edited 27th Mar '14 4:44:10 PM by Catbert
edited 27th Mar '14 5:09:21 PM by Madrugada
edited 28th Mar '14 12:21:53 AM by RavenWilder
edited 28th Mar '14 12:41:53 AM by RavenWilder
- The setting. Stories set in a Constructed World are pretty much always called fantasy, so Supernatural Fiction is almost invariably set in the real world (though plenty of stories set in the real world are called fantasy, too).
- The genre. If an action/adventure story has magic in it, it's usually called fantasy. If it's a tale of mystery, suspense, romance, or personal drama, it's more likely to be called Supernatural Fiction. Horror stories with supernatural elements are mostly still just called horror stories.
- The point of view. Supernatural Fiction is often told from the Point of View of ordinary people who aren't aware of the supernatural until they encounter it during the story. If the point of view characters have been embroiled in the supernatural since before the story began, it's more likely to be called fantasy.
- The prevalence of the supernatural. In Supernatural Fiction, there may be only one or two supernatural elements at play, rather than whole communities of supernatural beings as is common in High and Urban Fantasy.
- The form of the supernatural. Both dragons and ghosts are supernatural beings, but stories about dragons are normally called fantasy, while stories about ghosts are normally called Supernatural Fiction (when they're not called Horror). This may be because very few people believe that dragons are real, but there are a great many people who believe that ghosts are real. In this regard, Supernatural Fiction can be seen as a counterpart to supernatural non-fiction. There are many non-fiction books containing supposedly true accounts of haunted houses, demonic possessions, and occult rituals, and Supernatural Fiction often draws inspiration from these stories, portraying their supernatural content in a way that emulates the tone, if not the details, of what real people have claimed to have experienced. (If the author claims the supernatural elements of their story actually exist, then you've entered the murky territory seperating Supernatural Fiction from Religious Fiction.) Meanwhile, if a story is called fantasy, it's more likely to craft its supernatural elements from pure imagination, with only a token resemblance to real life supernatural beliefs. Generally speaking, a witch giving someone boils by calling on pagan gods and performing an arcane ritual is likely to be Supernatural Fiction; a witch turning someone into a mouse by wiggling their nose is likely to be fantasy.
edited 28th Mar '14 10:27:03 PM by RavenWilder
-Philip K. Dick
edited 29th Mar '14 3:10:12 AM by Catbert
edited 29th Mar '14 10:43:23 AM by RavenWilder
edited 30th Mar '14 5:10:40 PM by supergod
edited 29th Mar '14 6:56:10 PM by Madrugada