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Piggybacking off Justin's post: what exactly is erotic horror?
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Thanks for your interest, Keshena.It's called A Collection of Angels, available on Amazon (it'll be free the 23rd as well as the 10/28-10/31 if you want to wait to grab it), but the more I mull this over and read up on the genre, the more I suspect it'd be false advertising to promote my story as erotic horror. It'd be like trying to advertise Hellraiser / Hellbound Heart as horror erotica because of a few scenes based on sensuality, or for a more recent example, claiming the Gone Girl film adaptation is erotic horror because of that one particular death scene.
Erotica is just porn with a plot, to put it simply.Horror is scary shit. So if you have porn with a plot that's scary shit, you got horror erotica.
:)
Jesse wrote: "Hey folks,I’m new to the group and to Good Reads in general, admittedly with the self-serving purpose of promoting a recently uploaded e-book. That confessed, when I stumbled across Justin’s Devi..."
Hi Jesse
To me, when I think of Erotic Horror I think of a story in which both Sex and Horror play a major role in the story -- and in that case, where you seem to be going sounds just fine.
I especially like it because it covers the transition from pleasure to pain -- an area I think is fertile ground for inducing dread (horror).
Further, when it comes to the question of rough sex in a tub of blood, my answer: it depends.
If the characters in your story appraise the sex as something horrific the chance is higher you'll have that effect on your reader (if that's what you're going for).
Don't worry about trumping Hellraiser; it sounds like what you have cooking will taste just as great!
Mod
Justin wrote: "Wow Lily, you didn't sugar coat that or nothing just straight up told it like it is lol. Its porn and scary shit mixed together, love it!"Lily's right though. Lol.
Porn and scary shit...yeah, sounds about right. I'm definitely getting this ;)
Sounds like the classification of Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Baker series (although the porn doesn't really show up until 4 or 5 books in).For those of you not familiar with the series, it's basically an X rated version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Jesse,Just to play devil's advocate or come at this from a different angle, I was thinking that for readers who are squeamish about erotica but enjoy horror, it may be more transparent to market your book as an "erotic horror" if you feel that those "torture porn" elements are a strong presence.
It will help you narrow your target audience as well as dissuade unsuspecting readers who may be shocked/offended if they are not erotica-appreciative :0)
Thanks, Tabitha (and everyone). I can definitively say that my work is not an erotica, horror or otherwise. Erotica is written so the erotic aspects take center stage. Initially I thought because my story flirts with eroticism in a horror setting, I could market toward the horror erotica loving crowd. I now believe this would be a mistake. To go with Lilly's crass-yet-apt description, readers coming to an erotica expect the equivalent of literary pornography. The sexual horror is maybe 5% of my story; it’s not the core. It brings me back to the example of the Gone Girl adaptation. While we could agree the movie contains pornographic moments that might appeal to those who enjoy porn, we’d still be wrong to market it as a porno. That’s where I’m at right now. I’ve got scenes that will appeal to the erotic horror / torture-porn lovers, but they’re not the story’s focal point.
But back to the thread's question, I’m still thrown for what exactly erotic horror is. For example, although sexual, I’d qualify forceful rape as straight horror. There’s nothing erotic about it. But say a sexual act begins consensually and then a girl realizes the guy she’s kissing is really a man wearing her boyfriend’s flayed face. What was briefly sensual and romantic has morphed into horror. Does that fall in line with the genre? Or because once the horror takes over, the erotic qualities disappear… no? Do the horror and eroticism need to occur simultaneously? So instead of the above example, you follow two serial killers on their romantic night out, and they decide to make love beside their recent kills? Does this make sense? Do you see the difference?
These are all valid points and I like how you're analyzing this. (See? No crassness this time).To be honest, I don't feel that Horror Erotica is really a genre. Sub-genres are always listed first. A psychological thriller for example, is not the psychological genre, it's the thriller genre.
So, I feel the core of your book, whatever it happens to be, is the genre.
For the sake of comparison, though not a book a movie, Bitter Moon directed by Roman Polanski. It follows the sexual journey of a couple who degrade into disgusting acts. It's a good movie and if you have the stomach for that kind of thing, I would recommend it. My point is, while there are scenes of horror, disgust, chilling moments, all kinds of things, I've seen the movie listed as a Romantic Thriller. It is a romance, just not your usual happy Disney they lived happily ever after type of romance.
If a sexual act begins consensually between a girl and a guy, then the girl realizes she's kissing a man wearing her boyfriends face and she becomes frightened, scared, hysterical, what have you -- to me, eroticism became horror; that is, the element of erotica had disappeared completely.If same girl has sex with who I'll call corpse face for the time being and is completely aroused and excited with him regardless, your erotic horror became erotic/fetish completely.
The only way I think it would remain erotic horror is if the girl, in having sex with the man (and realizing the man's face belongs to her boyfriend) is frightened yet continues to be aroused. She participates in sex because a part of her, finds the act of making love with a piece of her boyfriend's corpse (worn on another) is exciting yet another part of her, is still deeply disturbed.
That's why I said before its more important how the protagonist (or other character in the story) appraises the situation. The horrific or erotic elements alone are not enough.
"Crass" may have been the wrong word since it carries an offensive connotation when I was really just going for "straight to the point; no sugar-coating."
Jesse wrote: ""Crass" may have been the wrong word since it carries an offensive connotation when I was really just going for "straight to the point; no sugar-coating.""Heh, nah it's fine. I can be crass sometimes and I never apologize for it ;)
I agree with TK. The example of the fake boyfriend's face is horror through and through, that just happens to involve sex.
Great point, Tk. It comes down to the eye of the beholder.
I’m new to the group and to Good Reads in general, admittedly with the self-serving purpose of promoting a recently uploaded e-book. That confessed, when I stumbled across Justin’s Devil’s Orgy thread, I was excited to discover people actively seek out erotic horror. Although what I’ve written is predominantly horror, it contains two sexually-charged scenes. Until now I never thought to advertise this aspect.
However, before I go around saying, “Oh yeah, if you like horrific eroticism, check out my book,” I want to ensure we’re talking about the same thing. I’m talking about sex that starts nice, but eventually loses its allure and devolves into pure horror. This isn’t sex with a vampire or falling in love with a zombie. This is sex that transforms into gruesome molestation.
So my question is, readers who say they enjoy twisted stories with a mix of horror and eroticism, are you okay with that pleasant-dream-to-nightmare transition? Or are you more looking for rough sex in a hot tub of blood? Or are both okay?
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Edited to cut down on my rambling.