Genres
Dark fantasy
A fantasy subgenre incorporating magical and supernatural elements with the grim, unsettling, macabre atmosphere of horror fiction.
Dark fantasy is a fantasy subgenre that incorporates magical and supernatural elements with the grim, unsettling and macabre atmosphere of horror fiction. The label is genuinely ambiguous, with usage varying widely among authors, critics and publishers; it was coined independently in the 1970s by Charles L. Grant (for horror-leaning work) and Karl Edward Wagner (for sword-and-sorcery with morally ambiguous heroes). Brian Stableford's workable split: supernatural horror in the real world is contemporary fantasy, while horror set in secondary worlds is dark fantasy.
Stephen King's The Dark Tower, Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles and Wagner's Kane stories are named touchstones. The tag promises atmosphere rather than a fixed trope set, and it overlaps grimdark at the bleak end.