INTRODUCTION
W
elcome to the world of elves, dragons, uni-
corns, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and
magic. This book is designed to serve as a compan-
ion to Encyclopedia of Science Fiction(2005), and
covers the remaining two main branches of fantas-
tic fiction, fantasy and supernatural horror. Critics
have argued for years about precisely where the
borderlines should be drawn within fantastic fiction
as a whole, but some broad assumptions can be
made, although even in these cases there are
numerous exceptions to the rule. Generally, then,
whereas science fiction assumes that the universe
operates according to certain natural laws, even if
they are sometimes laws about which we have yet
to learn, fantasy and horror are similar in that they
assume quite the contrary. There are some ele-
ments in the worlds of fantasy that are not entirely
rational and often do not obey what we think of as
natural law. Although there is usually fairly close
agreement regarding what is science fiction and
what is fantasy, the distinction is considerably less
clear between fantasy and supernatural fiction,
which is one reason why it makes sense to consider
them together here. Should a humorous ghost story
such as “Topper” by Thorne Smith fall under super-
natural horror simply because it has a ghost in it?
Should “Casting the Runes” by M. R. James be con-
sidered fantasy because it involves the use of a mag-
ical spell? And how should we classify the works of
Laurell Hamilton, who deals with vampires and
werewolves but who sets her novels in an alternate
world where both are accepted members of society?
This confusion about the borders between the two
genres is so pervasive that some publishers and crit-
ics have taken to using the term dark fantasyto
indicate those works that could be plausibly includ-
ed in either category.
Fantasy and the supernatural both evolved
from myths, legends, and folklore later developed
into fairy tales, which though ostensibly written for
children were often contrived with adults in mind.
Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm
gave way to George MacDonald, William Morris,
H. Rider Haggard, James Branch Cabell, and oth-
ers. Children’s fantasy in particular has contributed
a number of novels that are significant not just as
fantasy but as classics in general, including such
familiar titles as Pinocchioby Carlo Collodi, Alice in
Wonderlandby Lewis Carroll, The Wizard of Ozby
L. Frank Baum, and Peter Panby J. M. Barrie, and in
more recent years the Narnia books by C. S. Lewis,
The Hobbitby J. R. R. Tolkien, the Earthsea series
by Ursula K. Le Guin, and perhaps most notably
the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
For much of the 20th century, publishers treat-
ed adult fantasy as a subdivision of science fiction,
and books from both genres are still shelved
together in bookstores, although horror fiction is
usually given its own much smaller section or is
lumped in with mysteries or general fiction. Prior to
the 1960s most fantasy fiction fell into two broad
categories—sword and sorcery or light adventure.
The first was thematically dominated by the work
of Robert E. Howard, whose characters Conan,
King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, Red
Sonja, and others have inspired movies, television
programs, pastiches, and countless imitators. These
stories generally feature a barbarian culture and av