My Immortal (fan fiction)

My Immortal
Author"XXXbloodyrists666XXX" (identity disputed)
LanguageEnglish
SeriesHarry Potter (non-canonical fan fiction)
GenreFantasy, drama, romance, young adult fiction
Publication date
2006–2007
Media typeFan fiction

My Immortal is a Harry Potter-based fan fiction serially published on FanFiction.net between 2006 and 2007. Though notable for its convoluted narrative and constant digressions, the story largely centers on a non-canonical female vampire character named "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" and her relationships with the characters of the Harry Potter series, particularly her romantic relationship with Draco Malfoy, culminating in her travelling back in time to defeat the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. The work takes its name from the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence.

My Immortal is popularly regarded as one of the worst works of fan fiction ever written.[1][2][3] Since the work's publication, it has gained infamy for its constant grammar and spelling errors, plot inconsistencies and complete disregard for the original Harry Potter source material. Despite this, the series has also inspired multiple derivative works, including a YouTube web series, and is viewed with nostalgia for adolescent fan life.

The author's identity has never been confirmed and has been deemed "unsolvable". The author originally published the story under the username "XXXbloodyrists666XXX" and gave their name as "Tara Gilesbie". In September 2017, someone claiming to be the author updated a FictionPress account stating that she had created an active Tumblr account under her real name; an effort to locate this Tumblr account resulted in the account of young adult novelist Rose Christo. She has since stated that she was one of two co-authors of My Immortal and had provided evidence of her authorship to Macmillan Publishers, but controversy that same month over factual errors in her then-forthcoming memoirs has led to doubts as to her authorship.

The story has been speculated to be a hoax designed to fool and troll readers or to satirize fan fiction, but others consider the work and the alleged online presence of the author too elaborate to fake effectively. In September 2017, Christo stated that My Immortal is a satirical work, although her authorship remains disputed.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vulture was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Donaldson, Kayleigh. "The story of My Immortal, the worst fan fiction ever written". Syfy.com. NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference TheVerge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).