Friday, September 6, 2013

Erotic Horror

Okay, let's face it.  People love horror.  People also love sex.  So what could be better than sexy horror?

Erotic horror is the genre term used to describe works where sexuality and horror are intermingled.  Both the erotic and the horrific are topics of controversy.  Put them together, and you're left with such political un-correctness that it's bound to hit a nerve.

Book stores, television and movies are all filled with erotica these days.  It's no secret that the popularity of the 50 Shades Trilogy has had a part in making this happen.  The topic of BDSM is less of a taboo topic now than it was before.  But E.L. James was definitely not the first person to write of such carnal delights.

The French aristocrat Donatien Alphonse Francois (1740-1814) - better know today as simply the Marquis de Sade - published a number of erotica titles, both under his own name and anonymously.  The combination of sexuality and violence written by the Marquis de Sade landed him in prison - a number of times.

During some of the years the Marquis de Sade was in prison, he was actually encouraged to act out some of his works, using fellow inmates as the actors.  Some time after this, a new law placed the Marquis de Sade into solitary confinement and prohibited the use of pens and paper.  Today, we have words like "sadism" and "sadist" to describe people like this.  Where do you think we got those words?

Traditionally, horror discusses issues people don't like to think about.  Sex, on the other hand, is a topic people aren't supposed to think about.  But I think the human mind has no choice but to ponder over such topics.  "What would happen if..." and "it feels so good to..." are very common thoughts.  When these two things are mixed, it brings about a whole new set of possibilities.

8 comments:

  1. Excellent post, Kristi! You're definitely correct about this being a hot topic right now.

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  2. You have the coolest stats and data Kristi! I think each writer needs to decide for herself on how explicit she really wants to be with her work because at the end of the day, how comfortable you are with this in your work will show. And in today's culture it will determine how you are received (good or bad).
    I also think you're on to something because without talking about it, can we really come up with a position on it? Maybe but maybe not. Glad you brought it up.

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    1. Thanks, Jenny! When I first started writing, I was very uncomfortable with the issue of creating sex scenes for my work in progress. I'm learning to suck it up and just do it!

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  3. You have to be comfortable with what you write. Sometimes girl porn is totally appropriate but the sexiest scene I have ever watched in a movie is still Robert Redford washing Meryl Streeps hair in the middle of the veld in "Out of Africa." The second sexiest scene I've ever seen was in an Affair to Remember when Cary Grant falls in love with Debra Kerr while she's singing with his grandmother. Sex doesn't have to be explicit to be red hot. Anticipation, mental and emotional foreplay can all be much hotter than a play by play of physical description. However, as I said, girl porn can also be effective. JR Ward's books come to mind if you're looking for inspiration- though I must admit I had to google quite a few things especially in book 4.

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    1. I agree, sex doesn't have to be explicit to be red hot. I haven't seen the two movies you're speaking of, so I can't comment on those. However, for the sake of this post - Erotic Horror - I have described what sex scenes within the horror genre can look like. Romance is great and can show its face within horror, but most of the time, romance takes a back seat.

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  4. You know, I'm glad you mentioned BDSM, because a few agents/authors on my twitter feed have used that acronym and until this moment, I didn't know what it meant. Well, I knew enough to not want to google it :)

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