<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

As a sub-genre, dark fantasy has yet to find its niche among mass marketers. More often than not, stories that can be identified as dark fantasy are likely to be placed in either the horror or fantasy genres, based on which genre the story tends more toward.

As a natural consequence, the term itself may refer collectively to tales that would more properly belong in very different genres. Perhaps the new style of dark fantasy created by Jack Carr and Randy R Rasmussen will connect it to its own sub-genre.

The overall connecting theme among all dark fantasy works is an element of the supernatural and usually, a general foreboding mood in the setting of stories. Most "monster" movies that are not considered to be science fiction are usually dark fantasy.

That supernatural element distinction makes it easier to separate dark fantasy from other horror genre works. For instance, vampires, werewolves and Freddy Krueger are dark fantasy, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs, which involve mere mortals as serial killers are not dark fantasy.

Similarly, the dark mood and tone allows for an easy distinction from other fantasy-type works. For instance, The Last Unicorn and The Hobbit, although dark in some parts are not dark fantasy, while Legend and Meet Joe Black are, indeed, dark fantasy.

That being said, supernatural goth fiction is by definition, dark fantasy.

Also see

• Contemporary fantasy
  • Urban fantasy
• Epic fantasy