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This past weekend I attended Horrorfind, a horror and Halloween-themed convention. While there, I picked up some free samples of Red Scream — “The only erotic horror magazine that matters” — and it got me to thinking why some of the most pleasurable things in life — food and sex — are often commingled with what scares us the most.

First, what is horror fiction? The definition that works best for me is fiction that unsettles and disturbs us. For some, this comes in the form of fantastic monsters like vampires, werewolves and such. For others, it wears the form of serial killers. And for yet others, it’s someone dressed as a clown.

Secondly, what is erotic fiction? I think most would agree that it is fiction that deals with sex or sexual themes, without moving into explicit pornography. In trying to find a definition for erotic fiction on the ‘Net, I came across something interesting by Michael Perkins (I don’t know who he is). He wrote, “the function of erotic literature is to express the secret part of our lives which periodically rules us” and goes on to conclude that “such writing confirms an important measure of our interior worlds and purges us of our fear of the unknown.”

This leads me to the sometimes odd, but also inevitable, merging of the erotic with the horrifying in fiction. Perkins writes, “We read what frightens us because the work confronts our deepest suspicions about life.” So why does sex scare some of us so much?

I think that erotic horror has developed in part because we are at our most vulnerable when engaged in the intimate embrace. At what other time are we bereft of all forms of protection and focused on not our surroundings but one individual? In addition to that, sex can leave us emotionally vulnerable, as well. For many, this is truly unsettling.

If it wasn’t, why are there so many people with intimacy issues?

Another aspect of pleasure and pain commingled in fiction is the use of food in both horror and erotic horror. Food in necessary for life. But it can also be a sensual, visceral pleasure, thus the term “comfort food.”

Much of horror uses food for the gross-out effect — people eating things that most people wouldn’t put near their nose, let alone in their mouth. There is also the cannibalistic use of food in horror fiction. But, for me, food is the most scary when it is used seductively: the unsuspecting victim lured to his or her doom by the promise of a tasty treat, or the promise of pleasure being used to lure the victim to his or her demise.

Hunters and trappers use the former quite often — a chunk of meat lures the wolf into a trap. This is also used in nature: the angler fish has a fleshy antennae-like thing hanging form its forehead that lures fish into its gaping maw. In fiction, food has been used to transform the victim into something monstrous. Drinking the blood of a vampire turns you into a vampire without loosing a drop of your own (The Lost Boys used this.)

Ray Bradbury wrote a chilling short story in which aliens invade earth in the form of mushrooms, which, when eaten, transformed the person into an alien. Murderers who use poison will often prepare elaborate or gourmet meals in which to hide the poison. In some ways, this is metaphorically pushing the tale of Eve and the Apple to a grotesque extreme.

As for the latter, serial killers often ply their prey with flattery and seduction. Even in the natural world, sex can lead to death. The male black widow has to tread carefully onto his paramour’s web, or she will devour him. In fiction, vampires often seduce their victims into being their meals.

So, in conclusion, why are some of the most pleasurable things in life often commingled with what scares us the most? Just a thought, but could it be that what we fear the most is loosing those very pleasures?

This may be the only blog I do for August. Preparation for my trip to Europe and launching The Genre Traveler are taking precedence. Besides, I need to fix a hair dying mistake.

Every summer, starting last summer, that is, I dye my hair auburn, wait a week and then frost it, giving it strawberry blonde highlights. Last year, I did it with the semi-permanent (lasts about 28 shampoos) coloring I usually use. I loved the results so much, but they only lasted a couple of weeks before the auburn started to fade I and I was left with my natural dark blonde and yellow-blonde highlights. So, I decided to use a permanent color for the base auburn this year.

Well, I bought the wrong color. As of about 11am this morning, my hair is a mix of dark and light carrot red. On the one hand, it does bring out the green in my eyes and highlights my Scottish-Irish heritage. On the other, I look like Carrot Top’s sister.

Oh, well. Easily fixed. Next week, I buy the right color and re-dye. I just have to live through a week of comments from my co-workers, and possibly my husband.

On to the trip. I’m buying all this really cool travel paraphernalia: a clothesline made from braided surgical tubing, a universal sink stopper, travel laundry soap (20 loads in one bottle!) and more. It’s kind of like Christmas. I’m loading up my travel box (I haven’t decided which piece of luggage to use yet) like it is a Christmas stocking. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Oh! And I really wanted to tell you about this last week, but just didn’t have the time. My wonderful husband bought me an early birthday gift (I age another year later this month): Karaoke Revolution for our X-Box and a mike. I’m totally addicted. Once I start playing, I’m hard-pressed to stop. The first time I played, I started at 10:30pm and the next thing I noticed it was 1am! I only stopped because I had to!

I’m starting off at beginner mode, easy judging and I’ve already gotten a perfect score on two songs: “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer and “I Don’t Know Why” by Nora Jones.

I always loved doing karaoke, that is once someone dragged me up on stage to do it in the first place. This game brings the fun up a notch, adding a touch of competition: Can I beat my last score? The second day after I got it, I tried to play quietly while my husband slept. I won’t do that again. It kind of hurt my vocal cords and I had a raspy voice for couple of days.

Another day, I thought I’d just play one game and then go to bed. So much for that idea. Three games later I forced myself to put the game away.

I think about it at work – telling one of my coworkers who is a singer about my triumphs and tribulations with my matching the pitch and making the audience cheer.

I think about it when driving the truck. When a song that is included in the game comes on the radio, I enjoy singing along so much the better.

And I’m learning a bit about my singing abilities. For example, I’m in the habit of harmonizing and changing the pitch to better suite my vocal abilities. And I’m not always aware I’m doing it. The game requires that you match the pitch. Well, in some songs the pitch goes down, and I naturally harmonize by going up. That wrecks my score!

I also find my self pleasantly distracted by what my avatar is doing on the stage. When I do a particularly good set of phrases, my avatar will sparkle and the mike she holds will leave glowing trails. And the backup band will sometimes really get into a particularly interesting guitar or drum riff. It is so cool. However, if I’m not paying attention to what’s coming up next for the song, that can throw off my score, too.

Any way, that’s the bits and pieces for this week. Until next time – probably after I get back from Europe – have a spectacular life!