I'm abandoning this idea here...

*picks up abandon idea, dusts it off, files it for future use*

Thanks

Might be better if the STD makes them "sex crazed" rather than rapists. A person with the STD will sleep with anyone, anywhere, anytime . . . kind of like a drunken Shriner at a convention. ;-)

I have actually read a short story,sorry can't remember were, with the same idea.After the women were raped ,they would change and become unattractive to a potential rapist.The idea being that the virus had evolved sufficiently to not wast time raping an infected women.To be honest ,If I remember rightly ,it was not a very good story so there is probably room for another one

Like I said to SunandShadow, I think the horrifying aspect is that anyone who becomes infected can become a rapist e.g. your boyfriend, family, friends etc. so you can't trust anyone.

Sounds like David Cronenberg's Rabid which starred Marylin Chambers. It wasn't rape per say, but the sexual/STD undertones were incredibly strong (C'mon, he cast Chambers in it).

I haven't encountered a written take on this story and would love to see someone put more layers into the theme.

*stabs Boston in the back and steals baby idea in swaddling clothes then runs like a rabbit*

<laughs insanely>

Whahahahahahahaha!!!!

Mine! They're all mine! Mine, you hear me! Mineminemine!

Whahahahahahahaha!!!

It's a good idea, and it has been under-explored, although there are a few sex-horror films out there (where sex transmits some sort of horrible infection or psychosis).

Like Gab Nova I immediately thought of Rabid. Another Cronenburg film, Shivers, explores the same territory more directly.

I can't think of any other films that really take that idea and run with it. I guess that's why they call them taboos!

ACTUALLY - just remembered a recent film called Dead Girl (it went straight to DVD in my native UK). It is very, very offbeat and very disturbing. The sort of film that sticks in your head and refuses to leave.
A great film about the darker aspects of sexuality. It will make you feel uncomfortable, and not by grossing you out.

sunandshadow said:

I don't write horror, or even read it, but I came up with a horrific idea. Maybe it's already been done, I dunno. But another person who heard the idea thinks it would be a great underlying concept for a horror novel or short story. So to satisfy her, if anyone wants this idea, you're welcome to it. Lol that explanation was more complicated than the idea itself: An STD that makes people want to commit rape (and thus spread the STD).

Click to expand...

I agree...

Sounds similar to David Cronenburg's "Shivers", which was about a parasite that had a similar effect. Rabid was also similar, but Shivers struck me as closer.

A similar idea was done extremely well in a short story called the "Screwfly Solution", except instead of an STD it was chemical and affected every single man who could be sexually stimulated.
A chemical placed in the atmosphere basically rewired males brain chemistry so that when they saw a woman who made them the least bit sexually aroused made them rape her and kill her while doing it.
Turned out aliens wanted to remove the annoying humans from the planet without actually destroying the place. The scary part is we've done similar things to reduce some insect populations so its reasonable to assume something could do it to us.

Check out this 70s B-movie:

http://www.mondo-digital.com/stigma.html

Similar sort of theme!

You know what this sounds like to me? I think it's called "ultra-Darwinism" or "extreme Darwinism." It's a theory among some scientists (with some controversy, I believe) that says that a disease will cause behavior/symptoms most likely to further its own propagation.

The example I remember hearing (and don't ask me for sources, I saw this on Discovery Channel a while back, and it's too late at night for me to give you any better than that; my brain is on stand by mode) was rabies. Rabies is transmitted by saliva. Therefore, when a dog is infected by rabies, he begins to froth at the mouth, overproducing saliva, thereby making it more likely that he will successfully infect others.

I don't know how useful that is, but there you go.

This is interesting, but I'm dubious about the science behind it. Rabies is a good example: it causes encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Aggression is not the only symptom. It can also cause anxiety, confusion, paranoia, etc.

A virus that triggers a sexual response is a rather specific mechanism. In order to spread to epidemic levels, it would need to develop in a certain type of environment--probably one where sexual contact is often unprotected and nonconsensual. There are some developing areas in the world where this is (unfortunately) the case. But how would a disease like this spread into more technologically/medically-advanced societies, ones where law enforcement is also much stricter and more effective?

Also, sexual arousal is a very individual thing, and is not necessarily innately aggressive. In order to drive diseased people to rape others, the virus would have to also incite aggression. Rape is often, after all, less about sex than it is about power, dominance, and control.

Such a mechanism would also probably lead the infected to take advantage of weak/defenseless victims. This could get into a very dark and disturbing area involving abuse of children, the elderly, etc.

The story would have to be handled with extreme care, IMO.

Just some food for thought.