By Robin Wolfe and Catherine Leary (Guest Bloggers)
In 1973 a book called My Secret Garden, by Nancy Friday, was published. It was a collection of fantasies from real women, and it explored common themes such as same-sex attraction, cheating, and group sex. More importantly, Ms. Friday had the courage to print the "darker" fantasies, the ones that so many people have but never want to admit: incest, bestiality, and rape, among others.
Nearly 40 years later, many people are still ashamed and fearful of those kinds of desires, and almost all erotica publishers have blanket prohibitions against those kinds of stories.
Freaky Fountain Press exists for three reasons. The first is to provide readers with high-quality literary erotica that explores these themes and others that many erotica publishers fear to touch. The second, of course, is to provide a market for the writers of such stories. And the third reason, arguably the most important, is to let people know that whatever fantasies get you off, it's okay. You're not alone.
We have decided to share with you a vignette written by Catherine Leary, a co-founder and editor of Freaky Fountain Press. Much of what we publish is far milder and more mainstream-accessible than “My Dear One Flayed,” but we've chosen to use it for two reasons: it makes strong use of blood and blood symbolism, and because we feel it illustrates the essence of Freaky Fountain—it’s literary, lush, and it explores the eroticism of extreme obedience and extreme pain through the use of horrifying, blood-soaked imagery.
All of our anthologies and novels contain a page of "trigger warnings," which is a list of any potentially upsetting subjects explored within. For this story, we're warning for graphic depictions of extreme violence, self-harm, and gore. If those things are likely to disturb you, you should skip this story.
If you're ready to flirt with your freaky side, or you simply enjoy pushing the limits of your comfort zone, please click the link below.
Hello, Catherine and Robin,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Beyond Romance.
I wonder who will be brave enough to follow the link to your tale. I had to steel myself to read it again, and yet I found it richer (as well as darker) on re-reading.
Thank you for sharing your vision, honestly and without fear.
I should check out your company. I have one story that was turned down by an erotic horror magazine for being "too disturbing." (I believe it was the queer content they couldn't handle, but I still cherish that rejection).
ReplyDelete@Lisabet: Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I guess we'll see, won't we? I have tweeted this thing far and wide, so someone will show up. Whether or not they'll click through is another thing entirely.
Thank you for taking the risk and offering us a platform. We really appreciate it.
@Kathleen: An erotic horror mag turned it down? You've got my attention now. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and sent it if you like. We at FFP loves the queer content with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.
Lisabet, we're delighted to be here, and I too wanted to echo Catherine's thanks.
ReplyDeleteKathleen, it would be difficult to find something too disturbing for Freaky Fountain. ;) The only subject we prohibit is sex involving minors. Everything else is fair game, and as two queer women ourselves, FFP is the last place you'll find an editor shying away from queerness.
We have a Showcase and Showcase Archive on our website in case you'd like to read more stories that we've published.
Read it. Yes, it's strong, but it's excellent writing.
ReplyDeleteA friend alerted me to Freaky Fountain a while back and I have some stuff that might work there, but it'll be a while before I get get it out and review/edit it because I have some tight deadlines to meet right now!
Beautiful. Perhaps an odd word to describe such a gruesome tale, but this is a gorgeous piece of grotesquery.
ReplyDeleteHow much did I enjoy this? A lot. How envious am I of that delightful imagination of yours? You don't even want to know.
Far out, fantastic, and definitely freaky.
Well, I've been incredibly depressed by the news today.
ReplyDeleteI don't think reading fiction could be be nearly as disturbing.