Lights Out

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content.

Dark romance is a genre that subverts the common themes and tropes of the broader romance genre. Romance generally involves extensive courting and flirtation, often with external factors that challenge the main characters’ resolve in their developing relationship. Such romances usually end with marriage or some form of commitment, and they may or may not have explicit sexual content. Within the romance genre are many works considered “smut,” or sexually explicit, which present a narrative punctuated by explicit sex scenes. Dark romance is a deviation from this latter subgenre, in which the focus of the sexually explicit scenes is on dubious consent, violence, bondage play, or other rough sex acts. Dark romance often also includes darker themes of crime, sexual assault, murder, or paranormal activity.

Lights Out fits neatly into the dark romance genre, but it also challenges long-held tropes of dark romance. For example, in works like Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton or Hooked by Emily McIntire, the female lead is often ineffectual or physically weak. Additionally, part of the sexual activity in the novels relies on dubious consent, situations in which one character—usually the woman—is unsure or conflicted about whether or not they consent to sex.