What Is Dark Fantasy?

Dark fantasy is somewhat difficult for most to define as it isn't a replacement for the word horror as most would assume. Supernatural horror is a more appropriate definition as a story about a serial killer can be described as horror. Jack the Ripper is the story of an actual serial killer who in all likelihood was just a serial murderer with nothing that truly represents dark fantasy. In the stories written afterward where he is depicted as something with a supernatural or demonic element of horror added, it becomes dark fantasy.

The story of Dracula is often considered dark fantasy and even gothic in nature, and yet, in the original story of Dracula, he loses. Another element often ascribed to dark fantasy is that in the battle of good vs evil, evil can and often does emerge triumphant. From that point of view, the original story of Dracula is maybe more gothic horror but not dark fantasy. What seems to make Dracula more a story of dark fantasy is that he keeps returning and in the epic of Dracula created by later authors, Dracula wins and the levels of violence are vastly increased.

The original telling of Frankenstein is similar to Dracula is considered more to be gothic horror or horror but not dark fantasy. Again, the original story of Frankenstein doesn't actually include anything supernatural, and the original movie does not even capture the dark, gothic atmosphere created in the book where the scientist is proven to be the monster and the creature ultimately outlives him. The more modern movies have added elements of darkness but even these do not represent dark fantasy until you find movies like "I, Frankenstein" that make him supernatural in nature and surround him with demons and gargoyles making it dark fantasy.

But there are simpler definitions for dark fantasy that focus on other dimensions that become set in the real world such as stories about demons summoned or escaping from the depths of Hell. Stories that have gloomy, frightening themes producing a sense of dread such as the approach of death as a supernatural force that manifests in physical form in some way. Themes of violence typically are considered dark fantasy such as a little girl with black eyes holding a butcher knife but it has to have that supernatural element or it's just a little girl who killed someone.

A story about a werewolf or vampire might be considered as dark fantasy just for their lurid, sexual, or violent nature if that's the case. The same characters in a comedy like The Munsters or Addams Family would not be considered dark fantasy by most and yet, there is a category for dark fantasy "humor" so that it would apply. A sexy vampire would seem like it would not apply and yet, a sexy vampire with blood dripping down her chin implying violence could be.

Would a murderer holding a severed body part be dark fantasy? It could by definition but what's the supernatural angle? Maybe it's from the perspective of a supernatural creature or she's a zombie in the making with a permanent hickey on her forearm... maybe a monster hunter and this is a zombie's head in her hand? Anti-heroes are often defined as dark fantasy because the good guys aren't always good such as John Constantine and Ghost Rider. Elements of high fantasy and "swords and sorcery" because of the supernatural antagonists but this doesn't always mean horror which is a key element.

Dark fantasy has many definitions. What's yours?

While Vampirella may offer a softer variation of dark fantasy, Crossed is possibly the most disturbing version of dark fantasy ever published in comic books. The story of Crossed is similar to your average zombie story except that this pandemic leaves them with basic human intellect but transformed into homicidal violent psychopaths slaughtering and maiming one another and the uninfected.

Series like The Walking Death, DCeased, and Marvel Zombies have established zombie horror in the comics, but they are nothing like this in regard to sheer carnage and brutality. Zombies are generally considered dark fantasy because even if they try to give them a basis in science or nature, you just can't explain the decomposing dead still functioning without a supernatural element.