Reception for Bad/Twist Endings

[RetroFan]

I was pondering this thread, and I think the question every author has to ask before putting in a big twist is, 'Does this turn of events betray the readers?'

For example, say there was a Group Sex story posted about a (fictional) late 1990s/early 2000s British pop group consisting of three really good looking guys and three really good looking girls, similar to Steps or S Club 7.

One night on tour in their hotel room in Scotland the group of six play a game of Truth or Dare which leads to a lot more and eventually a really hot orgy between the six, finishing with them showering together at the end.

However, the story ends with the revelation that this didn't actually happen. It is all in the imagination of a creepy Canadian slacker aged in his 30s who was a fan of the now disbanded group in his teens 20 years ago, and acts out the scenes in his parents' basement (where he lives) using dolls of the group that were merchandise when the band was popular.

Readers know that they are reading about fictional people doing fictional things, but the revelation that the events in the story took place in the imagination of some overgrown man child using dolls is a betrayal, and no matter how well the story was written or how good the sex was, this ending destroys it. It gets close to the dreaded 'it was all a dream' ending.

 

[Djmac1031]

I wrote a story called "A Karen Gets Her Comeuppance," that was essentially a satirical non consent story.

When I got to the end of it, I realized I'm not really a fan of non consent, even though the story wasn't meant to be taken seriously at all.

Then I had an idea for a "twist ending" that changed the entire perspective of it, and posted it with a disclaimer after the original ending, allowing the reader to choose to stop there or continue on to the "alternate ending."

It got mixed reviews. Some people liked it, others hated it, especially one guy who apparently is a member of the BTB Community lol.

It was an interesting experiment, and I don't regret it.

Buy I also totally understand why some may have had issues with either version lol.

 

[KeithD]

I get enough favorable "I didn't see that coming" comments on twist endings to do them when I think they fit, and most of the comments I get on less-than-happy endings make me think the commenter is nonrealistic and rather simplistic in their reading preferences--thus not really my kind of reader.