Dark fantasy delivers eerie and sometimes horrific stories that blend genres. They often use magic and other fantasy-based elements combined with an undercurrent of horror.
If you like speculative fiction in general but haven’t tried dark fantasy in particular, you might want to give it a try. You could start with an anthology of stories to get the feel for it, such as The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror.
Or you could jump straight into a novel-length work, such as Glen Cook’s The Black Company.
But what is dark fantasy, exactly? How is it different from fantasy and horror genres? What kinds of theme and characteristics does the genre deliver? Here’s an overview…
What is dark fantasy?
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that blends elements of fantasy with a dark, often eerie or horrific tone. These stories often contain disturbing or frightening themes, borrowing from the horror genre.
Dark fantasy features supernatural elements, magical settings, mythical creatures, and other fantasy-based elements. But unlike the traditional fantasy genre, it highlights the darker side of human nature and often involves psychological or supernatural horror.
A lot of these stories take place in medieval or pseudo-medieval settings. But they don’t have to be. Dark fantasy is not tied to any particular time period or locale. Some are set in urban environments, futuristic settings, or alternate realities.
Like all genres of fiction, dark fantasy is not always one thing or another. It can blur the lines of genre, often in wonderful ways.
As long as it explores dark themes and contains supernatural or fantastical elements, a story could be considered dark fantasy.
Some well-known examples of dark fantasy:
- The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
- The Black Company by Glen Cook
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006 movie)
How is it different from the horror genre?
Dark fantasy uses horror elements while staying firmly rooted within the fantasy genre.
Horror stories usually aim to scare or unsettle us, and sometimes make us think. Dark fantasy can do that as well, but it also includes magic, the supernatural, and other fantastical elements.
Complexity is another key difference. Generally speaking, dark fantasy stories weave a more complex narrative structure when compared to straight horror.
Questions to ask when determining if a story contains dark fantasy:
- Does the story have a bleak or morally ambiguous tone?
- Are the characters flawed, morally gray, or outright evil?
- Does the setting feel oppressive, decaying, or corrupted?
- Is there a strong emphasis on horror, violence, or the supernatural?
- Does the story explore themes of darkness, corruption, and despair?
If your story ticks off several of these boxes, it likely falls into the realm of dark fantasy. Remember, dark fantasy isn’t just about darkness. It’s about how characters navigate that darkness and the toll it takes on them.
Caitlin Marsh from the Brilliant Books bookstore breaks it down like this:
“Both dark fantasy and horror have moments of tension, fear, terror, or your own personal favorite reaction to things that go bump in the night. But with horror, the point is to be afraid. The story is written to be scary. Dark fantasy, while it might be occasionally frightening, generally isn’t out to scare you from start to finish. Dark fantasy can also be atmospherically dark [and] delve into the unseemly and unseen side of things, creating stories that aren’t filled with jump scares but rather apprehension and suspense.”
How does it differ from traditional fantasy?
Traditional fantasy tends to focus on heroism and adventure. It often makes a clear moral distinction between good and evil.
Dark fantasy, on the other hand, embraces ambiguity and features morally complex characters and darker, sometimes tragic storylines. Instead of a typical “good versus evil” struggle as in The Lord of the Rings, dark fantasy presents a world where these distinctions are blurred.
They also share certain things in common. Both genres can feature magic, mythical creatures, and world building. They both require suspension of disbelief. In all its forms, fantasy takes the reader to a very different world from the one they know.
What themes are found in dark fantasy?
Dark fantasy typically explores themes of morality, power, corruption, and the supernatural. Death, fate, and moral ambiguity often appear in these stories.
Dark fantasy fiction frequently questions what it means to be “good” or “evil”—a murky, gray area where the characters struggle to find their way.
Where does the “darkness” come from?
So what makes dark fantasy so “dark,” anyway?
Many of these stories involve disturbing themes and grim, sometimes dangerous atmospheres. When you combine this with the morally ambiguous gray areas mentioned earlier and some kind of fantastical elements, you end up with dark fantasy.
Flawed characters, tragic events, and hopeless situations also appear frequently in these stories.
What role does world-building play?
Nearly all dark fantasy stories have some degree of world-building. This can range from a bit of background “coloring” to a highly detailed fantasy world. Authors can use world-building to reinforce some of the dark themes and atmosphere mentioned earlier.
Dark fantasy often features detailed worlds filled with political intrigue, supernatural elements, or haunted locations. This creates an immersive backdrop for the reader, to the point that you can almost feel the dark atmosphere and complex themes.
Do these stories ever have happy endings?
In many if not most cases, dark fantasy stories deliver bittersweet or tragic endings. But even within that framework they can deliver a “happy” ending in a subtle or nuanced way.
For example, a character in a story might achieve some kind of victory, but at a steep cost. Or they might find redemption or peace after a long struggle.
Overall, however, this genre tends to emphasize realism over purely happy endings.
Are there creatures or monsters in dark fantasy?
You can find all manner of creatures in dark fantasy tales, some familiar and others not. This might include vampires, demons, wraiths, and twisted versions of traditional fantasy creatures like dragons or elves.
Authors can use monsters as background characters, main characters, central themes, horror components, or as metaphors to represent moral decay.