On Paranormal Erotica

Late in the evening a few months ago, my friend Sam and I were discussing some quotes about paranormal erotica, which he had come across by some means or another. We laughed at the absurdity of the "literature" and decided that if either of our college educations failed us, we could make a go at writing it since it was "metaphorically vomitting on a keyboard". 


I have since realized that there is actually more to this. In fact, it's a pretty smart business move. Since Twilight took off my freshman year of high school, the number of vampire/werewolf inspired media has skyrocketed. While not a work of great literature, what Twilight did was revolutionize the idea of these superhuman creatures being perceived not as objects of terror but rather as objects of desire; otherworldly enough that you should worship them...yet still human enough so that you can still sleep with them and that they can think of you as an equal of sorts.

This in turn has spawned countless novels about bondage, S&M and the like by sexy vampires, werewolves and maybe even ghosts. While I'm not entirely familiar with the genre(having never picked up one of these books) I can't really delve into specifics. However, my friend Sam has kindly provided me with enough quotations that I think I can say this with some degree of certainty.

The romantic interests in these types of books are usually dark, brooding and mysterious in addition to being incredibly desirable. They often think they know how to act in the best interests of the protagonist because their condition has given them extra knowledge of some kind. More often than not, they're usually pretty moody as well.  Consider this gem, for example

 “I don't know what you want, Haley. Just because you got me off does'nt mean I have to engage in post-fuck chat. So back off."

There is so much love and mutual adoration here. Essentially, they're in it for the sex at first and only really for that. My friend Sam also pointed out to me that in these novels, the female protagonists usually fantasize about being "slammed by a strong masculine appendage".   Being the significant other of a superhuman creature sets up some very unreal expectations for your real life significant others. Firstly, that you will always have mind-blowingly good sex with incredibly handsome/beautiful "people" which I find to be laughable. What is less laughable and more tragic is the  general apathy this genre may inspire. Love is no longer exciting because these books have affected people enough to become insanely popular and I fear that people will try to find this kind of emotional"fulfillment" in their own lives. 


Put simply, they are chasing a feeling-the feeling of exhilarating, ecstatic, all-consuming love(something that I do not believe exists at all times in a relationship). What's more, I feel like this genre makes people concentrate on what could (and never will) be rather than seeing the possibilities that are right in front of them. It's a really subtle but important distinction.