07-06-2011, 06:36 AM
This is actually a very interesting debate. Both fantasy and horror (and science fiction while we're at it) are subgenres within the broader umbrella of speculative fiction, and while you may not be able to say that ALL horror is a subgenre of fantasy—films such as Silence of the Lambs and even some of today's popular "cautionary tales" stay firmly within the realm of the "possible"—it would be too "easy" to say that it's not. Period. Exclamation point.
Some of the earliest horror fiction dealt not only circumspectly with the paranormal, magical, and fantastic, but PRIMARILY: Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. And those are only the "earliest" in terms of the modern era. Ancient horror dealt ONLY with the paranormal and fantastic. This was also true for horror in the film industry. Nosferatu ('22), The Phantom of the Opera ('25), Waxworks ('24), and later Dracula, the Wolfman, Cat People, etc. None of these films dealt with what we would term strict reality. Our villains were always paranormal, magical... "fantastic" in the truest sense of the word.
The same can be said for many of our later favorites. A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Howling, Fright Night, and even Halloween and Friday the 13th (both of which have villains who we all have to admit are WAY too hard to kill to be fully "real")... And this says nothing of the films about hauntings or demonic possession, which are clearly not even pretending to be about something other than the paranormal, magical, or fantastic.
There is a common "expectation" that fantasy will steer clear of the macabre, leaving it in the hands of horror writers/film makers, but as an avid fantasy fan, I have found that to be largely untrue. I read once that "fantasy follows rules of its own making" and THAT is what is always true. It's goal is to transport the viewer/reader to a world where the impossible is possible. If the world that writer/film maker creates is scary, is that horror or fantasy? Both? (Stephen King and Clive Barker both live firmly in this no-man's-land between the two genres. Maybe we should ask them.
)
All that said, there is a new—relatively speaking—subgenre of fantasy that is currently labeled as Dark Fantasy. A place where an author/film maker does not have to hide from any expectations. Their story can be both blatantly horrific AND blatantly fantastic and everyone can go kiss their asses.
Thoughts?
Some of the earliest horror fiction dealt not only circumspectly with the paranormal, magical, and fantastic, but PRIMARILY: Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. And those are only the "earliest" in terms of the modern era. Ancient horror dealt ONLY with the paranormal and fantastic. This was also true for horror in the film industry. Nosferatu ('22), The Phantom of the Opera ('25), Waxworks ('24), and later Dracula, the Wolfman, Cat People, etc. None of these films dealt with what we would term strict reality. Our villains were always paranormal, magical... "fantastic" in the truest sense of the word.
The same can be said for many of our later favorites. A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Howling, Fright Night, and even Halloween and Friday the 13th (both of which have villains who we all have to admit are WAY too hard to kill to be fully "real")... And this says nothing of the films about hauntings or demonic possession, which are clearly not even pretending to be about something other than the paranormal, magical, or fantastic.
There is a common "expectation" that fantasy will steer clear of the macabre, leaving it in the hands of horror writers/film makers, but as an avid fantasy fan, I have found that to be largely untrue. I read once that "fantasy follows rules of its own making" and THAT is what is always true. It's goal is to transport the viewer/reader to a world where the impossible is possible. If the world that writer/film maker creates is scary, is that horror or fantasy? Both? (Stephen King and Clive Barker both live firmly in this no-man's-land between the two genres. Maybe we should ask them.
)All that said, there is a new—relatively speaking—subgenre of fantasy that is currently labeled as Dark Fantasy. A place where an author/film maker does not have to hide from any expectations. Their story can be both blatantly horrific AND blatantly fantastic and everyone can go kiss their asses.
Thoughts?
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