Can anyone elucidate the expectations of readers in Erotic Horror?

[EmilyMiller]

I have no clue myself

 

[AlinaX]

I like when it blends the erotic with the sinister, but it's not a very active category and people want different things.

ETA: With a lot of erotica, it's only erotic because we ignore the consequences and the implications. Erotic Horror, more than any other category, invites the reader to consider the unwritten.

 

[SmilingLez]

Sexual excitement with a dark twist

 

[EmilyMiller]

OK - I don’t understand any of that

Is it basically R/NC but with ghosts?

 

[ChloeTzang]

OK - I don’t understand any of that

Is it basically R/NC but with ghosts?

Nope

Sex and horror with a twist....it can be completely consensual, non-cn or anything in between but you have to have that twist that sends chills down your spine. Ghosts, aliens, monsters, vampires, people.....for me it's the foreshadowing where you KNOW something is going to happen, and then the unexpected twist the end - and if its erotica then sex has to be mixed in with all that

Unheard by anyone except her own mind, Zima screamed as those tiny claws pricked her flesh. She screamed as the movements inside her body strengthened, grew more aggressive. She screamed as she experienced their first nibbling hunger. A hunger which would only grow as they fed, as they grew. Grew inside her body. Host? As the full awareness of her fate overwhelmed her, as the effects of the venom Buzz had sedated her with wore off, Zima screamed and she screamed and she screamed.

When the egg inside her womb began to vibrate and shudder intermittently, now joining those that remained unhatched within her anal channel, Zima’s unheard screams redoubled. For a very few short hours that would stretch all too soon into an endless eternity of anguished horror and pain such as her worst nightmares had never envisaged, for a few short hours as she gave birth to Buzz’s progeny, Zima would continue to scream.

In your head, no one but you can hear your screams.

And now she remembered the ladybugs fate.

Alone in her head, Zima would scream.

Alone, terrified and in agony.

For the rest of her life.

* * *

“Getting some sort of garbled message from Nockatunga through the beacon, First,” Fredricks said. “Something about alien parasites eating spacers alive from the inside.”

“That Halloween Party nonsense again,” First said. “Forget it. And send a message to Nockatunga Station lodging a complaint about that frigging alien coming in like that. Frigging traffic rules exist for a reason. One of you check on Zima before you come back on, make sure she’s okay.”

“I’ll do it,” Roget volunteered.

“Get some sleep first. Let Zima sleep it off,” the Captain said, standing. Wouldn’t be the first time one of the crew had come back the worse for wear. First time it’d happened with Zima though. He’d have to talk with her once she’d recovered. Goddamn it, he’d expected better of her. Station Halloween Party and getting laid was no excuse.

Silly bitch.

 

[SmilingLez]

It could also be unexpected sex occurring in the midst of horror. For example an active battlefield or even during a mass shooting. Everything (blood, guts, ecstasy etc.) described in detail

 

[AlinaX]

Loss of agency can be a theme. What can be fun as a controlled fantasy can become horror. Certainly there's a crossover with R/NC, but mood and atmosphere are important. The character can be fully consenting to a life that leaves the reader unsettled.

One story I wrote long ago has a bastard boyfriend turned into a statue (sort of), forever hard and unable to come...

Others play with vampiric themes and dollification, that arguably could go elsewhere.

 

[Paul_Chance]

-Memorable Character

-Atmospheric Environment

-Emphasis on Pace

-Emphasis on Suspense

-Evokes Fear/Uncertainty

-Through the use of symbols evoking horror

-Delivers a surprise or a twist

 

[EmilyMiller]

So not Buffy homages, then?

TBH the only reason I put jt latest story in EC was I was a bit worried about my FMCs each killing a Nephilim by biting off their demonic dicks post-fellatio. Might have been better in Humor & Satire

 

[AlinaX]

Surely in Erotic Horror there would be some lasting and unpleasant consequence of such a victory...

 

[PennyThompson]

I haven't done a deep dive because personally I find a lot of what I've skimmed in EH either distasteful or boring... But I wonder if there's a category culture expectation of a Bad End?

@Actingup 's Halloween EH story is sitting about 0.3 higher than yours, and aside from other variables (of which there are many) his had a
[SPOILER]decidedly unhappy ending[/SPOILER] for the PoV character

 

[EmilyMiller]

Surely in Erotic Horror there would be some lasting and unpleasant consequence of such a victory...

Nah, the story is basically my angel / she-demon fiancées fucking or maiming (or sometimes both) their way past a series of guardians to rescue someone important. High body count, in both senses.

 

[Djmac1031]

So not Buffy homages, then?

TBH the only reason I put jt latest story in EC was I was a bit worried about my FMCs each killing a Nephilim by biting off their demonic dicks post-fellatio. Might have been better in Humor & Satire

As your designated proofreader, I didn't realize your intent to post in EH. I would have suggested Sci Fi / Fantasy.

Yes you had a graphic scene but overall it was more your usual mix of sex, humor and adventures with Emma and Lily.

My bad I should have inquired about it but I just assumed SF/F

 

[EmilyMiller]

I haven't done a deep dive because personally I find a lot of what I've skimmed in EH either distasteful or boring... But I wonder if there's a category culture expectation of a Bad End?

@Actingup 's Halloween EH story is sitting about 0.3 higher than yours, and aside from other variables (of which there are many) his had a
[SPOILER]decidedly unhappy ending[/SPOILER] for the PoV character

IDK - it was an unhappy end for the vamp, two Nephilim, ogre, and basilisks. I guess the manticore had a happy ending in one sense.

 

[EmilyMiller]

As your designated proofreader, I didn't realize your intent to post in EH. I would have suggested Sci Fi / Fantasy.

Yes you had a graphic scene but overall it was more your usual mix of sex, humor and adventures with Emma and Lily.

My bad I should have inquired about it but I just assumed SF/F

It was really the unmanning of the Nephilim that made me think it might have to go in EC.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I guess explaining the origins of Britney Spears songs isn’t really that horrific either.

 

[dirk2024]

Sexual excitement with a dark twist

This.

i recently wrote a story for the Erotic Horror category. It was a "Scary" story about witches that had a sexual event occur within it.

It hasn't received a lot of views (4k) and its currently rated at 4.65 with only two (favorable) comments.

 

[Actingup]

From 'How to break the Literotica Toplist':

Erotic Horror

A misunderstood category if there ever was one... Perhaps it's a pet peeve of mine, but there should be a sign on the door: No Vampires and Werewolves Allowed. Those should go into the non-human category. But unfortunately, you'll find lots of Anne Rice wannabe's here along with your "I'm not a dog, I'm a werewolf!" stories. True Erotic Horror should encompass both eroticism and horror, in a way that's not always titillating, but should at the very least be shocking and—here's the important part—integral to the story. If you can take the sex out, and still have the horror, it's not really erotic horror. Okay, down off my soapbox. How do you write a toplist story in this category? Make it scary and horrific, make sure the sex and horror are somehow related, and make it a good story. Erotic horror readers are truly looking for a story, not just titillation. A great example of this is Scold's Bridle by BlackShanglan.

 

[EmilyMiller]

From 'How to break the Literotica Toplist':

Erotic Horror

A misunderstood category if there ever was one... Perhaps it's a pet peeve of mine, but there should be a sign on the door: No Vampires and Werewolves Allowed. Those should go into the non-human category. But unfortunately, you'll find lots of Anne Rice wannabe's here along with your "I'm not a dog, I'm a werewolf!" stories. True Erotic Horror should encompass both eroticism and horror, in a way that's not always titillating, but should at the very least be shocking and—here's the important part—integral to the story. If you can take the sex out, and still have the horror, it's not really erotic horror. Okay, down off my soapbox. How do you write a toplist story in this category? Make it scary and horrific, make sure the sex and horror are somehow related, and make it a good story. Erotic horror readers are truly looking for a story, not just titillation. A great example of this is Scold's Bridle by BlackShanglan.

Yeah - not that! And frankly I’ve got zero interest in writing that.

 

[OralAllOver]

That Freddy Krueger is a gentle lover, not afraid of intimacy. Sometimes, after orgasm, he cries a lil

In this image he's being teased abour cumming very quickly

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...dex=9&itb=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=4&sim=11

 

[Actingup]

Yeah - not that! And frankly I’ve got zero interest in writing that.

I just read Scold's Bridle. And I get why it's a good example of erotic horror - it's a short masterpiece and it's amazing to me that it's only rated a 4.6. But I don't think I could ever write something like that! @PennyThompson, mine is positively tame by comparison.

Edit: also a reminder that Literotica used to be a different site, when you look at an author with four editor's choice awards from eight stories!

 

[EmilyMiller]

That Freddy Krueger is a gentle lover, not afraid of intimacy. Sometimes, after orgasm, he cries a lil

In this image he's being teased abour cumming very quickly

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Hs2N3uJm&id=5B4331615905742EB3558D11FD6091291AA0ACD4&thid=OIP.Hs2N3uJmDuc4fpF80NJ8fgHaMH&mediaurl=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c2/b9/cd/c2b9cd4597f715295e23c82b5b93599c.jpg&cdnurl=https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.1ecd8ddee2660ee7387e917cd0d27c7e?rik=1KygGimRYP0RjQ&pid=ImgRaw&r=0&exph=1104&expw=675&q=freddy+krueger&form=IRPRST&ck=D973C169426E7BE597AF05AF11915173&selectedindex=9&itb=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=4&sim=11

I prefer my take TBH:

 

[Djmac1031]

I guess explaining the origins of Britney Spears songs isn’t really that horrific either.

Depends. To some of us, listening to Britney Spears music is the epitome of horror.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’m seriously thinking about deleting it and posting after the comp is over. It’s kinda a blot on my portfolio as things stand and it’s a way better story than the crazy low rating. Just the wrong audience - totally.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Might preserve the comments - from non-EH readers.