FantasticLand

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, and substance use.

Adam Jakes serves as the narrative anchor of FantasticLand, meticulously piecing together survivors’ fragmented accounts to reconstruct the unfolding horror and furthering the theme of The Role of Storytelling and Perspective in Shaping Truth. As an investigative journalist, he conducts interviews to uncover each person’s perspective on the tragedy, exposing inconsistencies in their recollections and allowing readers to form their own interpretations of these contradictory testimonies. However, his presence in the narrative is not entirely passive—occasional personal reflections in his Author’s Note and Afterword reveal an emotional investment in making sense of the senseless.

Jakes’s interviews frequently uncover survivors justifying questionable actions or omitting uncomfortable truths, necessitating that he carefully separate facts from self-serving information. His persistent questioning of Brock Hockney, for example, pushes Brock to finally admit to some crimes. Frustration surfaces as Jakes struggles for definitive answers, but including Brock’s interview in full reflects Jakes’s commitment to transparency, even when it involves presenting unsettling revelations about himself.

Despite dedicated reporting, Jakes ultimately concedes that he cannot fully explain FantasticLand’s descent into violence. His concluding thoughts convey his lingering uncertainty as he wrestles with the tragedy’s utter senselessness.