Category question - erotic horror?

[intim8]

Ok, y'all probably get sick of these questions, but I'm at it again with another genre defying story.

I have a nearly complete 1st draft (I even know the ending for once), about an immortal human (~6k years old, not a vampire) deflowering yet another virgin. Exept this one has a trick up her sleeve, in part because she and her mother, who he also had first long ago, know, maybe, his secret.

These immortal humans have certain powers, pseudo superhuman. One is that they can control their ejaculation such that sperm is either disabled or not released at all. Because concieiving a child strips their immortality away.

The encounter is pleasant and entirely consensual, (initiated by her), no horror involved, but this girl knows, either explicitly or subconsciously, how to get him to give up his seed.

Now he's gonna die one day of old age or accident or disease, just like the rest of us. And he has an immortal son.

It's not really horror, but it has kinda the feel of it in the tone of the writing, and the death of an immortal. Would it fly in erotic horror? I feel like it belongs there.

It would become a joke in Mature. It could go in SFF, but I don't know, that seems weak. And EC is just a lame default category for the most part. What do y'all think?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I'm also unsure about EH, but, as you say, it might be the best option. Novel and Novellas on the other hand can be a useful catch-all for such 'in-betweeners'.

Sounds like a neat idea, BTW. Good luck with it.

 

[OffNSFW]

People thousands of years of age have that gothic aroma about them, at the very least. You could try your luck.

 

[intim8]

Novel and Novellas on the other hand can be a useful catch-all for such 'in-betweeners'.

It's only about 6k words.

Sounds like a neat idea, BTW. Good luck with it.

Thanks. It just came to me out of the blue this afternoon, and I have 1D about 90% written.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Non-human due to the supernatural/immortality?
First time due to the virgin?
Fetish for the impreg?

 

[RejectReality]

I think it depends upon how much you're going to delve into the formerly immortal dude's terror at the prospect of mortality. If the ending is her pulling one over on him and there's just a fade to black, I don't feel like that qualifies.

To me, EH should actually involve some terror. The readership seems to be less picky. They'll accept the sparkling vampire and shirtless werewolf stuff. *shrug*

As far as readership goes, you'll probably get more readers and even a higher score in S&F. EH is a backwater category, and the scoring is blah.

 

[intim8]

I just looked at the category description for SFF (I know the actual expectations of the categories differ some from those), and it clued me in to where my sense that it isn't a good fit there comes from.

"Erotic tales set in futuristic or fantastic worlds."

It's not in a fantasy world. It's set in the here and now, everything perfectly normal except that these immortals exist. It would be pretty unsatisfying for fantasy readers.

how much you're going to delve into the formerly immortal dude's terror at the prospect of mortality.

Yeah, and I was already thinking of going there. He talks about mentors from long ago (one of them invented the wheel), and I thought about having him be the last of them. A dying breed.

His son will be immortal, but he'll be a babe in the woods. MC will have to bring him up to speed fast. One of the elements of the story is that these immortals are vulnerable, they can die in between the first touch of his penis from a virgin and their climax with her (le petit mort - little death), so he has to teach the kid not to have sex in risky places like where an angry father might be interrupting, or on rickety rooftops, etc. And to not let a virgin touch him unless he's sure he can finish it.

I'll just hand-wave away how he could have lasted six thousand years himself.

Aaaand now I'm over-thinking it. Fuck.

 

[Voboy]

I have put many stories in EH; very few of them were truly scary. Every vampire I've written has gone into EH.

I think these stories could often fit in SF/Fant, but I think the reception would suffer because many readers go to that category expecting to see elves or aliens, rather than vampires.

 

[intim8]

it depends upon how much you're going to delve into the formerly immortal dude's terror at the prospect of mortality.

I owe you a big thanks. I continued the remaining 10% of 1D after eating dinner, and right where I left off, with this in mind, the turn was clear as day. Didn't even have to go back and patch anything up. (OK, one or two lines)

She knows, and he knows that she knows. She's touched him already, so he has no choice but to go through with it. If he doesn't, he not only will lose his immortality, but live with blue balls for the rest of his time. But he knows that she knows how to get past his power to block his seed. Either way, he's done. He has to go through with it, but as soon as he does, his immortality will be stolen. But at least their son will carry on the immortality. He's horrified, having to finish fucking this girl knowing it will mean his eventual death.

And I didn't even need to go back to establish her motivation. It's her mother, who had already come up in the story. He'd done something that made her seek revenge. A revenge served 20 years cold,.

Thanks, man. Even if you didn't know it, that was a huge help.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Sounds like Erotic Horror to me.

 

[intim8]

It does now.

 

[RejectReality]

If I provided a spark of inspiration, I'm happy to have done so

In general for everyone, don't underestimate the readership in S&F. It's not all Star Trek and Lord of the Rings regardless of what the category description says. I've dropped pseudo-historical ancient Egypt and Steampunk lite ( Normal victorian setting but with 1 exceptional inventor ) in there to good reception, and the steampunk was in this name, which has no other stories in the category. There's a pretty broad range of what the readership is looking for, and what they're willing to give a chance is even broader.