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Where Lurks the Edge of Dark Erotica?

21/4/2013

9 Comments

 
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Public Domain Art - John Henry Fuseli - The Nightmare
Where lurks...? Yep, I went for the creepy verb effect with that title but really what I'm asking is, what the hell is Dark Erotica? 

I started wondering about this before I wrote my latest book, Take Me, Break Me because I wanted to dip my toes into it, and now after publication I'm seeing even more clearly that it's not that clearly defined. You see Wikipedia also calls it Erotic Horror and does a very bare bones definition of, 
"a term applied to works of horror fiction in which sensual or sexual imagery (or even descriptions of the physical act of sexual intercourse) are blended with horrific overtones or story elements."

Yet on Goodreads the Dark Erotica group defines it as 
"the more aggressive form of Erotica. This would include storylines with rough sex, forced seduction, rape, kidnapping, BDSM, and those who enjoy alternative lifestyles to the extreme, multiple partners that may or may not involve same sex interaction"



But I like another definition, a far simpler one - dark erotica is a story with fear plus lust. Because in a way this covers both of the above. Fear is so personal. Something that scares you, another person will brush off as nothing much at all. 

Horror is surely a more horrible form of fear? True. Yet some of the most well known books of this sort of erotic story, such as Captive in the Dark, may cause mild fear or an unsettling feeling but aren't going to cause that true hide-under-the-bed horror that you get in a horror movie or a classic story like The Monkey's Paw (which is pure horror, not erotic horror).

So to me, erotic horror is different from Dark Erotica, or it's a small sub-section of it. And so my romance story, Take Me, Break Me, which I deliberately wrote to drift about on the edge of the darkly erotic realm, has some readers going...

"Wow. I can't express all the emotions I got from this read and I'm pretty jaded when it comes to deep dark erotic romance." Michele Harvey, Goodreads review

And others are going, no, never, that's not dark erotica at all.
Funny how we like to scare ourselves though, isn't it? Not that I read dark erotica to be scared exactly. It's more of a thrill, I think. Now I'm wondering if I got that definition right after all. 
                                                 Lust + Thrill plus or minus Fear?
I think I need a maths degree to work this out.

PS Erotica is the wrong term anyway for a fleshed-out erotic romance IMO but that's another definition for another day.



Here's a great review blog I found today for dark erotic books: Jessy's Book Club 
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Adding some more thoughts.
Having done some more thinking...really, that definition should say that the lust and the fear have to be there at the same time. I could make a horror story where the sex and the horror are in different chapters and that is not dark erotica. 

I'm also wondering if dubious consent or non-consensual scenes of sex need to be in the story. I think they do. Because although the wikipedia definition may not say it, but I feel it's pussy-footing around the true meaning. A story where the son of Satan, or a succubus, rapes a woman is still non-consent despite the non-human attacker. Am I right there? 
9 Comments
Georgie Tyler link
21/4/2013 03:01:21 pm

I'm entering the realm of the dark erotic book and I agree with you when you say you read it for the thrill of it, but I think fear is an essential ingredient, that is the fear of the unknown as these characters explore their deepest, darkest desires. I must read more.

Reply
Haydee Reviews link
21/4/2013 11:42:01 pm

That's a really thoughtful discussion on dark erotica. I think that in addition to the fear, there's also the component of discomfort. Things happen that make you kind of cringe a little inside AND still turn you on. Cause, if it doesn't turn you on it stops being erotic, at least for me. This could totally start another discussion on whether it's erotica if it's not erotic to you, but I think I'll try to not get into that. (Trying...)

Reply
Cari Silverwood
22/4/2013 09:55:20 am

No, that one's easy. If it's not a turn on it's not erotica for you. For someone else it might be though.

I agree. Dark erotica does make you cringe sometimes but in a way it can be a voyeuristic experience too - reading about something happening that you know is wrong. Is it you or them that you imagine it happening to? Thought I'd throw a deep question in there. lol

Reply
Georgie Tyler link
22/4/2013 10:48:02 am

I imagine them but i feel it. That's the voyeuristic element. But I don't necessarily see it as wrong as long as it is consensual. I agree if that it's only erotic if it turns you on. I know many people that are just not into to it and that's fair enough.

Reply
Cari Silverwood
22/4/2013 11:33:42 am

The really dark erotica isn't consensual though, Georgie. Just look at Kitty Thomas. Dubious or non-consent is a big part of these stories.

Reply
Georgie Tyler link
22/4/2013 09:23:23 pm

Thanks Cari I will.

Haydee Reviews link
22/4/2013 12:12:13 pm

Honestly, the more wrong it is, the more I like it. There's something about the taboo aspect that just gets me. And I think that goes for other people as well... seeing as how popular the dark erotica genre has become... And, god forbid, someone says to me - 'you shouldn't like that, it's bad/wrong/weird/disgusting'... cause you know I'll be obsessing until I try it.

Sometimes I imagine myself in the scene, but not always. When stuff that I really can't relate to is going on then, obviously, I don't bother imagining myself there or relating to it. But, in a way, I think that we (maybe I should say 'I') read these books in search of that thrill we [I] get when the scene does resonate with us [me] and those are the books we like the most... cause it's easy to substitute heroine for [me]...

This is getting kind of personal. Now you probably know way more about me and perverted ways than you ever wanted to.

Reply
Cari Silverwood
22/4/2013 12:56:08 pm

I added some more thoughts in my post. So we HAVE to have dub-con or non-con for it to be dark erotica?

Reply
Cari S
22/4/2013 12:56:41 pm

That was 'do' not 'so'.




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