Google "dark romance" and you get questions like, "does dark romance have a happy ending?" or "what exactly is dark romance?" and "why do people like dark romance?"
Here at Dark Romance Crates, the term Dark Romance is used as an umbrella term for a wide variety of dark romance, but here are a few specifics:
User queenofsmoke on reddit put it in a nutshell: "Dark romance generally means behaviour (usually from the hero) that would be problematic, to put it mildly, in real life - e.g. abducting the heroine, dub/non con, etc. There is usually a HEA!"
This is the AI generated definition:
"Dark romance is a subgenre of romance novels that explore the complicated and sometimes twisted side of love and relationships through darker themes and mature content. These stories often include morally-gray characters, plots involving trauma and violence, and content warnings. Popular tropes in dark romance include mafia, stalking, and kidnappings, and the stories can also explore themes of abuse, revenge, and pleasure slavery."
No mention of BDSM? I guess that's included in "pleasure slavery."
I'll add that Dark Romance is dominated by Indie authors who write and publish outside the confines of traditional publishing industry standards and, in doing so, enjoy the freedom of exploring edgier, darker themes. I'll also add that since dark romance tends to push boundaries, and wears its trigger-warnings as a badge of honor, I think it's inevitable that happy endings aren't always a guarantee. Yes, HEA's are the norm. But dark romance exists outside of norms, so anything is possible.
For example, Gothika Books dark romance author K.J. Devoir recently published a new serial killer WIP, titled Saving Helena, on her Ream subscription service where one of her trigger warnings stated that she could not guarantee an HEA with this story but promised an ending that's "darkly poetic." She compared her story to a dark romance version of Silence of the Lambs--a book/movie that was not "tied up in a neat bow" but still had a satisfying ending.
The big question for readers and authors of dark romance is always: How dark are you willing to go? Everybody has their limits. This is what the trigger warnings listed in the book's front matter are there for. They serve as a "enter if you dare," invitation, but they also are to be taken seriously. I'm sure we all know what it's like to consume something traumatizing to our psyche. Something that takes us a few days to expel. It could be a news article, book, or movie that lingers with us for a while. A scary movie that you saw as a kid that still gives you chills to think about.
Then are are those lingering traumas that are more personal, and take a lifetime if ever to expel. Personal experiences that you've endured firsthand, or that of someone you know. Abuse, exploitation, to name a few. Dark romance isn't afraid to explore the darker side of life and romance, and there can be a powerful catharsis in being scared from the safety of our armchair.
Some scares are fun. Some scares are terrifying or horrific. Everybody has a different threshold for the macabre. Ultimately, the thrilling nature of dark romance crosses paths with horror. Why do people like horror? I would argue that it's not just our innate morbid fascination but the cathartic value it brings--a nightmare that you survived. Just like the nightmares we have while dreaming, something positive should be gained, sorting through our anxieties and fears, and finding a way to face the demons, to cope and wake anew. Light at the end of the tunnel.
This would probably be why most people seem to prefer an HEA. Not getting an HEA can feel depressing and hopeless. The world can be a hard place to live, and we expect our art to make us feel better, not worse. Of course, not all art serves the function of making you feel better. But it's always nice when it does. I think good dark romance makes the pleasure worth the pain.
