Category Archives: horror

Ephemeral Horror and the Diffusion of Genre Markers

Posted on November 13, 2012 by

Content, when it comes to genre taxonomy, is king: we categorize stories based on the conventions they employ and the devices that show up within their texts. Spaceships, time travel, aliens? Let’s call it science fiction. Magic and knights? Let’s … Continue reading →

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What is Science Fiction for?

Posted on November 6, 2012 by

NOTE: Thank you so much to everyone who wished us health and safety during and after Hurricane Sandy! I’m happy to report that we’ve got power, cell service, Internet, and cable TV all working again. Thanks again. If anyone wants … Continue reading →

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Accessibility: Speculative Fiction’s Pernicious Strawman

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

NOTE: My thinking here is a bit of a tangential response to some of John H. Stevens’ recent Erudite Ogre columns over at SF Signal. I strongly recommend those columns as an insightful exploration of genre and genre identity. Here’s … Continue reading →

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The Circus as a Fantastic Device

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

I grew up devouring the works of Ray Bradbury, and I have no doubt that Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Illustrated Man all had an enormous influence on my love of fantasy. Add to that the … Continue reading →

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The Aesthetics, Structure, and Themes of Noir Speculative Fiction

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

Last week on Twitter, I got into an interesting discussion on whether noir fiction is inimical to science fiction. The original conversation got fairly involved, and while we reached few conclusions (substantive discussions in 140 chars are tough!) the conversation … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

Title: Southern Gods Author: John Hornor Jacobs Pub Date: July 26th, 2011 Chris’ Rating (5 possible): An Attempt at Categorization If You Like… / You Might Like… Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Ghosts by Gaslight Supernatural Noir Mr. Shivers Midnight … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre by Tzvetan Todorov

Posted on January 3, 2012 by

Title: The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre Author: Tzvetan Todorov Pub Date: 1970 (French) 1975 (English) Chris’ Rating (5 possible): An Attempt at Categorization If You Like… / You Might Like… Rhetorics of Fantasy Graphs, Maps, Trees … Continue reading →

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Leaping the Chasm of Imagination: Verisimilitude, Historical Fiction, and Speculative Fiction

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

The borders of genre are famously porous. Devices that start in one genre will get adopted, subsumed, and then modified in another. Then the cycle starts again, with the “new” device trickling back to its original progenitor. This tendency is … Continue reading →

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Why do we love science fiction, fantasy, or horror?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by

Over on the Absolute Write Forums, GreenEpic posted a fairly thought provoking question: Does anyone have a theory as to why science fiction and fantasy are so popular? While the thread there has a bunch of really good answers, most … Continue reading →

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A Theory of the Hero: Agency, Voice, and Sincerity (part 1 of 3)

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

For a while now I’ve been chewing on the concept of heroes/heroines, which at first glance looks simple. Say the word “hero” and everyone knows what we mean: we’re (stereotypically) talking about square-jawed men and kick-ass women who stab bad … Continue reading →

Posted in fantasy, horror, scifi, specfic, Genre Observations, Writing, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments