The Dark Side

Why gothic/dark romance is the new hot genre.

Don’t you know, you shouldn’t play with fire? But we do, and it’s so much easier to explore the dark heart safely, inside a book, through characters that aren’t us.

Why read some of this stuff? Some readers consider it taboo, believing it condones abuse and violence and won’t read it. Other readers don’t feel the same. This genre’s projected by k-lytics to be a leader in growth in 2023. If unsure what makes up dark romance, check my earlier post, Some of us Think Dark.

I read dark romances because bad things happen in the world. Most of us have seen and/or experienced it firsthand. A dark romance book can be cathartic, a way to deal with things that have frightened us and perhaps still frighten us. Sharing it through the pages of a book somehow helps us deal with our memories and/or anxiety.

Seeing a character go through dark things, rise to the occasion, survive and become stronger helps me. If they can do it, I can too.

I can read something dark and bring my interpretation to it, in a way I can’t in a movie with dark themes. The filmmaker is in charge of what I see in a movie, but when reading the book, I create the images by interpreting the words. This allows flexibility to paint the image in my head to my liking. You can do it too. This makes reading a flexible medium.

Dark stories teach me how to deal with real issues that actually exist in the world. Not to say that sweet romance doesn’t, but within the covers of something dark, I confront real problems that go beyond girl meets boy, girl likes boy, and girl and boy love each other—HEA.

Dark romance books have more discussions on morality and spirituality because the anti-hero is usually morally gray or worse. This is something I enjoy. They also make me confront myself; what would I do if I was in that character’s position? In the same vein, if the character tames the monster, beast, or alpha assxxxx, I get to experience the success of turning the darker character into someone civilized without putting in the years required. I love it when one character sees a ray of light in another character, pulls a rabbit out of their hat and turns the lost one into a better version of themselves. Kind of diamond in the rough thing, like when you go to a garage sale and find a treasure, but no one else recognizes the value of what is there.

Reading several book review websites, I found exciting answers from other readers about why they read dark romance:

• The settings and plots are usually interesting.

• The main characters have legitimate conflicts instead of ones based on miscommunication, like “you looked at me funny and then stood next to your ex-boyfriend, so naturally, I took a job in Iowa without telling you....”

• Some are very psychological. You get to be in the main character’s head as they deal with extreme situations.

• The drama of these books keeps me engaged. “I find it a good opportunity for me to explore and ruminate on what life and love are like at the extremes of human nature. It makes me think about what makes people who they are and why people are driven to do the things they do.”

• I enjoy seeing one person fixated on another (especially one who is used to getting what they want). “I like drama in my fiction. I do not like drama in real life, so I crave it in my fiction. And really, it’s the Grimm Brothers’ version of Beauty and the Beast, right? Evil, gruff, mean man falls for a soft woman? It’s just another trope that’s been around for centuries.”

• The alpha assxxxx, no matter how creepy, usually treats their partner better than anyone else.

• I get to go through something dangerous without actually doing it. “Like I don’t actually want to date a mafia king or a biker from an OMC, but this gives me the experience without any risk to me personally.” Or complaints from neighbors or nagging from parents and friends (my addition.)

• Love prevails, no matter what, even for people that don’t deserve it. If it can happen to them, then it can happen to me.

• “I can’t read a non-fiction account of someone who was sex-trafficked, it would disturb me, but I can read a fiction book about something like that because I know in that book, it didn’t actually happen.”

•   They allow me to sympathize with the villain of the story. “I think the appeal for me is that it shows that villains are people who often have endured a lot of suffering; while heroes are not always good and can come off as unreal and sheltered from the darker side of the world.”

• “I can empathize with people that have dark thoughts too. As I said before, the mind works in odd ways, so we seek comfort differently.

  
  

  Sure, some people read the genre for its sheer excitement or smuttiness. Still, if you dig deeper, it connects with what's mentioned above. Why do you write dark romance or read it or not? Leave a comment. Next week I'm writing about trigger warnings. Should you do them? And I'll find some examples, too. Have a great week!