When Robert Pattinson was asked by a reporter what he thought of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, he laughed awkwardly, and said that there was something wrong with both of them. Edward was clearly a murderous vampire, and the fact that Bella knew that and was still attracted to him said something about their sanities. The same could be said for Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey from Fifty Shades of Grey.

While it seems so weird to people that there are fans who would encourage disturbing behavior in the name of romance, it does happen in everyday life. There are girls and boys who fall in love with psychotic mass murderers, shooters, rapists, with this dark, twisted mindset that everything will be fine. Some, of course, find this terrifying, but others might even encourage the romances. There’s always something to fuel our darkest fantasies, both as writers and readers. As such, below are some dark romances that could help you with your writing.

Carol Spadoni and Phillip Jablonski
Carol Spadoni initially fell in love with Phillip Jablonski through a newspaper ad, in which he attempted to sell himself as a friendly man. During this time, Jablonski was serving a sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, Linda Kimball. Eventually, he and Spadoni married. When he was released in 1990, he went on to murder four other women, which included both Carol and her mother. He was later sentenced to death.

Doreen Lioy and Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez, also know as the “Night Stalker”, was a prolific serial rapist and killer known for his terrorizing of victims in California. After his arrest, he received many letters from different women, and approximately 75 letters from his soon-to-be wife, Doreen Lioy. The two married while he was still in prison, and during this time, Lioy proclaimed her husband’s innocence. After Ramirez died, Lioy never claimed her husband’s body, and is trying to stay out of the public eye due to her family’s, her friends’, and general society’s disapproval of their relationship.

James Whitehouse and Susan Atkins (An Actual Happy End)
Susan Atkins was a part of the infamous Manson Family. She was convicted for the Helter Skelter killings. She was on death row, but after California briefly banned the death penalty, Atkins was sentenced to life imprisonment. When she was in prison, she received a letter from a man named James Whitehouse, who told her that he was lost and he had no idea what to do. The letter was also in relation to her autobiography, which explained how she found herself through God. The two started corresponding then. Eventually, Whitehouse asked Atkins to marry him, four times in fact, and she acquiesced.

Initially, Whitehouse’s parents were unsurprisingly wary of her, but as time passed, they soon grew fond of her. During this time, Whitehouse said she was remorseful for the murders. According to the counselor, she was a model inmate, and had thrown herself into community service and education. She even encouraged Whitehouse to go back to college, where he eventually graduated from Harvard University with a degree in law. The two stayed together until Susan passed away in 2009.

When someone gets into a relationship with a perceived dark individual, especially a convicted murderer, it raises alarm bells. For the general audience, it’s just really fascinating. Sometimes, it supposedly throws a wrench at societal expectations, while at other times, it’s amusing. And just like with any dark romance, you aren’t guaranteed a happy ending.

Then again, I’m a hopeless romantic.