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Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark



By Wendy C Allen

Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark

EelKat Wendy Christine Allen

6 min read


Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark

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NBQuaraunPinkNecrromancerGreenscreenshot63.pngQuaraun and Lich King Gwallmaiic aka BoomFuzzy the Unicorn (humanoid form)
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I am an author of Dark Fantasy novels, novellas, and short stories, and as such, there are common Dark Fantasy related questions that get sent my way, either from readers looking to know lore or from writers looking for writing advice.

A common one is:

Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark. How are they different? What do you consider the main differences between the two, if any?

I find that, while this is a very easy question answer, most new, young writers really hate the answer.

Read.

Yep.

That’s it.

This is one of those places where you really can tell writers who never read a book in their life, from the rabid readers who read a lot.

It doesn’t matter what two genres we are comparing, either.

The simple answer is always going to be: read.

Why?

Well, because if you read this genre vs that genre, regardless of what either genre is, you’ll quickly figure out what beats and tropes and themes cause book A to be genre A, and which beats and tropes and themes cause book B to be genre B.

Let’s consider the question I used in my example above:

Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark. How are they different? What do you consider the main differences between the two, if any?

They are not even remotely close to being the same, not similar at all. Miles apart in types of things they feature. Once you read both you will see how silly it is to think you could ever confuse one for the other.

Dark Fantasy


Dark Fantasy is actually NOT Fantasy, but rather is a subgenre of Gothic Horror that happens to feature Fantasy elements. It features things like Vampires, Necromancers, and Zombies very heavily. Magic is in heavy use. Mages and Wizards and do battle against vampires and lich kings. Terror, ghosts, and things ripped from Edgar Allan Poe or HP Lovecraft lurk in every shadow. It is the Horror genre with magic and wizards. It leans heavily into Cosmic Horror but with things like Vampire Elves and Lich Unicorns. The Curse of Strahd, Fall of the House of Usher, and the entire RavenLoft franchise are good examples of Dark Fantasy.

In Dark Fantasy you would expect to see a Victorian haunted mansion with a dragon sitting on the roof.

If you write Dark Fantasy you are a Horror author.

GrimDark


GrimDark is a subgenre of Low Fantasy and features Fantasy societies that are set in depressing dystopian worlds, where the government is heavily suppressing the freedom of the citizens. Magic is rarely seen. The focus is heavy on attempts to take on a corrupt government. It is very political, very preachy, and heavily focused on realism. The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and The Witcher are good examples of GrimDark.

In GrimDark you expect big epic battles fought by knights in shining armor.

If you write GrimDark you are a Fantasy author.

But this did not answer the question, because as it turns out, the question was asked by a scammer trying to con me into writing a book outline for him... 


But this is common knowledge to any reader of either genre. So why then do questions like this get asked so often? For the same reason the internet is being flooded with AI crap that was shit out by ChatGPT. Because there are two types of writers:

Writers who actual enjoy writing.

Scam artists looking to make a quick buck and think writing is their easy meal ticket.

Writers who actual enjoy writing, also enjoy reading the genre they write. They love researching historical details and science facts, or whatever they need to study to bring their stories to life. They will spend weeks, months, even years doing the long hard, grueling work it takes to read, research, write, edit, read some more, research some more. They love the work, so it’s neither hard nor grueling for them.

Scam artists looking to make a quick buck and think writing is their easy meal ticket, seek to avoid work. They think reading is dull and boring, so they would rather ask what makes this genre vs that genre instead of reading both genres and finding out for themselves. They think writing and editing is too much like school homework (which it is) so they take the lazy road with AI. And they can not be bothered with research at all, so they do not bother to fact check what AI spit out either.

Yes, I know the title of this page was Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark and I went off on a tangent. But, I was asked this question earlier today, and I answered with the two definitions I just gave you here and the person who asked the question responded to have a total meltdown. They said they could not be bothered to read the books I recommended and said if I had actually wanted to help them, I would have given them a detailed list of things to include and things not to include.

I gave them THIS:

  • Dark Fantasy is actually NOT Fantasy, but rather is a subgenre of Gothic Horror that happens to feature Fantasy elements. It features things like Vampires, Necromancers, and Zombies very heavily. Magic is in heavy use. Mages and Wizards and do battle against vampires and lich kings. Terror, ghosts, and things ripped from Edgar Allan Poe or HP Lovecraft lurk in every shadow. It is the Horror genre with magic and wizards. It leans heavily into Cosmic Horror but with things like Vampire Elves and Lich Unicorns. The Curse of Strahd, Fall of the House of Usher, and the entire RavenLoft franchise are good examples of Dark Fantasy.
  • GrimDark is a subgenre of Low Fantasy and features Fantasy societies that are set in depressing dystopian worlds, where the government is heavily suppressing the freedom of the citizens. Magic is rarely seen. The focus is heavy on attempts to take on a corrupt government. It is very political, very preachy, and heavily focused on realism. The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and The Witcher are good examples of GrimDark.
  • If you write Dark Fantasy you are a Horror author.
  • If you write GrimDark you are a Fantasy author.

And it made them very upset, that I did not spend hours of my time to do the research for them, to outline a sample of plots they should use, and lists of things to include in their story.

But… the question they asked was THIS:

Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark. How are they different? What do you consider the main differences between the two, if any?

And I did in fact answer the question. Did I not?

I thought I had answered the question as they wanted, and I was quite surprised, and frankly unsettled and saddened, by their raging inferno, demanding, accusatory reaction.

I had thought they were a reader who truly wanted to learn how to write these two genres, and I thought my answer was helpful. But my answer mad them very angry, and incited them to have a full meltdown over all the hows and whys of why they shouldn’t, couldn’t, and wouldn’t ever read a book.

I’m sorry, but, I truly believe the best way to learn about the genre you seek to write, is to read the bestselling in that genre.

But also, we authors are not slaves. I’m sorry, but, writing, editing, and researching take 40+ hours a week, for weeks on end, for EACH book I write, and I’m not going to write YOUR book for you. That’s not my job. Please, please. please: do NOT contact an author asking them to do the work for you.


Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark

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BIVJQuaraunBoomFuzzyBlizzardBscreenshot6.pngQuaraun and Gingerbread Cake Chef King Gwallmaiic aka BoomFuzzy the Unicorn (humanoid form)... scene from the novel BoomFuzzy, from when BoomFuzzy was still alive and not yet a Lich and Quaraun was not yet a Necromancer, not yet wearing pink, not yet a serial killer, and had not yet gone insane, at Santa Claus's Gingerbread Cake Bakery in Ivujivik, Quebec, where BoomFuzzy was the master pastry chef.
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NBGhoulSpawnQuaraunbeachscreenshot.pngThe Pink Necromancer, Quaraun and GhoulSpawn the Sheep (humanoid form)
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This page was written by Wendy Christine Allen of 146 Portland Ave, Old Orchard Beach, Maine. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © [oldest articles written 1978],[website founded - 1996] –


146 Portland Ave, Old Orchard Beach, Maine is also one of the ILLEGAL filming locations of Stephen King's The Thinner movie, and there is also evidence that my son's murder, and these scammers targeting my land, may have been involved in the SCAM that lead Stephen King to ILLEGALLY film Thinner on my land.

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Dark Fantasy vs Grimdark





What Is This Site?

I'm an author. This is an author home page. It's about me, my life, my books, my hobbies, my home town, and anything else that applies to me and my life. 

Since starting my writing career in 1978, I have written 130+ novels, 2,000+ short stories, 6,000+ non-fiction articles (ALL are found on this site), a few dozen stage plays, 12,000+ blog posts, and a few comic book scripts for Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck (I only worked for Disney one year (in 2005) and only wrote a few stories for their Danish comic books).

NOTE: I ONLY write the Quaraun series (aka The Twighlight Manor series aka The Adventures of Quaraun the Insane). In recent years there has been an issue with impersonators trying to pass books off as written by me, notably several non-fiction and Erotica books. I write neither nonfiction nor Erotica.

ALL of my books and their cover arts are listed on my website here. Beware of any books you find claiming to be me. If the books are NOT listed here on my website, they are NOT my books.

In fiction works, I specialize in Weird/Bizarro Tales set in 40th century CyberPunk-Quasi Medieval, Cozy Dark Fantasy and Science Fiction worlds featuring an intersex Elf and his Faerie husband main characters.  I DO NOT WRITE ANY OTHER SERIES - THIS SERIES IS THE ONLY ONE I WRITE.

Non-fiction (found ONLY here on my site) is daily updates of events in my life, and how-tos on how I write my novels.

I DO NOT write Erotica.

I DO NOT write books with HUMAN characters.

The Erotica books and books with Human characters, that you are finding, are written by scammers trying to impersonate me.

There is an ongoing FBI investigation into this matter. If you find any such books, please report them to FBI Agengt Andy Drewer @207–774–9322

The FBI believes the people behind the impersonation accounts showing up, are relatives of the woman who murdered my son.




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