Weird Fiction
Explore books, themes, and recommendations in Weird Fiction.
What is the Weird Fiction Subgenre?
Weird tales are stories that explore the eerie in everyday life. Themes such as loneliness, the self, and a feeling of existing outside the rest of the world. Weird fiction existed long before there were distinctions between horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
The term was used to describe any tale of the scientific, the supernatural, or the macabre. In the 1920's, H.P. Lovecraft borrowed the term from Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, who used it to describe his own work, and added another facet to its definition. According to Lovecraft, weird fiction was characterized by an atmosphere of dread and the knowledge that the laws of nature were subverted by forces outside human comprehension, such as aliens or demons. Around that same time, an American pulp magazine titled Weird Tales began to be published. Stories in Weird Tales tended to skew more toward the Lovecraftian and occult subgenres. This popularized the term "weird fiction" and codified the subgenre even more.
In the 1990's, the subgenre saw a revival, now termed New Weird. Stories in the New Weird subgenre were tales that blended horror and fantasy or horror and science fiction. Authors of New Weird fiction often cited H.P. Lovecraft and other weird fiction authors among their influences. However, New Weird fiction often rejects the racism and sexism of the time period in which the original weird fiction was set, instead glorifying the subgenre's subvertive style.
Weird Fiction Characteristics
Level of Characterization: The level of characterization in weird tales is variable because of the breadth of the genre. Some of the earlier weird tales used character archetypes, though more recent incarnations tended to focus on the otherness of their characters.
Level of Plot: Plot's in weird fiction can also vary, but tend to be moderate. Themes will focus on loneliness and otherness.
Level of Supernatural: Supernatural tends to be high in weird tales. There will always be something out of place in these stories, many times this can be something supernatural, though alien or otherworldly is also a possibility.
Level of Scary: The level of scary in weird fiction is low to moderate. This is a subgenre of creeping unease, not necessarily horror, but not really belonging to any other genre.
Level of Violence: The level of violence in weird fiction also varies depending on the tale, but generally, in this subgenre violence runs from low to moderate.
Typical Setting: As this subgenre is concerned with themes of otherness and loneliness, typical settings tend to be isolated, but can involve fantasy settings such as a fairy tale castle or borrow from science fiction settings, such as distant planets or even the distant future.
Related Horror Subgenres
As Lovecraft was one of the forefathers of weird fiction, the Lovecraftian subgenre does share quite a bit with the weird fiction subgenre. Also related is dark fantasy, as this subgenre borrows heavily from the fantasy tradition. Supernatural and alien subgenres are also related to weird tales, as well as cross-genre due to the blended nature of the weird fiction subgenre.