How should I classify a story that is horrific but romantic?

I have a short story that is very hard to classify.
The content would be considered horror or grotesque even for some people.
The story to me though is focused on the romantic feelings that character has.
I don't know which genre to post this under.

 

Hmm...it's horrifying...to do with romance...sounds an awful lot like...like Twilight!

I jest, I jest. In all seriousness, I reckon it should be posted under horror, simply because romance can be a main theme in horror, but it's much less likely to find a romance that has a lot of horror in it. I'm almost certain that if your story appeared in a bookshop, it would be classified under "Horror".

 

*stares*
You got me. I'm totally wetting myself about vegan sparkly vampires.

Thank you for your help though.
I guess you're right that if it's graphic it would be under horror for the general public I suppose.

 

I would also say Horror. All genres have romance elements in them, but Romance only has romance.

 

Now if only the damned website would let me post!
I keep getting this message saying I have insufficient qualifications or something

 

Typically, I'd look at whatever the primary story line is - is it Romance or Horror? There are fantasy romances, paranormal romances, science fiction romances, and so on. The reason they get shelved in Romance is that the romantic plot is the primary plot. That seems like a good guideline here as well. If the Romance is a subplot, then it would go in horror. That's my take.

 

I honestly can't tell if you used "horrific" correctly (you probably did) but I can't stop giggling to myself that you just called your own story horrific

Silly, I know.

Anyway, if it's finished, when don't you get a beta to read it? One of my friends was convinced she's been writing fantasy romance, to the point of padding out her blurb to squeeze in the romance elements because it was absent in her draft. I read about 70% of her book and I had to tell her - it is *not* fantasy romance. It's just fantasy, plain and simple. Sometimes we have a concept in our heads and it muddles the way we see the story, because we can't get past the idea that maybe it's something different.

What I mean is, a second opinion on what they think your book is about (horror or romance?) might help you decide

And it depends on what you mean by "content" that would be horror for people. Is it just the details, like, I have some pretty creepy, borderline-horror creatures in my book, but it is not horror. Is the horror "content" heavy in the main plot?

 

Mixing of genres is not uncommon.

 

you have a good point.
there's uh cannibalism and some detailed lesbian rape.
I guess it might not feel so romantic in the end.
Though I'm not sure if I'll be having people on the edge of their seats in suspense and fear either.

 

Yeah but there isn't a Horror/Romance option on the forum. I just don't want to post to the wrong place and flip people out.

 

Perhaps you have written something uncategorizable? Could be a publisher's nightmare, but to a good number of readers it can also spell 'awesome.' Genre mash-ups are great 'cause you never really know what to expect, you can't count on genre tropes popping up, things are harder to predict.

If you're thinking about posting it to the workshop, maybe horror would still be best. What with the cannibalism aspect.

 

I''m under the impression that industry expectations for writing style and other elements of "romances" are more standardized than for many other genres. I could be completely wrong, but for that reason, I think that it would make more sense to treat the story as horror.

 

romantic horror is what i suggest

 

Same here. Sounds better than horrific romance.

 

In other words, marriage.

 

As long as it isn't horribly romantic right out in public, you should be okay.

 

I think any kind of rape scene is frowned upon - or worse. It's definately not allowed in the erotic section so maybe some counsel is worth seeking from a mod with regards not where you post but what...

 

When such sensitive subjects become a point, I have to ask if it truly adds value to the story or are you writing it simply to shock your readers.

 

I like being gratuitously shocked!

 

If this was a G rated site, I'd think rape is over the top, but if there's an erotic area, it couldn't truly be just that. This tends to make it sound less like horror or romance, but more like modern drama.

 

Horror, because the people who are looking for a "horror" book are going to be more ok with it having romance in it than the people looking for a "romance" book are going to be if it has horror in it.

 

The point is it happened to the character and now they have to deal with it.
It's not meant to shock or scare anyone. It's fucked up shit that happens because humans like to hurt each other. Acting like it doesn't happen doesn't make it go away. It's a sensitive subject but I don't write it for shits and giggles.

 

I guess I find the shit that humans do to each other rather horrifying. I'm glad to hear peoples opinion on it though. It beats talking to myself.

 

I just joined and also don't understand what you mean by beta.
Someone who just reads and critiques works?

 

A beta version is like a first working draft.