Is There a Place For Romance In The Horror Genre?

Welcome to Day Four of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Remember, comments on daily posts earn you an entry in the drawing for one of five free downloads of my novella, Monsters Unmasked! Correct answers (emailed to me at ripleygold@gmail.com) to my Question of the Day will receive two additional entries. One of those daily questions will be about my contemporary romance, Make or Break. On that day, one lucky question-answerer will receive a free e-format of that full length novel.

Why am I promoting, even just a teensy bit on one day, a romance novel? Well, to date, it is my "magnum opus," and I know most of us read a variety of genres. So for readers who prefer (or at least don't get squidged out by) romances, something for everybody. Plus, my editor claims to find romances way more terrifying than horror, and refuses to write one for fear of killing off the entire cast of characters by chapter four.

This leads us to today's topic of discussion. Romance in the horror genre.

There was some debate several months ago when bestselling urban fantasy author Kim Harrison wrote about the encroachment of romance into the genre. Since there are so many alarmist links shared, and so many "business of writing" posts, I often don't take time to read them all and tend to have the same knee-jerk reactions as others who don't process the information before forming an opinion. I was totally bent out of shape, because I think romance is an appropriate element in any genre.

Yeah, I'm a romantic at heart and a major girly-girl.

But reading the post in detail and considering the true meaning of Harrison's comments, I realized she wasn't saying "keep romance the hell out of my urban fantasy, dammit, or I will spork you in the jugular." Which is a good thing, because I've always enjoyed her books, and I'd hate to have to go all boycott on her.

What she was saying is the publishing industry seems to be bending the rules, blurring the edges of already intertwined genres and sub-genres, to capitalize on the current "ooooh, sexy vampire guy" craze. And romance-type authors who have no sincere interest in - or history of even reading - urban fantasy are happy to jump on the bandwagon.

Her complaint is not that there is romance in the story. She is bothered, though, when stories that are clearly primarily focused on romance are passed off as "urban fantasy" (which is a sub-genre of horror) simply by throwing in a hot vamp, werewolf, or other supernatural being. Toss in some minor paranormal back story, maybe a witch or a curse or a just-beyond-human-perception world, and voila! It's an urban fantasy.

Except, it's really not.

Her contention, and I must agree, is urban fantasy shouldn't be manipulated to pick up hot marketing trends. Can't we call it "paranormal romance" and be done with it? In romance, your heroine can be tough-as-nails, independent, strong in her own right, and still end up with the guy. Or she can be the troubled damsel in distress, "rescued" by Mr. Wonderful. Both have their place. Depending on my mood, I'm likely to read either style, unless the damsel is terminally whiny and stupid, then I kind of do want a demon lord to come drag her useless ass to Abaddon. But as a girly-girl, I can get into the whole rescue scenario from time to time.

Harrison dislikes seeing books classed as urban fantasy when the heroine is a wishy-washy twit who couldn't rescue herself from a soggy paper bag. I agree. Urban fantasy is supposed to be a bit edgier, and giving your hero fangs doesn't cut it. Your heroine is supposed to have some guts. Some gumption. Some attitude. She might need help from time to time, but she's her own woman and doesn't spend her time sitting in a closet whimpering for Fang Boy to come save her.

("You're kind of useless and pathetic, but I'm the man... so I'll save you 'cause you're pretty and I hope to get under your skirt in the immediate future. Hey, wait. Get away from my horse!")

But does that mean there's no room for romance in the horror genres? I don't think so. One thing I've addressed before, and which I've seen appear multiple times already in other Creepfest posts, is the "monsters" aren't necessarily the primary element in a horror story. Sure, you need some bad-nasties, probably some blood or gore or entrails or psychological terror. But the heart of the story (and not the bloody one clutched in the demon's claws) is the human element. It has to be about the people, your characters, and how they react, interact, and seek to overcome the threat they face. It might involve their banding together to fight or hide, or it could be how elements end up turning against each other when the rules as we knew them no longer exist.

And the fact is... love and romance are an integral part of the human condition. And if you don't want to go all mushy, you have to admit at least attraction and sex are a factor. Yes, you can write a great military espionage thriller, a gruesome slasher horror epic, or a gripping mystery, or even an urban fantasy without a "love interest." But we are humans, and love/romance/passion/sex are part of our emotional and biological make-up. So while you can write a story with little or no exploration of those areas, I find it hard to say romance has no part in any genre other than... romance.

My novella, Monsters Unmasked, is not a romance. (Some people early on referred to it as a "zombie romance," but that icked me out. It sounded like zombies were having... romance. In either case, it's not.) However, there is a romantic element. Ellen suffers horribly at the hands of a band of marauders. After her rescue, she's broken, damaged, and is unsure if she'll ever recover and find her place in this strange, dark new world. Due to her captivity, she's understandably frightened and unable to trust men. It will take a strong, patient, gentle hero to give her a chance to re-learn that all men aren't monsters - which is especially tough when they are surrounded on all sides by monsters of the undead variety. Attraction, romance, and male-female relationships are part of the story, but they're not the whole story. And since it is not a romance novel, you really can't anticipate whether or not you'll get a "happily ever after" ending.

We do crazy things for love. It can make us stronger, weaker, more determined, more vulnerable, more courageous, on unbelievably stupid. It underscores our humanity. Any of these possibilities can have an incredible impact on a plot, and our inevitable comparisons to our own relationships will help us bond with the characters and care more about the story.

But if anything starts sparkling, if Fang-Boy's shirt can't seem to stay on for five consecutive minutes, or if the heroine is incapable of thinking for herself and sits around pining for him to come to her poor, pathetic rescue, I'm outta there.

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Click on Mr. Poe at the top of this post to visit the home page for 12 Days of Creepfest and meet the rest of the participating authors. They're an incredible bunch, in ever sub-genre of horror you can imagine. And they're all giving stuff away!

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QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What is the name of my other (humor) blog, which has sadly been inactive of late as I've been busy with other things? (Send answer via email to ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Correct answers receive two entries in the drawing for free downloads of Monsters Unmasked.)