Dark fantasy

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For the radio show, see Dark Fantasy

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Image:Johann Peter Krafft, Manfreds Sterbestunde.jpg

Lord Byron's Manfred: elements of horror have long been used in fantasy, from the Romantic era

Dark fantasy is a subgenre that combines elements of fantasy, including marvelous abilities, with those of horror.^[1]

It has yet to be solidly connected to its own particular subgenre of fantasy. Stories often described by some as dark fantasy may be placed by others in either the horror or fantasy genres, based on which genre the story tends more toward. As a natural consequence, the term itself may refer collectively to tales that would more properly belong in very different genres.

1 Tending towards horror
2 Tending towards fantasy
3 Dark fantasy in other media
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Tending towards horror

This use of the term "dark fantasy" is considered a variant of the horror genre, but is quickly becoming a genre in and of itself. The difference between the two genres is that the supernatural beings and monsters of horror, particularly vampires, are considered to be potentially sympathetic beings with human motivations. Anne Rice is among the most successful in the genre, with her Vampire Chronicles, but other writers such as Poppy Z. Brite, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Thomas Ligotti, and C.S. Friedman have also had success. Michelle Sagara West often uses more demonic figures, as in her The Sundered tetralogy and her Sun Sword series. Stephen Marley in his Chia Black Dragon novels produced a dark fantasy series that was cited as a prime example of the genre in Clute/Grant's The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.

More generally, "dark fantasy" may be used as a synonym for supernatural horror, to distinguish horror stories that contain elements of the supernatural from those that do not. For example, a story about a mummy or vampire rising from the grave would be most likely described as "dark fantasy", "supernatural horror", or "horror fantasy", while a story about a serial killer is simply "horror". In this sense, there is a considerable overlap between "dark fantasy" and "contemporary fantasy".

[edit] Tending towards fantasy

Dark fantasy in this context refers to stories that focus on darker themes, sometimes akin to those of horror, but which take place in a setting more alike sword and sorcery or high fantasy.

There is a strong overlap between this style of fantasy and sword and sorcery, due to the often bleak, pessimistic tones, and moral ambiguity (especially when compared to the more dualistic themes of high fantasy). Michael Moorcock's Elric stories and Karl Edward Wagner's Kane sequence are two examples of this overlap, latter having actually coined the term "dark fantasy"^[2].

Clark Ashton Smith's setting of Averoigne is a good example of a dark fantasy world, using horror themes in a medieval setting.

Another example of fantasy mixed with horror is the Ravenloft series of novels, inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of the same name.

[edit] Dark fantasy in other media

As dark fantasy has yet to be clearly defined, it is often difficult to agree upon what is dark fantasy and what is regular fantasy. The most clear distinction can likely be seen in role-playing games, which have had a number of popular games and campaign settings, especially those who are closer to fantasy but includes horror elements. Dungeons & Dragons used to support three different campaign settings of this type, Ravenloft, Dark Sun and Planescape, however these are now discontinued.

Other games of this type include Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which often claims that it is the "original dark fantasy game", a D20 campaign setting called Midnight, Stormbringer and later the Elric RPG, which takes place in Michael Moorcock's multiverse, Ars Magica, and White Wolf's World of Darkness. (Note: These are but a few well-known examples.)

The setting of Blizzard Entertainment's hack-and-slash computer role-playing game Diablo (and, to a slightly lesser degree, its sequel, Diablo II) can be considered dark fantasy. In contrast to the more "typical" fantasy universe of its Warcraft series, Blizzard's Diablo franchise is centered around much darker demonic and horror themes. The video game American McGee's Alice should also be considered a dark fantasy game which utilises a good-world-gone-bad scenario.

There are few examples of movies or TV shows who fall into the dark fantasy category.The film series A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th are examples of the genre which emphasize the horror aspect of dark fantasy. Pan's Labyrinth, Brazil, The City of Lost Children, and Dark City are examples of films which emphasize the fantasy aspect. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel are examples of dark fantasy in television, containing many elements of traditional fantasy (sword fights, battles to save the world, and powerful sorcerers), but using vampires, demons, and hell gods in the place of high fantasy's elves, dwarves, and dragons.

Many comic books and manga are set in dark fantasy worlds, such as Kentaro Miura's Berserk and others. Neil Gaiman's The Sandman started with morbid horror themes, but moved to a style more accurately described as dark fantasy as the series progressed.