If you’re interested in more dark fairy tales, be sure to check out this list. Be forewarned, though: this book does take the dark in dark fantasy seriously. A retelling of the Snow White and Rose Red fairy tale, Lanagan’s debut explores the best and the worst of human nature. Like, really dark…especially if you look toward the original versions and not the family-friendly stories released by Disney. Along similar lines, fairy tales can be dark. I think Tender Morsels falls into the first category. Sometimes in a well-handled fashion sometimes less so. Sexual assault tends to figure prominently in many dark fantasy books. Alice by Christina HenryĪlice in Wonderland is perfect fodder for a dark retelling and Christina Henry’s Alice delivers in this twisted take on Lewis Carroll’s classic story. Miserere has all the best parts of fantasy-betrayal, redemption, and hope-mixed with supernatural elements that’ll make any horror fan jump with glee-exorcists, demons, and ghosts. Miserere by Teresa FrohockĪ battle over opening the gates of Hell? Sounds more like a horror novel, doesn’t it? But when you take that familiar conflict and set it in a secondary fantasy world, it becomes a dark fantasy story. Lovecraft-minus the negative connotations that Lovecraft’s works carry-and if you like story within story structures reminiscent of House of Leaves, this one’s for you. If you like ghost stories, if you like New England horror a la H.P. Kiernanįor people who want fantasy that is virtually indistinguishable from horror, you can’t go wrong with a Caitlin Kiernan novel. And while the movie adaptation isn’t anything to write home about, we can now imagine Idris Elba as Roland. The first installment of The Dark Tower series introduces us to Roland, the last gunslinger on a mission to track down The Man in Black-a figure who will be familiar to readers of King’s horror novels. Like other dark fantasy books, the highlight of Black Sun Rising is not the novel’s warrior priest protagonist Damien Vryce but his uneasy ally, the vampiric Gerald Tarrant, who fights a centuries-old internal struggle between living up to his humanity or succumbing to evil. FriedmanĪ blend of science fiction and fantasy, the first volume of Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy introduces us to a world imbued with natural forces that literally bring a person’s worst nightmares to life. That sounds normal until you discover that your heroes are named Saetan, Lucivar, and Daemon. Speaking of characters normally expected to play antagonistic roles, Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series introduces readers to a dark world where the balance of power between men and women have been cast askew and where a select chosen few desperately hope for the one person who can finally set things right. Like moral ambiguity in your characters? Dark fantasy is the subgenre for you. And, they may feature an anti-hero as the main character in other words, the villains of traditional fantasies may be protagonists in dark fantasy books. They may portray humans grappling with supernatural forces. Quibbling aside, there are a few traits common to dark fantasy stories. I personally don’t agree, but I understand why readers do this. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Firesometimes gets that label. For other people, fantasy novels that are a little grittier, a little bloodier, a little more-dare I say- grimdark-belong to that category, which is why George R.R. In fact, fantasy novels written by horror authors often get categorized as dark fantasy. It’s not synonymous with horror, but there can be overlap. The definition of dark fantasy can be hard to pin down. But what if you don’t want to pick up a thriller? What if you’re a dedicated fantasy reader who wants to walk on the darker side? That’s where dark fantasy books come in. I doubt I’m the only one, given how many thriller and horror novels are joining must-read lists and TBR piles. They become a little bit moodier, a little bit darker. I don’t know about other people but as the seasons turn cooler, my reading tastes change.
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