[Filth/Writing]
So Lesa Trapp interviewed me just the other day on blogtalk radio, and she brought up an interesting idea. Her kid is 13 years old and a zombie enthusiast. Mrs. Trapp says that while she is not apposed to him reading some sexy stuff (lets face it, he is a teenage boy and will get about to such things very soon) she is disturbed by the kinds of sex portrayed in most horror novels.
She said something along the lines of not wanting her son to think he has to bash a girl in the head over and over before he takes her.
I couldn’t agree more.
I have noticed in the past how the act of sex in horror is portrayed as quite a rough and tumble ride, especially when the dubious deed is intricate to the plotline. The group thing, BDSM, or just good old anal sex are just a few topics exploited for the sake of horror based titillation. We as writers even occasionally rely these unusual bedtime activities when trying to make a villain appear even more villainous. Want to make that evil ranch owner even more terrible? Than add a scene where he reveals he will only fuck a woman up the ass when she’s tied down and gagged with his week old underwear and greased up like the little piggy she is.
What! Unpossible to like him now!
But why?
Is it because we, as vanilla fuckers, automatically associate the terrible with such fringe acts?
(Trust me when I say I am a vanilla fucker folks. My sex, much like the hard to cultivate vanilla bean, is “pure, spicy, and delicate.” Its also available in sugar free and extra whipped!)
I am by no means pointing fingers or accusing others of ill deeds here I haven’t done myself. I have fallen into the same act of forcing my ‘bad girl’ to engage in abnormal sexual activities just to make her seem worse. The bordello owner in Clockworks and Corsets gets up to all manner of naughtiness ranging from enjoying herself with a steam powered fucking machine, to whipping a tied up man to an orgasmic state before sucking him off.
Now, personally I enjoy a little slap and tickle and toy use every now and again, but my bedroom antics do not regularly include a steam powered pleasure toy or nightly tie-me-up-tie-me-down sessions. So I supposed in a way, to me the concept of a woman who did these things on a regular basis would make her seem, well, baser.
I am by no means saying that folks who dig BDSM or fucking machines have any sociopath tendencies. I’m just saying my chick does. Besides, I know loads of vanilla fuckers that are insane not just in the membrane, but everywhere else too!
By contrast, the sex in The Blooming is fairly standard. Hetero coupling between folks who don’t need leather and lace to get it going on. Just a smile, a nod and a come hither look from their partner.
Oh, there might be some biting.
Yeah. Forgot about that.
Lots and lots of biting.
*sheepish grin* So much for standard, huh?
I suppose what I am saying is that like it or lump it, sex in horror is what it is, and will always be. It is meant to titillate, to arouse, to make you uncomfortable. And fringe acts never fail to fetch that level of uncomfortable we like to see in a reader.
If it makes your ass cheeks clench to read, then I’ve done my job.
What's your take on sex in horror? Yeah? Nay? Hooray?
