Dark: A Zine Of Queer BDSM Erotica
Zine, Kel Hardy, 28 pgs, Goblin Cat Press,
[email protected], $12
Kel Hardy has been contributing to and editing queer erotic zines for some time now, so it’s not surprising that their debut solo publication is a smooth and polished collection that hits the conventions of erotic literature while still feeling fresh and surprising. In Dark, Hardy tells three stories of queer lust that are sexy, fresh, and a welcome addition to queer erotic lit.
Each story is told in the first person from the Dom’s perspective, but includes little description of the characters, allowing the reader easy access into the story. Hardy also uses this POV to allow for moments of vulnerability from the Doms in these stories that are extremely effective and often absent from other BDSM narratives. In “The Best Time,” the story weaves the memory of a first date through the playing of a first BDSM scene, layering in the uncertain intimacy of meeting a new partner into the hot kink of play between two lovers. “I blush when I tell you what like to be called,” the narrator recalls, a feeling many kinky folks will remember from their first scene negotiations.
“Rules” plays strongly with obedience and exhibitionism, playing out a scene in a restaurant where every infraction of the rules promises delicious punishment afterwards. “The rules don’t exist to be obeyed,” Hardy writes. “We set them carefully around us like crystal ornaments on the floor, a then we dance around them for as long as possible until you get clumsy. Or bored.” For those looking for a story that leans more heavily into sadism, “Possession” shades more heavily into violence without losing is an effective and evocative series of poems on its own, while also bringing new light and perspective to the original text in a way that is deeply modern while feeling timeless.