Gothic.net Panel of Experts - BDSM in Horror

[The Newswire]

Gothic.net has posted a new installment of the Panel of Experts and the current question is: Does a storyline seem more or less frightening to you, when BDSM themes are included, such as those in Hellraiser or Ichi the Killer? Besides yours truly, some other Blue Blood notables on the Panel include John Shirley, Will Judy, Forrest Black, Cecilia Tan, Thomas S. Roche, Ed Mironiuk, Eric Swartz...

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[Raza]

I can't remember horror ever being frightening to me. Startling, occasionally, but never so much scary.

BDSM themes done well make horror more fun, relatable, sexy, and BDSM themes done poorly make it less believable. Overall, violence for pleasure sits better with me than violence for anger, fear, jealousy or any number of other more common reasons, and I tend to enjoy stories that use it.

[incog]

Agree. I like BDSM in my horror but because I'm a perv not because it is scary.

[RazorCandi]

haha!

[panty20111116]

yes, I love BDSM too.

[Sierras]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this topic, which is why I haven't posted yet.

There's something about mixing BDSM, which is a consensual act, with horror and torture that just rubs me the wrong way.
I agree with Raza that I prefer so-called violent acts for pleasure, instead of any negative reasons.

But I also think BDSM in a horror movie adds that extra little bit of sick, twisted darkness that makes it so compelling to watch.
So do I find it frightening? No. I find it disturbing, and I can't figure out whether or not I like that feeling. :P

[Raza]

Horror and torture aren't by definition non-consensual, though. There's a whole genre of hentai dedicated to people getting off on fantasies of gore, torture, killing and being killed - and at least a couple of renown cases of people actually meeting up on their own free will to do it IRL.

[Mr Karl]

so...is it still horror when the victim of the story is enjoying it?.....like any proper masochist would

[Sierras]

Horror and torture aren't by definition non-consensual, though. There's a whole genre of hentai dedicated to people getting off on fantasies of gore, torture, killing and being killed - and at least a couple of renown cases of people actually meeting up on their own free will to do it IRL.

Eroguro, if I recall correctly. My impression was that people into the whole torturing/killing scenario were turned on by it because it was non-consensual. I'll admit I've seen a couple of hentai videos with that theme, and the girls certainly didn't seem to portray consensual to the acts. But I suppose that doesn't go for all porn of that nature.

I've never heard of anyone meeting up and doing it irl though, that's crazy. Do you have any links?

[Raza]

That's right, on all three counts. The violation/domination/sadism aspect does turn some people on to it, but I know for a fact that it isn't the only possible motive. I personally care very little for such things, but I'm big into guro: for me it is gore itself that does it, something about the finality of a traumatic or lethal injury. It's really a very peculiar turn-on; it makes no evolutionary sense that I can see and there's no word for it that I know of, but it is clearly genetic and common enough to find its niche on the internets.

Anyway, I actually prefer consensual guro depictions, which are relatively uncommon but far from unheard of. I think they get made less than they get appreciated because it's tough to work into a story or background premise, while accidental and violent injury are common and compelling subjects in reality and fiction. And maybe because I can get off on a depicted murder, but someone who's in it for the violation of it won't like the consensual mutilation of some drugged-up masochist? Insofar as artists draw anything other than what they most want to see, anyway.

And well, you have the 'german cannibal' case, for one, as well as one highly similar case more recently... I'm afraid I don't keep links for these; I suspect the appeal of those 'news' articles exists mostly for people properly shocked by them. I like these kinds of stories with a happy ending, and those'd have to be the ones you never hear about.

[Sierras]

It's interesting to hear your perspective on it, I've never talked to someone who was actually into guro. I find it aesthetically appealing, I've always been into gore, but it doesn't arouse me sexually. I'm interested in hearing more about why it appeals to you, but perhaps that's more of a PM type of conversation.

I'll look up that german cannibal case, I'm one of those sick people who likes to be disturbed sometimes.

[Raza]

Here's fine. =)

I don't think there is a 'why' to it, exactly. Gore has aroused me since as long as I can remember having intimate fantasies, and does so about as reliably as sex itself - a noticeable contrast with the acquired perversions gained from sexual exploration, in which my interest is more whimsical and generally requires a pre-existing level of arousal.

It's clearly genetic, but I'm not at all sure why. Some psychological spill-over, a mechanism that serves survival rates by motivating people to necessary violence, that just happened to tap into sexual arousal as a potent stimulant for action for no reason other than that it happened to be available? Evolution tends to re-use existing mechanisms like that, accidental as it is. 'Speculation, though, and clearly it wasn't a beneficial enough trait to become dominant throughout humanity... which also makes sense, as I imagine it could get people who lack self-control in trouble.

'Course, I rather like the fetish, and there's whys to that. It's aesthetically pleasing, morbid, and generally fits my appetite for deviancy and subverting the superficial morals of the overculture. And gore has a lot of inherent synergy with sex; opening people up means that much more to taste, feel, and generally get dirty with.