gay pornographic films. He used to be human, though, and before his transformation was a rising-star in the wrestling world until he was outed and blacklisted. He spends his time pining for his former lover, fellow wrestler Wave, but it's not until after attending a Star Trek convention that fate brings these two men back together.
To say that The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is fucking nuts is an understatement. This slim novella is, indeed, gloriously, over-the-top, batshit insane. It's also a hell of a lot of fun, particularly as you try to imagine just what in the hell chaotic scenario Preston Fassel is going to drum up next (good luck with that by the way).
Quentin Sergenov is a bizarre Tammy and the T-Rex by way of John Waters with a dash of Tusk for good measure gay love story, and that either turns you on or off right away, and likely with a raised eyebrow or two. Fassel splits the story between two timelines, with each chapter alternating between the "present-day" story circa 2002 or 1996-1998 as the strange rise and fall of Sergenov is recounted.
Fassel does a great job bringing his titular character's backstory to life, making him both a sympathetic and perilously dangerous figure. I found myself both intrigued and ultimately chilled by Sergenov, and the grand finale is every bit as disturbing as it is stuffed-to-the-gills with all kinds of rousing dino stomp-and-chomp (to borrow from my Sci-Fi & Scary friend).
The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is a blast, by turns gory and shocking, and as pulpy as it is disturbing.
To say that The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is fucking nuts is an understatement. This slim novella is, indeed, gloriously, over-the-top, batshit insane. It's also a hell of a lot of fun, particularly as you try to imagine just what in the hell chaotic scenario Preston Fassel is going to drum up next (good luck with that by the way).
Quentin Sergenov is a bizarre Tammy and the T-Rex by way of John Waters with a dash of Tusk for good measure gay love story, and that either turns you on or off right away, and likely with a raised eyebrow or two. Fassel splits the story between two timelines, with each chapter alternating between the "present-day" story circa 2002 or 1996-1998 as the strange rise and fall of Sergenov is recounted.
Fassel does a great job bringing his titular character's backstory to life, making him both a sympathetic and perilously dangerous figure. I found myself both intrigued and ultimately chilled by Sergenov, and the grand finale is every bit as disturbing as it is stuffed-to-the-gills with all kinds of rousing dino stomp-and-chomp (to borrow from my Sci-Fi & Scary friend).
The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov is a blast, by turns gory and shocking, and as pulpy as it is disturbing.
July 8, 2026
A former wrestler, turned dinosaur, pining for his lost love, and he's obsessed with Pretty in Pink? Yes, please 🙋♀️
Satisfying and brutal story of self discovery, acceptance, and sweet, sweet revenge. Oh, and the end made me gag. The gore visual was astoundingly good. Sign me up for more Fassel.
Satisfying and brutal story of self discovery, acceptance, and sweet, sweet revenge. Oh, and the end made me gag. The gore visual was astoundingly good. Sign me up for more Fassel.
January 25, 2021
Insert obligatory glowing author review here.
February 4, 2024
Weird and zany in all the best ways + professional wrestling references too! This one was a hit for me. If you enjoy weird fiction, this one could be a good read for you too!
June 18, 2021
Having read Preston's work in the past I knew I was in for a wild ride that is wholly apart from anything else I've ever read, and I was right. Dinosaurs, Nazi zoos, Pretty in Pink, oh my! But in all seriousness, Quentin Sergenov is a bloody fun, chaotic ride of proportions I have only encountered in Fassel's fiction. There is a levity here that feels fresh even amid the dim, gore-spattered dino-darkness through which the story is told, and periodic unexpected flashes of heart. If you've ever wondered about queer pro-wrestlers turned dinosaurs a la Tammy and the T-Rex going on a quest to pursue the human man of their dreams (and a few other queer encounters along the way), this is certainly the book for you. Its miniscule page count also makes for a delightfully quick summer read, should you need a brain break from the world. Fair warning, though: this one's got bite.
December 19, 2021
The ultimate revenge tale of a former pro wrestler turned dinosaur. Put me in mind of The Count of Monte Cristo, if he had been turned into a dinosaur who loses all he holds dear because of his sexuality, and if it had Star Trek conventions and a crazy nazi terrorist cell and a few hundred less pages. The whole conglomeration of the story is batshit bonkers and shouldn’t be able to work cohesively as a story, but it does in a very weird, wtf did I just read, sort of way. Quentin’s revenge is a beautiful thing, except it’s also pretty gross, so keep in mind the story is not for the feint of heart. And so another book crossed off the started but didn’t finish list on my kindle.
September 20, 2022
2022 Horror Reading Challenge: Bizarro Horror
I will not go much into this book, I will simply say I loved it, and give a brief intro to what this book is about. A professional wrestler who has a forbidden romance with a fellow wrestler is turned into a dinosaur, and loves the film Pretty in Pink. There is also bloody violence thrown in the mix. Chances are that is enough to tell if this strange book is for you.
I will not go much into this book, I will simply say I loved it, and give a brief intro to what this book is about. A professional wrestler who has a forbidden romance with a fellow wrestler is turned into a dinosaur, and loves the film Pretty in Pink. There is also bloody violence thrown in the mix. Chances are that is enough to tell if this strange book is for you.
April 21, 2021
Every once in a while, I come across a diamond in the rough that makes me say, “I didn’t know I needed a book about wrestlers, Nazis, twisted love, and dinosaurs, but thank goodness it exists!”
This book is B-O-N-K-E-R-S in the best possible way! Fassel’s fast-paced sci-fi horror mashup is a perfect escape from reality. Quentin is a trouble protagonist with love and career success on his mind. The poor, um, “guy” can’t catch a break, and he ends alone, longing for companionship, devising a rather twisted plot to fulfill his need. There’s a dash of gore for the horror fans, some unusual technology for the sci-fi lovers, and enough wresting references to appease the biggest Sasha Banks fan.
But if wrestling isn’t your thing, don’t worry. All readers will quickly sink into this bizarre reality, eagerly soaking up the vivid descriptions and unsavory characters until the final moments. While some may feel this book ended a bit abruptly, that just means the imaginative plot did it’s job of captivating an audience. Readers who have been sinking into the Rewind or Die series will easily make the transition to Fassel’s novel which has the same campy vibe. This is an author to watch!
This book is B-O-N-K-E-R-S in the best possible way! Fassel’s fast-paced sci-fi horror mashup is a perfect escape from reality. Quentin is a trouble protagonist with love and career success on his mind. The poor, um, “guy” can’t catch a break, and he ends alone, longing for companionship, devising a rather twisted plot to fulfill his need. There’s a dash of gore for the horror fans, some unusual technology for the sci-fi lovers, and enough wresting references to appease the biggest Sasha Banks fan.
But if wrestling isn’t your thing, don’t worry. All readers will quickly sink into this bizarre reality, eagerly soaking up the vivid descriptions and unsavory characters until the final moments. While some may feel this book ended a bit abruptly, that just means the imaginative plot did it’s job of captivating an audience. Readers who have been sinking into the Rewind or Die series will easily make the transition to Fassel’s novel which has the same campy vibe. This is an author to watch!
June 14, 2021
...the novella as a whole is difficult to categorize. Despicable Fantasies is part Wolverine origin story, part Darren Aronofsky sports drama on ecstasy with a generous sprinkling of Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” and it sails along with little lapse in action or unnecessary ramblings. Yes, it is bananas at times: there’s no way around that, but it’s bananas in a delightful fun way that a reader can easily digest it in one sitting...
Read the rest of the review on Ginger Nuts of Horror!
https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fictio...
Read the rest of the review on Ginger Nuts of Horror!
https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fictio...
June 6, 2021
The long-awaited follow-up to Preston Fassel's gruesome, but tenderhearted debut novel Our Lady of the Inferno is, quite literally, a very different animal. Namely, a semiprofessional wrestler-turned-Deinonychus (AKA Velociraptor) who quickly sets about ripping that beloved predecessor's tender heart right out and devouring it whole. Yes, The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov, in a tight, sub-100-page package that I happily gorged my way through in a single sitting, tells the story of a man turned into a literal monster by the harsh betrayals of age, social ostracism, and forbidden love (and also, Nazi scientists, sure... but mostly the other stuff). If Our Lady of the Inferno's male lead, Roger, presented the good side of the hopeless romantic, "nice guy" coin, then Quentin Sergenov takes the reader far out in the other direction, to the darkest depths of internalized rejection and obsessive regret that so often send lonely men spiraling over the edge.
After escaping his captors' lab in satisfyingly grisly fashion, Quentin spends years alone, rehashing the past and curdling in his own anger, poisoning himself against the world until his insides match his terrifying exterior (in a finely detailed touch, he spends a great deal of time splicing together gay porn, snatches of Pretty in Pink, and videos of his old wrestling matches with his ex-lover, toeing the line between AV-savvy serial killer and inspired modern artist) all the while gaining the will to power and confidence that comes gratis with transplantation into a near-indestructible dinosaur body. And when circumstances finally conspire for him to take his revenge, Quentin doesn't flinch, instead embarking on a brutal killing spree that culminates in one of the most singularly disturbing final images you'll read all year. Be prepared. With this novella, Fassel has announced himself as a unique, and multifaceted voice in horror fiction - a writer with a startling range of stories to tell, and a raw, personal prose style that seems at times to be racing right off the page. Quentin Sergenov will bounce your head off the turnbuckle, piledrive your heart from the top rope, and leave you bleeding out on the mat. Together, this tag-team is not messing around.
After escaping his captors' lab in satisfyingly grisly fashion, Quentin spends years alone, rehashing the past and curdling in his own anger, poisoning himself against the world until his insides match his terrifying exterior (in a finely detailed touch, he spends a great deal of time splicing together gay porn, snatches of Pretty in Pink, and videos of his old wrestling matches with his ex-lover, toeing the line between AV-savvy serial killer and inspired modern artist) all the while gaining the will to power and confidence that comes gratis with transplantation into a near-indestructible dinosaur body. And when circumstances finally conspire for him to take his revenge, Quentin doesn't flinch, instead embarking on a brutal killing spree that culminates in one of the most singularly disturbing final images you'll read all year. Be prepared. With this novella, Fassel has announced himself as a unique, and multifaceted voice in horror fiction - a writer with a startling range of stories to tell, and a raw, personal prose style that seems at times to be racing right off the page. Quentin Sergenov will bounce your head off the turnbuckle, piledrive your heart from the top rope, and leave you bleeding out on the mat. Together, this tag-team is not messing around.
June 3, 2021
I love everything about this story!
June 6, 2021
I had the opportunity to read an ARC of TDFOQS and found myself glamoured, unable to set it down. It is one of those stories that is entirely original, adventurous, and emotionally powerful while keeping its feet squarely in the congealing puddle of its splatter punk origins. It's bonkers and should make no sense at all, but somehow it works. I'd love to read more of Quentin's adventures.
September 1, 2021
Fassel has quite the imagination. This is a quick, insanely paced read that is so chock full of crazy plot beats that it should, by all conventional wisdom, be unwieldy in plot and light on character. But it is not. The characters are thorough and every zany plot beat works. I want to see this made into an animated movie.
October 25, 2021
I had a great deal of fun with this. It's a slick and easy read, and it's completely insane. A former-wrestler turned into a dinosaur is determined to win back the love of his life. Along the way, he gets up to mischief with a bit-part Star Trek actor and fights Nazis. From there, you probably know whether this is your thing or not, but for me, it was throroughly enjoyable.
July 20, 2021
This story is a difficult one to classify. There are elements of horror, with plenty of blood and gore. There are elements of love, and identity, and the awful way some people are treated for just living their life and being who they are. There are elements of comedy and bizarro, with a subplot of crazy nazi scientist clones, kidnapping people off of the street and performing insane experiments on them. But, as crazy as all this sounds, Fassel has penned a fantastic and entertaining tale. He strikes a balance between all these different elements, never allowing the story to become too serious, or too funny, or too sad, although you will feel all of these feelings and more. I've never read American Psycho, but I have seen the movie, and there was one particular scene that put me in mind of that, the horror never far from the surface, no matter what is going on. A really fantastic read, and an author of whose work I need to read more.
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January 25, 2025You have to be a particular kind of sicko to pick up this book and I kind of enjoyed it? I have a lot of questions but. I respect its commitment if nothing else!
January 11, 2024
At its core, The Despicable Fantasies of Quentin Sergenov seems to be about being misunderstood. Its focus on a gay wrestler from the 1990s who is made a pariah because of his sexual orientation amidst a world of cruelty also seems to raise the question: with so many people being mean to each other, is one man being in love with another really so bad? But these messages, no matter how well-intentioned, are buried up to their neck in the muck of bad storytelling and humor that assumes random jokes are always funny.
The structure of the whole book is just off kilter. The writing style is slow and deliberate but lingers on asides and superfluous details so often that the story–filled with so much, including nazi zoos, dinosaur-human hybrids, minor Star Trek actors, Amish-themed wrestlers, characters masturbating to pictures of Charlie Chaplin, an obsession with Pretty in Pink–hardly has any momentum. Take away all of its quirks, and it would be a short retelling of the most basic revenge plot imaginable.
Additionally, more and more books as of late have used the multi-narrative approach of skipping back and forth between two narrators or two time periods, and what I’m realizing about that approach with this book is just how lazy it is. Instead of being more selective about which points of time to show or carefully working in flashbacks or flash forwards at strategic moments that would build more suspense or emotional resonance, this set up just allows writers to go on autopilot and connect some of the more superficial elements of the story as if these aspects have more significance than they do.
I appreciate the imagination the author has–it is a wild one–but the ideas are half-formed and the writing takes itself way too seriously. So the book’s neither much fun nor a compelling story.
The structure of the whole book is just off kilter. The writing style is slow and deliberate but lingers on asides and superfluous details so often that the story–filled with so much, including nazi zoos, dinosaur-human hybrids, minor Star Trek actors, Amish-themed wrestlers, characters masturbating to pictures of Charlie Chaplin, an obsession with Pretty in Pink–hardly has any momentum. Take away all of its quirks, and it would be a short retelling of the most basic revenge plot imaginable.
Additionally, more and more books as of late have used the multi-narrative approach of skipping back and forth between two narrators or two time periods, and what I’m realizing about that approach with this book is just how lazy it is. Instead of being more selective about which points of time to show or carefully working in flashbacks or flash forwards at strategic moments that would build more suspense or emotional resonance, this set up just allows writers to go on autopilot and connect some of the more superficial elements of the story as if these aspects have more significance than they do.
I appreciate the imagination the author has–it is a wild one–but the ideas are half-formed and the writing takes itself way too seriously. So the book’s neither much fun nor a compelling story.
December 11, 2021
A fun, lean read, but also lacking in plotting. I would've liked more in either the "real world" after Quentin is a dinosaur or more scenes set in the wrestling world pre-transformation. The flashback scenes unfold nicely as a sci-fi story but, once the sci-fi convention subplot (the best part) comes to a close, the rest of the present day scenes are just a slasher story set in a wrestling arena (not a bad idea) that ends abruptly. May have been better as a full length novel.
March 30, 2023
This book is absolutely unhinged in the best way possible. The main character in an ex-professional wrestler who gets transformed into a dinosaur searching for revenge. I can't put into words how much I love this premise, which Fassel executes to perfection.
March 7, 2024
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 because I said so.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews