The Relationship Between Horror and Fantasy

Imagine being lost in a dark, twisted forest, chased by unseen creatures. The trees are gnarled and looming, casting eerie shadows as a chill wind howls through the branches. You can hear the distant screech of something inhuman, and the crunching of leaves behind you seems to grow ever closer.

Your heart pounds in your chest, fear gripping you, yet there's also a sense of wonder and curiosity. Is it a malicious ghost, a fantastical beast, or something far more sinister?

In this moment, where fear and fascination collide, you find yourself at the intersection of horror and fantasy.

Despite their distinct characteristics, these genres share common ground in their ability to transport readers to otherworldly realms, explore the depths of human emotion, and confront the unknown.

But how are these two genres related?

Origins and Influence of the Gothic Era

The relationship between Horror and Fantasy can be traced back to the Gothic era, a period of artistic and literary expression that emerged in the late 18th century.

Gothic fiction, characterized by its dark and brooding atmosphere, supernatural occurrences, and complex, tormented characters, laid the groundwork for contemporary horror.

Its influence can be seen in the horror and fantasy works that followed, with authors drawing upon its themes of mystery, the supernatural, and the exploration of human emotions.

The dark and haunting aesthetic of the Gothic era also laid fertile ground for the work of the Brothers Grimm.

The Grimm Fairytales, though often seen as children's tales today, originally carried the heavy influence of Gothic elements, including a grim and moody tone, eerie settings, and the intermingling of the supernatural.

The ominous undertones found in stories like "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White" echo the brooding atmosphere of Gothic fiction, tying these beloved fairytales to a tradition that embraced the unknown and confronted the darker aspects of human nature.

This intersection of horror and fantasy in the works of the Brothers Grimm illustrates how the Gothic era not only shaped the genres themselves but also created an enduring legacy that continues to influence storytelling to this very day.

How Horror and Fantasy Genres Interact

For most of us, the distinction between Horror and Fantasy is pretty easy to parse.

Horror is a genre that plays with our core need to establish and maintain safety and control in our lives. Threaten our safety or our sense of control, and we easily slip into an instinctively fearful place.

That fear response is a warning that we need to regain control so that we can ensure our personal safety and security.

This places Horror in the content genre group. This is a group of genres that describe the actual shape of a story—the plot, the character arc, the values at stake, and the dominant emotions invoked by the story.

But Fantasy is a genre about the rules of the story, sitting on a spectrum between realism and absurdism. This is the reality genre group.

Fantasy, and its younger sibling genre, Science Fiction, ask a “what if…” question that requires the reader to imagine a world with rules that aren’t quite the same as our own.

With Fantasy residing in the reality genre group and Horror residing in the content genre group, the two genres can easily function without each other or can easily be blended without any inherent contradictions of expectations.

Misery is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King. The novel tells the story of Paul Sheldon, a romance novelist who is rescued from a car accident by his "number one fan," Annie Wilkes.

Annie is a deranged and obsessive woman who forces Paul to write a new Misery Chastain novel, and if he refuses, Annie threatens to kill him.

This is one of many examples of a Horror novel without elements of Fantasy. It sits on the realism side of the reality genre group.

Dark Fantasy: A Marriage of Horror and Fantasy

The fusion of horror and fantasy elements gave rise to the dark fantasy subgenre, which combines the fantastical worlds and creatures of fantasy with the spine-chilling tension and fear-inducing elements of horror.

A prime example of this is Ridley Scott's iconic 1979 film, Alien.

In Alien, the horror genre's elements of fear and suspense are used alongside the fantastical space setting and creatures of science fiction, creating a unique and chilling cinematic experience.

The Netflix series Stranger Things combines horror with fantasy to create a captivating and terrifying tale.

Set in a small town where supernatural occurrences disrupt the lives of its inhabitants, Stranger Things draws upon elements of horror to heighten tension and fear, while its fantastical elements, such as parallel dimensions and psychic abilities, deepen the story's intrigue and mystery.

And though we typically group stories like The Exorcist, The Shining, and The Conjuring squarely in the horror genre, they are also fantasy stories because they utilize supernatural elements that are hallmarks of the fantasy genre.

Though they are distinct genres that serve different narrative purposes, Horror and fantasy share a unique and compelling relationship.

From their roots in the Gothic era to the development of the dark fantasy subgenre, these genres have long been intertwined, creating stories that resonate with readers and viewers alike.

Like shadows dancing in the corners of our imagination, horror and fantasy beckon us into worlds where fear meets fascination, where the supernatural becomes tangible, and where our deepest emotions are explored.

In this mystical intersection, we are invited to question our reality and our place within it, forever enchanted, forever changed by the infinite possibilities of storytelling.

But I want to know what you think. How do you think Fantasy and Horror are related? What are the defining characteristics of the genres to you? And how do you draw the line between the two genres? Let me know in the comments.

And if you ain’t afraid of no ghosts, you’ll want to check out the awesome books and merch I have.